HARLINGEN — Harlingen High has had a slow start to the season by its standards.
A young team, an always tough non-district schedule and an early injury to returning senior point guard Ryan Sanchez, one of the best scorers in the Rio Grande Valley, has the Cardinals 6-13.
The Cardinals are going for back-to-back wins against Brownsville St. Joseph at 7:30 tonight, after picking up a 50-47 victory over PSJA High on Tuesday.
| Harlingen High’s Boys Basketball Team.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey |
“It has been an up-and-down season,” Harlingen High head coach Clayton Cretors said. “We have had some good things and some bad things, it is not exactly how we wanted it to go, but we are growing towards district and our goal, obviously, like every other team, is to win district.”
The only other returning starter for the Cardinals is senior big man Jayden Rendon. Sophomore Luis Rodriguez was a sixth man as a freshman and was awarded District 32-6A’s newcomer of the year award in 2021.
| Harlingen High’s Jayden Rendon (4).(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey |
Youth has shown at times for the Cardinals, Cretors said.
“I keep telling the guys, ‘Even if our record does not display it, we are facing some really good competition and we are getting better every game,’ and we just have to grow on that,” Cretors said.
The Cardinals’ non-district schedule does not ease up after tonight.
Laredo United South, Edinburg North, Mission High and Corpus Christi Miller remain before Harlingen High opens district against San Benito in a month.
In the midst of these tough games Sanchez has aggressively rehabbed, Cretors said. Sanchez suffered an ankle injury in the season-opening 59-42 loss to Weslaco East and has missed games because of it.
“I feel like I have a lot of pressure on me,” Sanchez said. “But I feel like we can do this all together as a team. This is not a one-man show.”
| Harlingen High’s Ryan Sanchez (0).(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey |
As a junior, Sanchez led the Cardinals in scoring with 16.7 points per game for a Harlingen High team that would pick up a bi-district victory over Edinburg North.
Sanchez was awarded the offensive player of the year for District 32-6A for his efforts.
“When he is clicking, when he is on, our team goes,” Cretors said. “When he struggles a little bit, it makes things more difficult on his teammates. He is an integral part of our program, of our team and what we do offensively.”
Sanchez has answered the call to all of the pressure and expectations put on him, Cretors said.
Tonight’s game is a battle of two of the top scorers in the Valley when Sanchez lines up against Bloodhounds senior Gerry Martinez. The Bloodhounds’ guard is averaging 25 ppg so far this season.
Fellow Bloodhounds guard Jimmy Navarro is another top scorer in the Valley and is capable of being a leading scorer any night. Navarro averages 16 ppg this season.
Tonight also features another game with other top scorers meeting in the Valley when Brownsville Lopez’s Marco Coello and Mercedes’ David Clower face off against each other for their schools at 6 p.m. tonight at Mercedes High School.
| Mercedes’ David Clower (left) and Brownsville Lopez’s Marco Coello (right). |
Clower is averaging 26 ppg, while Coello is averaging 23.8 ppg this season. Mercedes is also boosted by Joaquin Gonzales. The guard is averaging 22 ppg, creating a dynamic duo with Clower.
Brownsville Lopez is coming off a 54-53 District 32-5A win over Brownsville Veterans Memorial. Mercedes opened district with a 56-48 loss to Brownsville Porter.