STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
Harlingen High Lady Cardinals basketball coach Ashley Moncivaiz could sense trouble brewing, her leash tightening as the early double-digit lead her squad had built at Brownsville Hanna began to dwindle.
And then sophomore shooting guard Sydney Portillo hit the biggest shot of the night — a bankshot 3 that caromed off the rim and fell through the net to put Harlingen High ahead 25-18 at halftime. The clutch bucket helped Harlingen High regain momentum and quash Hanna’s comeback bid in a 63-40 victory that improved the Lady Cardinals to 22-5 overall and 2-0 in District 32-6A play.
“I didn’t think it was going to go in,” Portillo said. “We started off slow, but then we started gaining momentum, and then we started hitting shots and getting rebounds, and I knew we were going to keep the lead.”
Said Moncivaiz, “She was even surprised it went in, but when you’re open, you take the shot.”
It’s this equal opportunity approach on offense that has enabled Harlingen High to get off to such a hot start this season.
“All of our players can shoot, they can all drive, and we don’t want them to hold back whenever they’re open,” Moncivaiz said.
Senior forward Taegan Dickey led the way for Harlingen High with 16 points, and senior point guard Ariel Leal finished with 12.
Other key contributors for the Lady Cardinals were freshman guard Emery Scoggins (six points), sophomore guard Alyssa Cervantes (five points), and sophomore guard Alexus Coto (five points).
After being held to just nine points in the second quarter, the Lady Cardinals outscored the Lady Eagles 38-22 during the second half, ignited by a return to the successful full-court press that helped Harlingen High jump out to a 16-5 first-quarter advantage.
“We were more aggressive,” Moncivaiz said. “We were getting second-chance points, and that made a difference, too. We did get some situational fouls, but when you’re aggressive that’s what’s going to happen. We want our defense to pick up the pace. That helps us get easy buckets in transition.”
Harlingen High believes the adversity it faced early in the second quarter will help prepare the team for more important games down the road.
“Whenever we get down, we know that we need to work together harder than ever to get as far as we want to go in the playoffs,” Dickey said.
Senior guard Mia Paz scored 26 points, and junior forward Odalys Gonzalez had nine for Brownsville Hanna.