KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Leading by 10 points with 4:47 left in the third quarter, it looked as if Harlingen High was about to put away the Brownsville Hanna Golden Eagles.
But basketball is a game of runs, and that proved to be the case Friday night as Hanna rallied for a 50-41 win over the Cardinals.
The Eagles took a 37-36 lead in the final seconds of the third quarter and never relinquished that lead. Victor Campos guided the Eagles’ offense with a game-high 16 points, scoring eight during the third period to help set the tone for the rest of the night.
“Honestly, in the first half we were getting decent looks, we were just not finishing,” Hanna coach Fermin Lucio said. “At the half, we told the kids not to panic and to just chip away, and in the second half we were able to finish our shots.”
Hanna continued to hit its shots and executed at the free throw line during the second half. The Eagles managed to outscore the Cards 33-17 in the second half and stymied Harlingen High point guard Michael Arellano, holding him to 12 points, just three in the second half. Those three from Arellano cut the lead to 45-41 with 1:20 remaining, but Hanna hit the next five free throws to seal the comeback.
“When we got that lead and made that rally, and were able to get rebounds and make stops, that is when we knew we had a shot,” Lucio said. “We had a spark off the bench, too, and that was big for us.”
With the first half of district play wrapped up, Hanna sits comfortably at 4-1 and remains in second place behind Los Fresnos, which is 5-0.
“Honestly, we don’t worry about that, we just worry about winning tomorrow’s practice and getting ready for Tuesday when we play San Benito. Really, that is all we worry about,” Lucio said.
Harlingen High finds itself at a crossroads at the midway point with a 3-2 32-6A record, and now has to regroup to take on the Falcons on the road.
“We need to put more pressure on the ball as far as the defense goes and the rebounding is another thing we need to correct and obviously the turnovers is another thing we need to fix,” said Harlingen assistant coach Leeroy Sanchez. “Tonight that is what made the difference, they were more aggressive on going to the basket than we were and that is why they were able to get to the line 19 times, that was the biggest difference tonight.”
Lady Cards roll past Hanna
Earlier Friday, the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals outmuscled Brownsville Hanna in a 66-23 victory. Three Lady Cardinals scored in double figures, led by a team-high 13 points from Taegan Dickey. Alyssa Cervantes scored 11 points, and Emery Scoggins netted 10 points in the win.
“We had better ball movement tonight, and we had everyone ready to score,” Harlingen High coach Ashley Moncivaiz said. “Anyone one our team can contribute, and that is the good thing about our team. Anyone can come in and shoot inside and outside and that is helping out our offense.”
The win keeps Harlingen High — which won its 10th straight game — in the driver seat in District 32-6A with a 7-0 mark. The Lady Cardinals will travel to Los Fresnos on Tuesday.
“We are starting to come around and peak at the right time,” Moncivaiz said. “The ball movement is one thing we have improved on. In the past, one thing we have done too much of is we dribbled too much instead of passing the ball.”
Hanna, meanwhile, has a 2-6 record in 32-6A and meets San Benito on Tuesday.
Harlingen High came out swinging during the first quarter and grabbed an 11-0 lead behind Cervantes, Dickey and Bianca Rodriguez, who all scored six points in the period.
“These next few games are going to be very competitive, and that is one thing I keep stressing to the girls. It is going to be one of those weeks where we need to come in ready and sharp, because both Los Fresnos and Harlingen South will come out ready. We are at a point in the season where teams are coming out ready and not wanting to lose momentum,” Moncivaiz said.
Behind the hot shooting was the Harlingen High defense, which held Hanna offense to four first-quarter points and 10 first-half points. Mia Paz scored a game-high 14 points for Hanna.