HARLINGEN — The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons gave the Harlingen Lady Cardinals all they could handle in a physical contest, but it just wasn’t enough in the end.
With the game all tied up, Harlingen opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run and never looked back, as they took down the Lady Falcons 49-42 Tuesday night in Harlingen.
Leading the run was Harlingen’s Elvira Fraga, who drained three-straight buckets.
“Our team pulled together and Elvira Fraga stepped in and made those three shots,” said Harlingen head coach Ashley Monciviaz. “Sometimes it’s not going to be fine and dandy and win by 30 points; sometimes you have to grind it out and figure out ways to win.”
The Falcons (2-2) made their runs and took the lead a couple of times, but a 10 of 22 night at the line hurt them in the end.
Still, Los Fresnos’ Kim Edquist will take the effort.
“The girls never quit and never shut down, but if we make our free throws it would’ve been a different story,” she said. “Harlingen is always physical, fast and tough — they just outplayed us tonight.”
Harlingen moves to 4-0 in district and will be back on the court Friday against Brownsville Vets.
On Tuesday, Harlingen started the game sluggish, but a 9-2 run in the second quarter gave them some cushion as they ultimately went into the break up 28-19.
“We usually move the ball and create the best possible shot, but today we were just flat early on,” Moncivaiz said. “We changed it up and we moved around to try and create offense because we were just standing around out there.”
Los Fresnos answered with a 12-2 run to start the third and took a 31-30 lead.
Harlingen tied it up to head to the fourth where their run to begin the period gave them the cushion they needed down the stretch.
Fraga finished with 12 as did teammate Sami Quilantan, who was ejected late in the fourth after throwing an elbow to Los Fresnos Cassie Parra.
Harlingen’s Marissa Gasca also turned in a double-digit effort with 10 points.
Los Fresnos’ Allie Flores led her team with 12 points, while Lynette Duran followed with 11.
CARDS FALL SHORT AGAINST FALCONS
In the early game, the Harlingen boys made their runs against Los Fresnos.
The Falcons, however, used an 11-0 run in the fourth to pull ahead for good, as they beat the Cardinals 68-58.
Los Fresnos starts district 2-0, while Harlingen goes to 1-1.
“It was two good ball clubs going at it tonight and it could’ve gone either way,” said Los Fresnos head coach Marco Hinojosa. “We’re finishing ball games this year. We didn’t do that last year when we started district 2-0. Our goal was to start 2-0 and win the week. Now, we have to focus on Brownsville Rivera.”
Hugo De La Cruz led Los Fresnos with 22 points, while Eric and Ernie Ramirez each scored 10 to lead Harlingen.