DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — While football may still be the first thing on people’s minds at Harlingen High right now, the pigskin will have to make room for the roundball as the 2016-17 boys basketball season officially tips off tonight as the Cardinals host Brownsville St. Joseph.
Tipoff is set for 7:30.
The Cards are looking to build upon on a 2015-16 season in which they went 19-14 and qualified for the postseason, but were quickly eliminated by Weslaco High in the opening round.
The Red Birds lost a lot of senior talent over the offseason, including captains Elijah Rhodes, Ernie Ramirez and Juan Cer-rillo, who averaged 11.9 points per game last season.
However, coach Lee Roy Sanchez, who is temporarily filling in for Greg Yates, said that while the team may be youthful, it is hungry.
“We have a lot of young and talented players to evaluate this year and I wanna see how they respond to one another on the court,” Sanchez said during a practice a couple of weeks ago.
Sanchez said he expects returning lettermen Reece Ortega and Matthew Sesler to shoulder much of the offense early on, but also hopes to rely on a solid defense to help get the job done.
Meanwhile, the Bloodhounds are looking to improve on a 14-14 record from a year ago and try to get the program back in the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign.
After tonight, the Cardinals head to the lower-Valley this weekend to take part in the Brownsville ISD Tournament then they host Brownsville Porter next Tuesday in a game set to tip off at 1:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, across town at Harlingen South, the Hawks open things up next Tuesday when they host McAllen High at 2:30 in the afternoon.
The San Benito Greyhounds also get going next week at McAllen Memorial in a game se to begin at 7:30 p.m.
On the girls’ side of the court, both the Lady Cardinals and Lady Hawks are resting after competing in the Chick-fil-A Mid-Valley Classic in Weslaco this past weekend, where the Lady Cards took third place.
Both squads return to action starting Thursday at the Border Brawl Tournament in Pharr.
The Lady Greyhounds, meanwhile, will also take some time off after participating in the La Joya Tournament last week. They don’t return to the court until next Tuesday when they host La Joya Palmview at 7:30.