KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
SAN BENITO—Harlingen South and San Benito rang in the new year in fashion. Tuesday’s match up had a little bit of everything where we saw seven players score in double figures while it took four quarters and a pair of overtimes to decide a winner between the Hawks and Hounds.
Harlingen South used a strong performance from Grant Lowery who drilled a game-high 22 points followed by a 19-point performance from Aaron Briones en route to a 66-63 win in double overtime and upping their district record to 2-0.
“We talked about the mental side of it at half-time,” said Hawks coach Brian Molina. “I wanted our kids to play the game the right way. In the end it was two great teams and it really came down to the final possessions.”
After a sluggish first quarter, Harlingen South found their form with a strong second quarter led by Lowery’s seven-point quarter and held a comfortable 29-15 lead at the break.
Despite holding a 14-point lead at the break, no lead was safe for the Hawks all afternoon long. San Benito answered and adjusted in the second half.
Aaron Medrano paced the Hounds offense and led the comeback in the third quarter. After an 8-0 run from the Hawks, San Benito trailed 36-15 and the game looked to be in hand for the Hawks.
All second half long the Hounds got big plays from Leroy Garcia and Medrano who drilled a three pointer that cut the lead to three at 50-47 in the final two minutes. The biggest play came when Medrano completed a three-point play to tie the game at 54 to force the first overtime.
“Anytime we play San Benito it’s going to be a rivalry,” Molina said. “That’s just a testament to how tough our district is. Each night we need to come ready to play, today San Benito came out and played tough, we had opportunities to put the game away and they just kept fighting and hit some big shots. We hurt our-selves by missing some free throws, but I will take a win any day in this district.”
Both teams would man-age to score four points each in the first overtime and it was South who made the final push to hold on. After taking a 60-58 lead, the Hawks forced a turnover to seal the win in the second overtime.
“This is a big win for us going forward,” Lowery said. “It was a tough thrilling win for us, it’s not the way we wanted to win but we got it done. My team-mates did a great job on passing the ball and giving me good shots. Coach wanted us to stay calm and not rush anything or force turnovers. I think going forward this type of win will help us, because we were in such a pressure situation we will have that experience.”
Despite the loss, San Benito saw Medrano drop 19 points; Jeremey Sauceda netted 15 while David Sanchez and Nathaniel Garcia scored 10 each.
San Benito will now prepare for road game at Brownsville Hanna on Friday at 6. Meanwhile South will welcome in Weslaco Friday at 1.