KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN—Harlingen South trailed by double digits on more than one occasion. The young Hawks managed to cut into the Bulldog lead led by the sharp shooting of Grant Lowery and got help of the bench from Teyo Turrubiates.
Despite a 19-point performance from Lowery and Turrubiates (a piece), McAllen’s Matthew Ibarra led the Bulldog offense with 18 points and helped the Dogs hold on for a 77-68 win Tuesday afternoon.
“I was really proud of the kid’s effort,” said Harlingen South coach Brian Molina. “I always tell the kids to be better than they were the day before and today I think we grew up and I felt we played a very tough McHi team to the end and that is all I can ask from the kids.”
In the loss, four Hawks finished in double figures. Mark Becerra scored 10 and Joe Cortez netted 14 points.
“I wanted the kids to leave it on the court and they did. We got a lot of open looks in the first half,” Molina said. “I told the guys, give me those open looks and we will be fine and for sure enough our shots started falling in the second half.”
South fell behind early 15-4 in the opening quarter led by a five point quarter from Ibarra, in the second quarter went on an 8-2 run and cut into the lead 27-17 late in the first half.
In the third quarter, Turrubiates hit back to back 3s and trailed 54-48 with 1:28 left, but that was as close as South got with McAllen sealing the win with a strong fourth quarter.
“Most of the defenses are designed to stop Grant, but what he does so well is, he is a great passer and a great screener.” Molina said. “He did a great job today passing the ball and finding guys. We had guys come off the bench and gave us a lift.”
The challenging non-district schedule continues for Harlingen South, as they will now host Laredo United today at 3:30 p.m.
“The type of schedule I put together was designed to get us ready for district play,” said Molina. “We also want to play probable opponents and McHi is a team we might see in the postseason and United has a rich tradition and we are excited to host them, it will be a tough task.”