McALLEN — After trailing by as many as 10 in the second quarter, Harlingen South used a strong third quarter behind Sean Turrubiates to soar past McAllen High 58-52 on Tuesday afternoon at the Bulldogs’ gym.
The Hawks trailed 32-24 at the break, but Tuesday’s contest was indeed a tale of two halves.
The Hawks began the third quarter on a 9-2 run that gave them a 35-34 advantage via the three ball from Grant Lowery. The one-point lead was the first one the Hawks held since the opening minutes of the game.
“We gave up a lot of dribble penetrations in the first half,” said Hawks coach Brian Molina. “They (McHi) were attacking the basket well in the first half and they were quick off the dribble, and we needed to give them some room and take away the paint and force them to take tough shots.”
In the third quarter, South outscored McHi 17-8 and got its offense into gear by controlling the boards offensively, which gave the Hawks’ shooters second-chance opportunities.
Turrubiates hit another three pointer late in the third period that pushed the Hawks lead to 46-42.
In the fourth period, the Hawks continued to knock down shots and stretched a three-point lead late and got some timely free throws from Mark Becerra that helped put the game on ice at 57-52 in the final minute.
“I challenged the kids at halftime and I told them to find a way to come out strong in the third period and they did. We knew they were bigger than us and they rely on their size so we tried to be more aggressive to the basket, and they did that and it paid off for us,” said Molina.
Turrubiates finished with a team-high 20 points.
The win Tuesday came at a good time for the Hawks, who were coming off a tough loss to Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial last Friday. The win puts South back at the .500 mark with a 2-2 record on the young season.
The tough non-district schedule continues as the Hawks host Edinburg Economedes next Tuesday.
“This win helped us because we need all the confidence we can get,” said Molina. “I think this win gave us confidence moving forward against a very good team like McHi, who we lost to last year in the playoffs. Right now, I told our kids we need to continue to get better as a team and fix the things we can fix.”