FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — It didn’t need overtime, but that didn’t make it any less suspenseful.
On Tuesday evening, the Harlingen Lady Cardinals and Brownsville Veterans Lady Chargers played the second installment of their District 32-6A schedule, and it didn’t disappoint.
After the Lady Cardinals defeated the Lady Chargers 42-41 in OT in their first meeting, it was Harlingen again that found a way to win 57-50 and clinch a share of the district title. With two games left to play in the regular season, the Lady Red Birds can clinch the league crown outright with a win on Friday or a Veterans loss.
“It was a close game, but people that needed to step up, stepped up tonight,” said Harlingen head coach Ashley Moncivaiz. “With other personnel being out, when we lose one (player) another has to be ready to come in, and tonight it was Nadia (Flores).
“This was a huge game for Nadia because this was something she needed for herself to see how good of a player she is, and for her to see how big this was for the team so she can continue to be successful.”
Flores, who is a sophomore, put away 29 points for the Lady Cardinals with 10 coming in the fourth quarter alone.
Harlingen started the game on a an early 4-0 run behind buckets from Flores and Addison Dickey, but the Lady Chargers responded by putting away four free throws to even the scoring at 4-4.
However, the Lady Cardinals, thanks in part to Flores, Marissa Gasca and Andrea Cortez, went on an 18-4 run to close the first period up 18-8.
Gasca finished the night with nine points
Midway through the second quarter, Brownsville Veterans’ Brianna Cortez and teammate Jordan Rudd combined for eight points, as the Lady Chargers cut Harlingen’s 13-point lead down to just nine. But seconds before the halftime buzzer, Andrea Cortez nailed a three-pointer to push the lead back to 12. Cortez finished the game with 11 points and 7 of 10 shooting from the charity stripe.
“(At the half) I told the girls just to stick to the game plan,” said Moncivaiz. “I never want the team to be satisfied with what we are doing. If they’re going to make some adjustments, then we have to be prepared to make some adjustments ourselves.”
Down 28-16 to start the second half, Brownsville responded with an 18-14 third quarter, which cut the lead to 42-34 and put Veterans within striking distance.
Within seconds of starting the fourth, Krista Lopez squared up behind the line and buried a three pointer, cutting Harlingen’s lead to five at 42-37. Another three-pointer from Arez Muzawz was followed by a layup by Rudd to bring the Lady Chargers to within two points.
“We knew we were getting beat so we had to switch up our game plan,” said Moncivaiz. “We had to come up with a different strategy and the girls stepped up on defense and had some key defensive boards.”
Clinging to a 44-42 lead, Harlingen’s Flores and Dickey combined for eight points to keep Brownsville at bay.
On her first game back from an eye injury, Dickey had 12 points and Cortez finished with seven.
The win extended Harlingen’s win streak to 20 as the Lady Cards improved to 12-0 in district and 30-1 overall, with games against Brownsville Lopez and Harlingen South remaining on the schedule.
For Brownsville Vets, the loss dropped the Lady Chargers to 25-6 overall and 10-2 in district, with a game against Los Fresnos on Friday.