MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Lady Cardinals could not have asked for a better start to the District 32-6A season and their defense could not have been tighter.
Harlingen (15-1,1-0) allowed just three field goals on the night as its defensive press suffocated the Brownsville Rivera Lady Raiders and paved the way for a 61-26 victory on Friday night in Harlingen.
The Lady Cardinals forced Rivera (0-1) into turnovers and bad passes early on as they built a 27-0 lead well into the second quarter. Rivera didn’t score until the 2:03 mark of the second quarter.
“We wanted to come out and put on the full-court pressure, but I think in the end we struggled with our fouls,” said Harlingen head coach Ashley Moncivaiz. “We have to set the tone early and play our defense.”
Rivera had most of its scoring come from the free- throw line, sinking 19 of 33 attempts.
Despite struggles from the field, Rivera head coach Willie Brown was most concerned in his team’s lack of preparation.
“Harlingen came out on fire, but I was just disappointed that my group didn’t adjust to what they knew was coming,” Brown said. “I thought our second half was something to build on, but I just thought in the early part of the game we lost our composure, missed easy shots and turned the ball over uncharacteristically — that was the difference in the ball game.”
Marissa Gasca and Sami Quilantan led the way for Harlingen with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
For Rivera, Darcy Cardenas scored 10 points and went 8 of 9 from the line.
NOT MISSING A STEP: With all the early season success, Moncivaiz was glad to see her team play with the same fire.
“The girls were excited for today because it was the start of district, but I told them that this was the start of our second round,” she said. “The first round was the non-district stuff and I told them we needed to carry that over into district. Now that we started this second round, the girls came out with that intensity.”
Now, the Lady Cards hope to continue their hot streak with their defense leading the way.
“If we worry about our defense, our offense will come,” Moncivaiz said. “If we can do that, then it’s easier to keep our opponents from doing what they need to do.”