KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN—The stars have aligned to where the Harlingen and Harlingen South girl’s basketball teams will battle for more than city supremacy.
When the two schools meet tonight at 6 p.m. at Harlingen High, it will be for a shot at the District 32-6A title.
The case is simple for the Lady Cardinals: Win and you win the district title outright.
A loss would then draw a tie for the district lead.
Harlingen would then need a win against Brownsville Rivera and a South loss to claim the title outright on the final day of the regular season or, both teams could win their final game to end as co-champs in that scenario.
For Harlingen South, a win would mean they would get at least a share of the district title and would need to win on Tuesday against Brownsville Hanna to finish as co-champs. Back-to-back losses or losing one of the last two would lock the Lady Hawks in as the two seed. The last district title the Lady Hawks won was in 2010-11 under former Lady Hawks coach Dawn Engleman.
“I’m very honest with the kids,” said South Coach Kelly Garrett. “And it was on our notes today that this game, the district title is on the line. This is one goal we have been working for all season and we have been taking it one game at a time. Yes, we won some close ones, but a win is a win and we have ourselves in position.”
In their first matchup, Harlingen dominated from the word go and cruised to a 53-33 win. At the time, both teams entered with 3-0 district records.
“We just need to continue to do what we do,” Harlingen coach Ashley Moncivaiz said. “There are some things that we needed to fix. We need to keep them off the foul line, rebound and continue to push the pace. We won’t change much; it’s a matter of adjusting because this is the second round and everyone already has a feel to what you do.”
South has dropped the last four meetings against Harlingen, but will look to change their fortune tonight. Since their loss against Harlingen, South has won four straight.
“This is Bird Bowl; it is always a huge deal and now you add a district title on the line,” Garrett said. “It is exciting and the kids know what is at stake. One thing I told the kids is I’m going to put this on your shoulders, because I’m putting it on mine and it is on the line and we need to take care of business tomorrow night.”
As for the Lady Cards, they come in on an 11-game win streak and are 8-0 in district play. Harlingen will be looking for their first district title since the 2015-16 season.
“The kids are ready, it is one of the things they have been working for,” Moncivaiz said. “Last year we had an opportunity and it fell through and this year we have a shot and over the offseason they fought and we have put ourselves in a position again for a district title.”