FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — A bad start for the Harlingen South Lady Hawks meant a good evening for the Harlingen Lady Cardinals.
The Lady Cards outscored the Lady Hawks 15-5 in the first period as Harlingen dished out some payback in a 51-32 victory over crosstown rival Harlingen South Tuesday, stretching the Lady Cards’ win streak to six consecutive victories.
With the win, Harlingen moved to 7-1 in District 32-6A, keeping pace with the Weslaco Lady Panthers (7-1) for the top spot in the league. Meanwhile, the loss sent Harlingen South to 6-2, but they remain very much in the title race.
“It was a big game for us tonight,” said Harlingen High’s Nadia Flores. “Everybody was into it and everybody was on the same page, so it feels good to come out with the win today.
“We just need to keep our composure in every game and at every practice. We’re family and we need to stick together, and we need to focus 100 percent and be on the same page.”
Flores finished the night with a team high 15 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Earlier in the season, Harlingen South caught Harlingen by surprise and shocked the Lady Cards for their first district win over Harlingen since the 2012-2013 season.
Tuesday night, however, Harlingen was prepared for South’s attacking options and struck first, and opened up an early 15-5 lead heading into the second period.
The Lady Cardinals attacked the basket in numbers, while making the most of every shot.
South’s Jamie Ambriz opened the scoring in the second quarter, ending the Lady Hawks’ scoring drought that began midway through the first period.
However, South had a hard time getting to the basket and settled for outside shoots. Karla Reyes scored three points in the period as the talented freshman was suffocated by the Lady Cardinals defense and was held scoreless the rest of the way.
Cameron Del Angel kept the Lady Hawks in the game with a team high 19 points, but the early deficit proved to be too much for South to overcome.
For Harlingen, Destiny Olivarez added 12 points, Arial Leal had seven, and Julieann Garza and Andrea Cortez contributed six points each.
Next up for the Lady Cardinals is Brownsville Rivera on Friday. Meanwhile, the Lady Hawks travel to Los Fresnos.