By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Hanna found out how good Harlingen High’s defense was.
The Lady Golden Eagles had troubles with the Lady Cardinals’ defense early and didn’t overcome a 21-point deficit at the break during a 57-45 loss to Harlingen High in District 32-6A girls basketball action Tuesday at Hanna.
Mia Paz had a game-high 22 points, including 17 during the second half for Hanna, but the offensive burst wasn’t enough after halftime against state-ranked Harlingen High.
“Their pressure came at us the whole game, and we got rattled a little bit,” Hanna coach Luis Gonzalez said. “I think we played 25 good minutes, but there was seven minutes they got us and that was the difference in the game. Against at team like Harlingen (High), you have to play a complete 32 minutes and a perfect game. We shot the ball well in spurts, we played good in spurts but we didn’t play a complete game.”
The Lady Cardinals, led by Sami Quilantan’s nine steals, finished with 23 steals, kept the Lady Eagles’ offense at bay and jumped out to a big lead. Quilantan finished with 10 points — all in the first half — five rebounds and four assists to lead the way.
“The game plan is always to set the tone on defense,” Harlingen High coach Ashley Moncivaiz said. “From there we let our offense dictate everything else. Get easy buckets here and there, but we missed some opportunities.”
Harlingen High used full-court pressure to make it tough for Hanna and force the Lady Eagles into getting baskets in transition. Hanna had opportunities, but its shots weren’t falling. The Lady Cardinals took advantage as they used a few runs to take 8-5 lead, which suddenly became a 14-5 edge on a pair of buckets by Quilantan in the first quarter.
“When we broke the press, we weren’t able to capitalize,” Gonzalez said. “And a couple times, they got easy points from their press and that was the difference in the ballgame. We turned the ball over too much, and they did a good job of capitalizing on those turnovers.”
Harlingen High started the second quarter the same, using defensive pressure for a 6-0 run and a double-digit lead. Hanna’s Sofia Salinas knocked down a 3 to stop the scoreless run, but the Lady Cardinals weren’t done. Marissa Gasca had a pair of baskets and Quilantan had a three-point play and added another free throw to fuel an 11-0 run that pushed the lead to 21 points. Reischeel Ocampo’s layup ended the Lady Eagles’ scoring drought, but they trailed 33-12 at the break.
“Sami is very versatile, she doesn’t just come out and worry (only) about defense,” Moncivaiz said. “She can handle the ball, attack the basket, looks for open people. When Marissa isn’t shooting as well, she takes over (offensive), they feed off each other.”
During the third quarter, Gasca hit a 3 to push the lead to 25 points, but Hanna finally found its offense. Paz had eight points in the third quarter and nine more during the fourth quarter to take chips out of the Harlingen High lead. Ocampo scored nine of her 11 points after halftime, but it was too little, too late to cut the halftime deficit.
Gasca finished with 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals, and Elvira Fraga had 10 points for Harlingen High.
Salinas added six points on a pair of 3s, and Dahlia Reyes had nine rebounds for Hanna.
Gonzalez was proud of the way his team fought back during the second half even though it came up short.
“Harlingen (High) is ranked 12th in the state for a reason. They’re a very good ballclub, very well coached ballclub,” he said.
“I’m proud of my girls, they played well tonight.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.