KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
MERCEDES—Harlingen South struggled on offense and coughed up an early lead but when it mattered, the Lady Hawks delivered.
After falling behind by three with 2:30 left in the game, South finished strong with 7-0 run and got some key free throws from Allyah Guevara and Odemarys Vidana and a late layup from Karla Reyes to help seal a 33-29 win over Mercedes on Tuesday night.
“We got a little stagnant on offense in the second and third quarter,” said South coach Kelly Garrett. “Shots weren’t falling when we had the opportunity. We didn’t look good on offense but we picked it up on defense in the fourth quarter and put some free throws in and made more opportunities for us.”
In the fourth quarter, Mercedes trailed 26-20, until Mallory Noriega drilled back to back 3-pointers to tie the game. The Lady Tigers later took the lead on their third straight 3 from Danielle Barroso to make it 29-26.
After taking the three-point lead with 2:30 left in the game, the Lady Hawks defense buckled down and forced key turnovers and a five-second violation to help seal the win.
“Their press kind of caught us off guard,” said Mercedes coach Santiago Rivas. “We kind of expected it but it caught us off guard. You can practice it all you want, but once you see it, it is tough but we were able to settle down. We hit some shots but they are a tough team and Karla Reyes, she is tough. We knew we had to take care of the ball.”
Harlingen South came out swinging and raced out to a 10-1 lead and later held a 15-7 lead after the first quarter. Alexes Rocha fueled the early run with all six of her points coming in the first quarter.
In the second quarter the Lady Hawks struggled on offense with 11 first-half turnovers and only scored two points in the period.
“We picked up the intensity on defense; we have some quick kids on defense,” Garrett said. “Odemarys did a great job tonight on Mika Vento, Bianca Gonzalez, too. She did well on defense and we stepped it up and that is what helped us at that time. Mercedes went on that run and it easily could have gotten out of hand.”
Reyes finished with seven points and Guevara netted five points in the win. The Lady Hawks improve to 8-6 on the year and will host Donna North on Friday night.
“Mercedes is a really good team and they are aggressive,” Guevara said. “It was a defensive game both ways. “Towards the end we knew we needed to pull through as a team and work together. We worked hard on defense and let the offense fall in its place.”
For Mercedes, Noriega led all scorers with 11 points. The Lady Tigers are now 9-7 and will now shift their focus to the Tommy Wiseman Tournament in La Feria.