By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
It’s early in the season, but the Hanna Golden Eagles came out in front against the Harlingen South Hawks and are now in sole possession of the No. 1 spot atop District 32-6A.
Andy Lopez scored 26 points — including 11 in the fourth quarter — to give the Golden Eagles (13-3, 3-0 in district) a 54-50 win over Harlingen South (10-11, 2-1) on Friday night at Hanna.
With the score tied at 38 at the end of the third quarter, Lopez opened the fourth with two 3-pointers to give his team a 44-40 lead with just more than six minutes remaining.
Hanna coach Todd Barckholtz was grateful for Lopez’s performance but is confident any number of Eagles players could step up in critical situations like that in the future.
“Every night it could be five or six guys doing (what Lopez did),” he said. “We appreciate tonight it was Andy. The next night, hopefully it’s Andy and someone else.”
Harlingen South took advantage of being in the bonus, and Darren Perez hit 4 of 6 free throws on three trips to the line in consecutive possessions to tie the game at 44 with five minutes to go.
“We did a good job getting in the bonus early in the third, so I just told the guys we need to keep attacking the basket and forcing Hanna to hit big shots,” Harlingen South coach Brian Molina said. “Credit to them, though, they hit the shots when it mattered and came up with key turnovers.”
Adrian Barron broke the tie, Lopez hit a pair of free throws and another 3, and Hanna continued to score for the remainder of the contest to maintain the lead the rest of the way.
“I’m happy with the ‘W’ against a good ballclub,” Barckholtz said. “We made mistakes, but we can clean that up and get better.”
After falling behind early and only scoring four points during the first quarter, Harlingen South spent the remainder of the game clawing its way back.
“We started turning the ball over early, and I think we were a little bit over anxious,” Molina said. “But I think once we settled down we were able to play better basketball.
“I think the kids found out real quick, especially against a great team like Hanna, you’ve got to play four quarters.”
The Hawks opened the second quarter on a 7-2 run to narrow the deficit to four points. Lopez hit a 3 and Ed Messbarger made a free throw, but Harlingen South responded with an 8-2 run and ended the half down by five.
Aggressive offense by Perez and Luke Bradford allowed the Hawks to eventually earn their first lead of the night at 32-31 with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter.
The score remained close until Hanna pulled away during the latter half of the fourth.
Lopez led all scorers with 26 points, and Messbarger added 14. Perez had 17 points for Harlingen South and Bradfordchipped in 15.
Each team next plays at 6 p.m. Jan. 13. The Eagles will travel to Rivera to face the Raiders, and Harlingen South will play host to the San Benito Greyhounds.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.