By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — After settling for too many jumpers in the second quarter, McAllen High coach Ryan Flores had a clear-cut message for his team at halftime.
Attack, attack, attack.
The Bulldogs hadn’t gotten to the foul line through one half of action. But after asserting themselves more by driving to the basket, they became recurring visitors to the charity stripe, rallying to beat Harlingen South 54-48 on Tuesday at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
McHi (30-7) hit 17 of 25 foul shots after halftime to overcome a seven-point deficit en route to their ninth consecutive win, advancing to the Region IV-6A tournament for the first time since 2010.
“All year we’ve been in these tight situations. We’re used to it,” the Bulldogs’ Oscar Rangel said after pouring in a game-high 18 points. “We know how to handle this. We pulled it off. They’re a great team (at Harlingen South) but we did what we had to do to get this victory.”
After two quarters of play, Harlingen South (18-15) had converted 4 of 9 free-throw attempts. McHi had none.
It highlighted one of the Bulldogs’ glaring issues during the second quarter, when they relied too much on the long ball, making 1 of 5 from deep. South had similar concerns during the first quarter, when it hit only 3 of 9 3-pointers. Once they went away from that and started feeding the post, the Hawks took a 32-25 edge at halftime.
South’s Jimmy Morton made McHi pay inside, scoring 11 of his game-high-tying 18 points during the second quarter.
“At that point, “We finally said, ‘We’re going to attack the basket hard. We don’t care who’s in front of us — the post, the guards, anybody. Hey, let’s find the lanes, attack the baskets, get high-percentage shots. They’re going to foul us,’” Flores said.
McHi finally tied it at 45 with 4:40 to play following a pair of Joan Lopez free throws. He finished with 13 points.
Moments later, he buried two more, finishing 6 of 8 from the line. It helped McHi finish with more free-throw attempts (25) through one half than South (23) did through the entire game. On top of that, the Hawks converted only 11 of those tries.
“We got a little careless, got in a little bit of foul trouble,” said South coach Brian Molina, whose team committed more turnovers (14-6) and fouls (21-15) than McHi. “But credit to them, they started attacking the basket and they did what they needed to do to win.
“We picked up some quick fouls and it dictated the way we needed to guard. I mean, the officials did a great job. It wasn’t that, it was us. They just started attacking the basket a little bit better than we did.”
Deon Ellis came up big for the Bulldogs, providing a burst of energy. He compiled 8 points, 10 rebounds and plenty of hustle plays to help hold South to only six points in the fourth quarter.
“We just put more pressure on them when we had to,” Flores said. “We made adjustments. Full court, man pressure, forcing them to weaker hand, going on the help side. I told them, ‘Hey, we’re going to give up the outside shot, but let’s slow them down on the penetration.’
“I don’t know if (South) got a little winded or a little tired, but I thought we picked it up a notch. And they weren’t ready in that second half.”
McHi advances to play Schertz Clemens, which beat San Antonio Clark 66-62 on Tuesday. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday at UTSA.
With a cast of underclassmen, South fell short of reaching the fourth round for the second time in as many years. They graduated their entire starting lineup from last season and ushered in a cast of underclassmen who hadn’t had much experience on the variety level.
They came close to extending their season Tuesday, but fell short in the second half by scoring a combined 16 points — matching their per-quarter average in the first two quarters.
“These kids show a lot of heart,” Molina said. “A lot of people didn’t expect us to be here, graduating our whole team, with the exception of one or two guys. I’m really proud of these kids. They left it on the court. They played hard. I think they overachieved, (winning a share of the) district title, getting back to the regional quarterfinals. It sets a good base. We’re a young team. So God-willing, maybe we’ll be back next year.”