MARK MOLINA| Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — In a matchup of Sharyland post play versus the run-and-gun Harlingen South Hawks, it was free throws that decided the outcome.
Rattlers guard Zach Townsend found himself at the line with 1.2 seconds to play after Hawks post player Luke Bradford fouled him on the way to the basket.
Bradford earned his fifth foul and Townsend split a pair of free throws to lift the Rattlers over the Hawks 53-52 Tuesday night at Harlingen South.
The Hawks turned the ball over on a five-second call prior to the foul, giving Townsend and the Rattlers just over nine seconds to work with on the final play.
Sharyland posts Patrick De La Torre and Jose De La Garza combined for 19 and 18 points on the night and led the charge, but both were fouled out at the 2:37 mark of the fourth, making Sharyland’s execution and defense critical in the final minutes.
“Harlingen South capitalized on some of our weaknesses and made a run especially when our bigs sat down; it became a feeding frenzy,” Sharyland head coach David Keith said.
“I thought our guys came in and played well for our two bigs and worked the ball around well to help close the game. You want a team effort and Zach Townsend did a good job; he hit that free throw down the stretch.”
The Hawks managed to stay in the game besides the fact they were cold from the field and missed 15 free throws, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
“It was tough, but the good thing about it was that we were in position to win the ball game, but we didn’t hit the free throws. Credit to Sharyland; they’re a well-coached playoff team,” South head coach Brian Molina said.
“Hopefully we can take some positives from this loss and grow from there. I’m proud of our effort; the kids fought. However, I’m glad we got to play this game.”
Early on defense was the key as the two teams combined for just 31 points in the first half, with Sharyland taking a 16-15 lead into the half.
However, after the break, the Rattlers continued to feed the ball inside to De La Garza and De La Torre and led 30-20 midway through the third period.
In the fourth, South took its first lead since early in the first on a pair of free throws after Sharyland‘s Keith was issued a technical foul.
That capped off a 20-9 and made the score 40-39.
South’s Bradford led that charge and scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and kept attacking the Rattler bigs, drawing fouls.
Despite a back and forth game in the final minutes, the Hawks lost the game at the charity stripe.
South took 22 free throws in the second half and missed 12.