But thanks to some relatively strong showings at both the Weslaco and McAllen Border Bash basketball tournaments, the Lady Hawks have seemed to work out some of the kinks and looked pretty good in a 57-41 home win against PSJA Memorial on Tuesday afternoon.
Senior post Christina Montez exploited the smaller Lady Wolverines under the boards to score 26 points and lead the Lady Hawks to their eighth win of the season.
“She’s been doing really well for us,” said Lady Hawks head coach Kelly Garrett of Montez. “She was just real strong today and was able to take advantage of the height difference, and it just worked out for her. We were really trying to push the ball inside to her today.”
The Lady Hawks (8-6) actually started rather slowly, trailing 8-3 early thanks to several turnovers and missed shots. But Montez came off the bench and scored five first-quarter points to spark the Lady Hawks and end the first period tied at 10-10.
In the second period, the Lady Hawks continued to work the ball inside to Montez, who scored seven points and was 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.
Meanwhile, Mikaela Flores pumped in six points and the Lady Hawks took a 29-24 lead into the locker room at the half.
In the third quarter, the Lady Hawks’ defense stepped up and held PSJA Memorial to just five points. The Lady Wolverines didn’t score until the three-minute mark of the period when Alex Soto drained a free-throw and they didn’t hit a field goal until there was just 1:22 left in the frame, by which time the Lady Hawks led 39-27.
In the fourth, the Lady Hawks’ offense did fall asleep early on as the Lady Wolverines opened the period on a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to eight.
But, once again, the Lady Hawks got the ball inside to Montez, who scored eight and helped her team close things out.
“I think all the tournament games we’ve played over the past two weeks have really helped us,” Garrett said. “The games helped get us valuable playing time and that helped us work on our weaknesses.”
The Lady Hawks don’t play another game until next Tuesday when they host Edinburg Economedes. Garrett said she actually welcomes the break.
“It comes at a good time for us because we have a few injured players who need the rest and with district play starting up in just two weeks, we’ll take it,” she said.