By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Sharyland head girls basketball coach Dale Whitaker ended 2015 with his 400th career win, but it wasn’t easy.
Down two with three seconds left, Harlingen South’s Breanna Gonzales took the inbound pass, but was trapped in the deep left corner.
She never found a look, and the Lady Rattlers narrowly escaped with a 48-46 win Thursday afternoon in Harlingen.
“We had a good idea that they were going to get the ball to (Gonzales) and try for the win; it was the longest three seconds of my life,” Whitaker said. “South played hard and even when we rebounded they looked like they wanted it more and took it from us; they did a really good job.”
Harlingen South (12-13, 2-1), down 47-39 midway through the fourth quarter went on an 8-0, which was capped off by a Gonzales three.
After Sharyland (16-6, 2-0) split free throws with under a minute to play, South missed three shots with a chance to tie on their ensuing possession.
South, however, forced a turnover on Sharyland’s ensuing inbound to set up the final sequence. Still, South head coach Kelly Garrett was pleased with the effort.
“We did a good job of pressuring on defense; all our players did,” Garrett said. “Of course you want the win, but the girls left it all out on the floor today and you can’t you can’t ask for anything more.”
Throughout the game, Sharyland’s size was the difference. Posts Anna Marshall and Maddie Garza dropped in easy buckets underneath and were a force on the defensive glass.
“It’s no secret that we have two of the best post players in the Valley,” Whitaker said.
“If I don’t go to them I would have never gotten to 400 wins.
“They’re definitely our strength.”
The duo led the way scoring a combined 26 points. They also went a combined 10 of 16 from the line and forced South’s bigs into foul trouble.
“We are limited in our post play and Tina (Montez) got into foul trouble early so that hurt,” Garrett said. “ Vanessa (Santillas) stepped up and played well, but we have to go back and work on things.”
South’s Gonzales led all scorers with 21 points on the day.