WESLACO — The Harlingen High Cardinals and Weslaco High Panthers finished the regular season deadlocked for first place in District 32-6A with 12-2 records.
After splitting their season series, each team earning a victory on the road, the Cardinals and Panthers clashed once again in a seeding game Friday.
The Cardinals held a one-point advantage after one quarter. During the second, however, the Cardinals delivered a blow the Panthers couldn’t recover from.
Led by 6-foot-1 junior Juli Bryant’s eight second-quarter points, the Cardinals outscored the Panthers 16-5, opening a double-digit lead and never looking back en route to a 67-47 victory over the Panthers at Weslaco High.
“I think, honestly, our shots didn’t fall as fluidly as they did the first quarter,” Weslaco High head coach Griselda Fino said. “For some reason, we panicked a little bit. They were getting after the boards and we weren’t. They had a lot of second-chance opportunities. … When you take a look at that, it makes a big difference.”
The Cardinals will take on La Joya High after earning the district’s top spot, with the time, date and location yet to be determined. Meanwhile, the Panthers fall to the No. 2 seed, taking on PSJA High with details still pending, as well.
Going into the contest, the Panthers knew they’d have to be the aggressor, Fino said, needing to win the battle in the paint while controlling the pace.
The Panthers came out firing, taking a 15-8 lead during the opening period behind a trio of 3-pointers. The Cardinals answered back with an 8-0 run to close out the first.
The Cardinals continued their dominance during the second, controlling the boards with 10 offensive rebounds leading to second-chance points.
“We got outrebounded pretty badly,” Fino said. “That was the biggest difference for us, especially during the first half. That’s something we had to do a lot better this game and we just didn’t.”
The Panthers opened the third quarter on attack mode, cutting their deficit to seven behind a 10-3 run. The Cardinals promptly answered with a 10-2 run to close out the quarter.
A 3-pointer by senior guard Emery Scoggins with four minutes remaining put the Cardinals up by 15, all but sealing the Panthers’ fate.
“We were more patient and controlled the pace,” Harlingen High head coach Ashley Moncivaiz said. “We didn’t go on trying to change anything. We just played our game.”
Bryan finished with a team-high 24 points for the Cardinals, while Avery Hinojosa added 20 points. Weslaco High’s Melanie Carrion netted a game-high 26 points.
Despite the loss, the Panthers remain locked in on their next opponent, turning their attention to PSJA High during the opening round.
“This was a game where we felt like we needed to come in and compete,” Fino said. “I thought we did that for the most part. Things just got away from us at the end. But you don’t have the entire season on one game. Regardless of how you look at it, we’re still district champs. We need to move forward and go back to work and get ready for PSJA.”
