HARLINGEN — The Harlingen High and Weslaco High basketball programs split a District 32-6A doubleheader Friday as the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals and Weslaco High Panthers each picked up pivotal district wins.
The Lady Cardinals maintained their perfect district record and separated themselves at the top of the standings by completing the season sweep of the Lady Panthers. Avery Hinojosa (18 points) and Callie Cervantes (13 points) put together strong shooting performances and helped anchor a stingy defense that kept Weslaco High at bay during the second quarter to seal the 59-36 Harlingen High win.
“(The win) feels really good because it puts us at the top of the district,” Cervantes said. “We just tried to stay focused and not get too crazy and overthink, because then you get more nervous. (Lady Cardinals coach Ashley Moncivaiz) just told me to shoot and be ready because the team is counting on us.”
Harlingen High started out hot during the opening quarter as Hinojosa knocked down two 3-pointers and Alyssa Salas added another to force an early Lady Panthers timeout. Rosa Zapata led a full-court press that gave Weslaco High problems and allowed the Lady Cardinals to hold an 18-9 lead after the first.
The Lady Panthers clawed back into the game in a low-scoring second quarter. Harlingen High’s offensive production plummeted as the Lady Cardinals stopped playing team basketball and scored just four points in the frame. Weslaco High’s Morgan Peralez and Raemie Medina played well down low, and good effort from Alexa Davila and Destinee Ramos got the Lady Panthers within two points of the lead at halftime.
“I told them they needed to control the pace. They were trying to go 100 miles an hour, and when we control the pace is when we look more effective on offense,” Moncivaiz said.
The Lady Cardinals came out strong in the third quarter and continued to feed off the energy from their crowd to dominate the second half. They avenged their four-point second quarter with a game-high 24 points in the third, led by Cervantes’ 11 points. Hinojosa, Zapata and Emery Scoggins played solid defense in the frame to aid Harlingen High’s comfortable 46-31 lead heading to the fourth.
“We were all pumped. We knew they were going to come out strong and we had to fight back. I was pumped after that first three, I was ready,” Hinojosa said.
Harlingen High’s deep bench was on display as the gap widened down the stretch. Athena Linnartz put together a strong series of plays to score four points off the bench in the fourth. The raucous Lady Cardinals fans had plenty to cheer about from tipoff to the final buzzer as their squad showcased stellar ball movement, top-tier defense and lights-out shooting in the victory.
“When we have the crowd, we have the fans here, (the players) love the environment, so we feed off of it. We love that energy,” Moncivaiz said.
The second game of the night was a much more contested affair, won 56-53 by the Panthers.
The Harlingen High Cardinals followed the example set by the girls’ team and blasted out of the gate to dictate the game early on. Ryan Sanchez sank two deep 3-pointers, and the duo of Mike Castillo and John Salinas played well defensively to create offensive chances. They combined to score 10 points to give the Cardinals a 16-6 lead after one.
Weslaco High’s Vince Peralez was kept off the scoreboard by Harlingen High’s strong interior defense during the opening quarter, but he displayed his physicality down low in the second. Peralez cleaned up on the boards and scored seven points to cut the Panthers’ deficit to eight at halftime.
The intensity of the game picked up during a physical third quarter. Both squads drove to the basket and were aggressive in the paint to draw a plethora of foul calls. The Panthers were perfect at the charity stripe and used that to their advantage in the fourth. Weslaco High finished the night 22-for-22 on free throws, with 10 of those points coming in the final eight minutes.
The Cardinals, on the other hand, were 14-for-24 at the line. They had a nine-point advantage heading to the fourth quarter, but Weslaco High’s defense improved in the second half and the Panthers hit clutch shots down the stretch. Leonard Smith hit a 3-pointer inside of two minutes remaining to put the Panthers on top for the first time.
Castillo answered with his own deep ball to get the lead back for the Cardinals. A nice pass from Andrew Olmeda to Peralez gave momentum and the advantage to the Panthers, and they held on for the win by sinking free throws during the final minute.
“Effort was there, guys played extremely hard. They gave it everything they had, we just couldn’t finish,” Cardinals coach Clayton Cretors said. “They hit free throws, we didn’t. That really put us in a bad spot, and that was basically the difference in the game.”
