Tuesday marked the start of district action for girls basketball and there was plenty of it to go around.
In sub-5A action, two District 32-4A title contenders squared off and in Class 6A, the first matchup between Harlingen High and Harlingen South lived up to the hype.
SIGH OF RELIEF: Breathe easy Harlingen South Lady Hawks fans – Karla Reyes is going to be all right. During Tuesday’s rivalry game against Harlingen High, the Lady Hawks gymnasium went silent after Reyes limped off the court wincing in pain. It turns out that the sophomore phenom was suffering from some severe muscular cramps that led her to miss the final moments of the Bird Bowl rivalry. Reyes finished the contest with 18 points while going 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.
CLASH OF TITANS: In a game that could count for a lot down the road, the La Feria Lionettes and the Hidalgo Lady Pirates met up Tuesday evening for an early showcase of two of the top teams in 32-4A. The Lionettes came away with a 44-40 victory; however, as La Feria head coach Angel Martinez said, the win wasn’t without a sense of preparedness.
“Hidalgo has been doing a great job this season because they have been playing some (Class) 6As and beating them, and playing teams like San Benito and staying with them until the end because they have a very, very talented squad,” said Martinez.
“I think playing PSJA North, with their quick guards and good shooters, was preparation for us because Hidalgo, I feel, have guards just as quick that can shoot. I know if we can play tough against a good PSJA North team then we could play tough against a tough Hidalgo team as well. Out of all the five of Hidalgo’s girls, four can shoot the three very well, posing a big challenge for us.”
On offense, senior Myah Salas had an evening to remember scoring an impressive 27 points.
“Myah had a huge night,” said Martinez. “Honestly I don’t think she came off the court one time. She the type of player that’s able to play at a high level every minute and I’m very proud of her.”
While offensively the Lionettes might have scored just enough points to beat the Lady Pirates, it was the team’s defense that came up big once again.
“As I’ve said all along, we pride ourselves on good defense,” said Martinez. “After they (Hidalgo) jumped out ahead of us early on, we were able to settle in and fight our way back, and continue to apply good defensive pressure and play good half court defense. As the girls ran the offense correctly we were able to put some points on them and I want to say we jumped out to an 18-6 lead and that was big for us in the first half.”
Next up, the Lionettes travel to Port Isabel to take on the Lady Tarpons on Friday at 6:30.
