Harlingen South cruises past Mercedes, stays perfect in district

MERCEDES — Harlingen South needed only 20 points to beat Mercedes Friday night – The Hawks scored that in the first quarter.

Harlingen South moved to 4-0 in District 32-5A with a 62-19 win over Mercedes in a battle of previously unbeaten teams. The Tigers drop to 3-1 with 14 games remaining in district play.

It was always likely that the district title would come down to Harlingen South and Brownsville Lopez, but there was the potential from other district teams to challenge the hierarchy and Mercedes came in as one of them after starting 3-0.

The Hawks proved Friday night that they are more than capable of putting away the rest of the district by opening the game on a 15-0 run.

Harlingen South’s Mia Reyna pulls up for a shot against Mercedes in a District 32-5A meeting in Mercedes. (Andrew Cordero/Special to RGVSports)

“It was a great team effort, girls played hard and I felt like their effort was great,” Harlingen South head coach Rebecca Littleton said.

The Hawks outscored the Tigers 36-8 in the first half and were able to distribute plenty of minutes along the way. Nine different South players grabbed a basket.

Harlingen South junior Allison Miller has been a key player for the Hawks so far this season, already doubling her points per game average from last season, going from 3 ppg to 7.5 ppg. Miller had a game-high 14 points.

The Hawks have a strong junior class. Four of the five starters have another season of basketball. Junior guard Jiselle Montemayor had 12 and post Fern Martinez had 6.

The lone senior starter Serena Cano had 11 points. Another junior playing well is Kayden Villarreal, she had 5 points.

Harlingen South’s Serena Cano attempts a 3-pointer against Mercedes in a District 32-5A meeting in Mercedes. (Andrew Cordero/Special to RGVSports)

Littleton was pleased her whole team was able to stay fresh and take advantage of opportunities they are earning from their hard work.

Mercedes graduated numerous key players from a playoff team last season, and have established themselves as a playoff threat in the district with a great start. The Tigers are still a bit young and it showed against the press at times.

Mercedes was led in scoring by freshman Madilyn Noriega with 8 points and senior Stephanie Cano with 5 points.

The Tigers will look to bounce back against Donna North at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Donna and are slated to have an important game against Edcouch-Elsa at 3 p.m. Friday in Mercedes.

Harlingen South has its toughest week of district play coming up. The Hawks face Edcouch-Elsa at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at home.

Friday is the first game against Brownsville Lopez at 2:30 p.m. at Lopez, they split last year’s meetings.

“I think we have a big week coming up,” Littleton said. “We have to keep them consistent, keep them working hard and continue to play well as a team.”

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