Harlingen South's Miranda Garcia (33) attempts to grab the ball as Edinburg Economedes' Nancy Rosillo (5) defends during South's win Saturday in Edinburg.
Joel Martinez | jmartinez@themonitor.com
Harlingen South claims District 31-5A crown
EDINBURG — The Harlingen South Lady Hawks had only one thing on their minds going into Saturday’s game against the Edinburg Economedes Lady Jaguars: winning the District 31-5A title.
Bianca Torre scored a game-high 42 points as the Lady Hawks dominated the Lady Jags with an offensive assault to wallop Economedes 93-33. The Lady Hawks have won back-to-back district titles. The Lady Jags (9-3) fall into a second-place tie with Edinburg High with one district game remaining.
“I feel great about winning district,” Harlingen South coach Dawn Engleman said. “I’ll feel even better if we win that district game Thursday night. Our first goal all year long is to go undefeated in district and that’s what we’re looking for. As far as I’m concerned, we haven’t won district yet.”
But Harlingen South (13-0) has in fact clinched the district title and is due in large part thanks to junior guard Bianca Torre, who is arguably one of the best talents in the state.
Torre scored the first six points of the game to help steer her team to a 20-2 lead in the first quarter. The Lady Hawks took no mercy on their opponents as they applied constant pressure throughout the game, double teaming every Lady Jaguars player who got the ball.
“It feels good beating our biggest competition in district,” Torre said. “We came out fired up and took control of the game. We did what we needed to do and now we just need to carry our intensity into the next game.”
Economedes struggled with ball control throughout the second quarter as Harlingen South’s defense took full advantage, coming up with six steals in the quarter and 13 in the game.
Every time the Lady Jags try to rally the Lady Hawks had an answer. Economedes coach Kelly Garrett could only watch as her team was picked apart by the Lady Hawks’ deadly shooting accuracy, led by Torre who went 16-of-22 from the floor and 9-of-12 from the line, bringing her point total to 658 for the season.
“They (Economedes) did all they could do and played their hearts out,” Garrett said. “It’s kind of tough when two of our best players are out, not to use that as an excuse but Harlingen South has a real good team. I told the girls after the game to forget about it and get ready for Edinburg North and then playoffs.”
South took a 54-16 advantage going into the second half and never looked back as it led by as many as 42 points in the third quarter. The Lady Hawks capped the game with a 10-1 run late in the fourth to seal a 60-point blowout over the No. 8 team in the Valley.
“You can see the passion in their (South) eyes,” Engleman said. “The fact that we are running on a lot of energy right now, that’s how we want to go into the playoffs.”
