HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Cardinals kicked off the basketball season with an impressive showing as they trounced Pace 65-28.

Even without All-District selections Mack Sanchez and Alejandro Pallares who are still in the thick of football playoffs, the Cardinals players stepped up and played extremely well.

“Whenever guys step up, you should talk to those guys and not me,” said Harlingen head coach Greg Yates. “They are the ones who make it happen and are outstanding young men.

“We won the game by playing great defense. We held them to 15 points in the first half and then our goal was to hold Pace to less than 15 in the second half.”

Leading 14-11 after the first quarter, Harlingen (1-0) kicked it into high gear as they outscored Pace 16-4 in the second quarter and took a 30-15 lead at the half.

The Cardinals never took their foot off of the gas in the second half as they outscored Pace (0-1) 35-13.

“A lot of these kids on the court are playing varsity for the first time, but they went undefeated on the JV squad last year and are quality kids,” said Yates.

“One thing about our team though is that we run a full court man to man and trap you. So, we ask all ouf our guys to be ready to play at any given time. So, even when we get Sanchez and Pallares back, these young men will be ready to go in at any given time.”

Three Cardinals players scored in double figures on the night. Jonathan Sanchez led the Cardinals with 13 on the night and David Pryor and Michael Williams netted 10.

Nico Benavides led the Vikings with seven points on the night.