Lady Hawks blast Rowe

HARLINGEN — It was déjà vu all over again at Harlingen South’s gymnasium Tuesday night as the Lady Hawks opened their basketball season strongly, pounding the McAllen Rowe Lady Warriors, 67-18.

The Hawks’ swarming defense caused multiple turnovers and collected numerous rebounds, while their offense took full advantage. The Hawks ran up a 31-8 lead with 2:34 left in the second, when Christina Navarro hit a three-pointer for the Warriors first field goal of the game.

The Hawks defense was so unrelenting from that point on that the Warriors only scored two points in the third quarter, before finally stringing together nearly a handful of field goals late in the fourth quarter.  

“Their press is as tough as ever, their quickness is as good as ever, and obviously their size advantage tonight made a difference,” a chagrined Warriors head coach Raul Vega admitted. Adding to the frustration was that Yarelli Rios, a returning letterman, went down with an injury during pre-game warm-ups. Rios’ loss, Vega pointed out, really exposed his young team’s inexperience.

The huge lead gave Hawks head coach Dawn Engleman the opportunity to experiment some with her more experienced squad, particularly their chemistry. In the second and third quarters, she made five-player substitutions and was pleased with how the players adjusted. “I didn’t know how they’d handle that as far as mixing things up on the floor,” she said, cautioning that despite the double-digit win “there’s a lot we need to fix, a whole lot, but that’s just going to come with time.”

Joslynn Benavides, Ariel Guevara, and Miranda Garcia led all Hawks scorers with 14, 11, and 10 points, respectively.