ON A ROLL

EDINBURG - For most of the second half Thursday night, Harlingen South coach Brian Molina exhibited the same expressions.

It was either frustration after another Edinburg High basket, or exasperation after his Hawks made another mistake, which often turned into two or three Bobcat points.

After the game, which Edinburg High won 74-55, Molina tried to give the No. 1 Bobcats credit for what they did. And, just as importantly, for what they stopped Harlingen South from accomplishing in the second half.

“Give a lot of credit to Edinburg’s defense, they kind of turned it up a notch,” Molina said. “They forced us into some bad decisions, we turned the ball over down the stretch, and when you’re playing a great team like Edinburg High, you can’t make those kinds of mistakes.”

Those mistakes allowed Edinburg High (23-3, 8-0) to take a three-game lead over the Hawks (22-6, 5-3) for the District 31-5A lead. The Bobcats also managed to pull off a season-sweep of the Hawks, whom they had beaten 80-79 on Dec. 29.

And they did it, as Molina said, by increasing the pressure early in the second half.

“We’ve always had a good second half, whether we were behind or ahead. I told my team at halftime, that the first three minutes of the third quarter were going to set the tone,” Edinburg High coach Joe Filoteo said. “We came out and we were only seven points up and I know against a good team like the Hawks, that wasn’t a big lead. So we established ourselves and I think that momentum carried us into the fourth quarter.”

At halftime, the Edinburg High lead was only 29-22. But eight quick points by Noe De La Rosa and a tight press allowed the Bobcats to take a 47-32 lead with 1:17 left in the third quarter. That also allowed the Bobcats to survive Hawks guard Steven Garcia, who scored all 18 of his points after halftime.

De La Rosa, who finished with a game-high 17 points, admitted the Bobcats used the first half as a warm-up for the second.

“The first half, for us, we’re always kind of down, we don’t usually do as well in the first half as the second,” De La Rosa said. “We get a feel of what they’re doing, figure it out and fix it in the second half.”

What Harlingen South couldn’t do is figure out how to stop making mistakes. After one botched offensive set midway through the third quarter, brothers Trey and Tyler Sanford exchanged glances that went beyond the typical sibling rivalry.

De La Rosa, who along with Jaime Acuna (16 points) and Esteban Arriola (11 points) scored in double-digits, said he could sense the Hawks were having trouble.

He just wasn’t sure why.

“I don’t know, maybe they were tired,” De La Rosa said. “We played much better than them in the second half.”

Brian Sandalow covers high school sports for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.