Sharyland upsets No. 5 Harlingen South

MISSION — Tuesday’s Sharyland-Harlingen South game was as typical as a season opener gets.

There were tons of fouls, missed shots, blown layups and squandered opportunities for both teams in the Rattlers’ 59-46 win at Sharyland.

Despite the customary rustiness to start the season, however, the win is a real boost for unranked Sharyland (1-0), which knocked off the preseason No. 5 team in the Rio Grande Valley.

“It feels amazing after losing to Laredo Alexander last year in the playoffs by four points,” said senior Jared Denton, who was referring to the team’s 2008-09 bi-district setback. “We were a team of juniors. To win this game means a lot because we have all these returning guys. We are still a team just like we were last year. To come back and beat a top 10 team like this is pretty good.”

Denton led the Rattlers with 15 points and sparked the team with 11 in the second quarter. His shot while falling down and being fouled gave the home team a 33-25 lead at halftime.

His layup with 4:26 left in the third quarter pushed the Rattlers’ lead to 44-33. Sharyland led by as many as 15 points in the second half.

The Hawks (0-1) tried to make a game of it late after a 3-pointer and layup, respectively, by Rico Herrera pulled them to within 50-41 with 3:58 remaining. But the comeback was squashed by consecutive Trevor Marlar layups that gave Sharyland a 54-21 lead with 3:11 to play. Herrera had a game-high 23 points and hit four 3s.

“Every time it seemed like we got into it, Sharyland would go down and make a play,” Hawks coach Brian Molina said. “That just comes with experience. They have a lot of kids that can flat-out score. They came up with the big plays when they needed to.”

Marlar scored 14 and Fred Ramos added 12 points for the Rattlers.

Despite some season-opening rust, Rattlers coach David Keith is not downplaying the importance of the win.

“I think everyone will get going later,” Keith said. “I think Harlingen South is a really well-coached team. They fought hard. My guys were able to answer some of those things and were able to be physical too. This was something they worked very hard for.”

Peter Rasmussen covers high school sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via e-mail at prasmussen@themonitor.com.