(Photo by Constancio Martinez, Jr.)
By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
This Tuesday, December 5, the 4A Port Isabel Tarpons (4-4) hosted the 6A Harlingen Cardinals (12-3) in a non-district basketball game. Before the matchup, the Tarpons were coming off competing in Brownsville’s 3-day tournament, where they faced some tough competition against 5A and 6A schools. Meanwhile, the Cardinals were on a 7-game winning streak, including a big 61-57 win over (12-2) Los Fresnos.
From the get-go, both teams applied tenacious half-court defense. By mid-first quarter, the Tarpons held a slight 4-3 lead as both teams combined to miss a dozen shots. As the first quarter came to an end, PI’s Christian Smith and Jeffrey Smith’s 3-point baskets gave PI a 10-6 lead.
In the second quarter, Harlingen went to full-court press, leading to a handful of Tarpon turnovers. Meanwhile, the Cardinals started to make their 3-point shots as they took a 15-14 lead midway in the quarter. Cardinal Luis Rodriguez scored on a layup as time expired, which gave Harlingen a 26-23 lead at halftime.
As the third quarter got underway, the Tarpons continued to struggle against the Cardinals’ defense. By mid-quarter, Harlingen extended their lead to 38-29. A last-second 3-pointer by PI Aiden Sanchez made it 44-39 in favor of the Cardinals as the game headed to the final quarter.
The Tarpons intensified their defensive pressure in the fourth quarter. With two minutes left in the quarter, PI’s Ch. Smith makes a crucial 3-pointer to cut into Harlingen’s lead, 52-48. After a missed Cardinals basket, J. Smith found Cleveland Smith open for the 3-pointer as the Tarpons now trailed 52-51 with one minute left in the game. Down 54-51 and with 14 seconds remaining, the Tarpons could not make two 3-point shot attempts and settled for a 2-point play. Unfortunately, time expired, and the Cardinals escaped with a 54-53 win.
Before the matchup, the Tarpons had competed in Brownsville’s tournament, where they faced some quality teams. On the first day of the tourney, the Tarpons beat 5A PSJA Southwest 59-32, then lost to Brownsville Pace 44-37 later in the day.
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