Special to 956sports.com

EDINBURG – It wasn’t the bit surprising when Harlingen High coach Greg Yates deflected any notion of Friday’s game against Edinburg North having some revenge factor in it.

It also wasn’t surprising that his players were quick to say it did.

Charlie Powers scored 18 points and the Cardinals’ defense stifled the turnover-prone Cougars to help Harlingen High rout the District 31-5A co-leaders 72-43 on Friday night.

“We haven’t been the team that we should be playing like,” Powers said. “We should be playing like a better team. In this game, we really stepped it up and now we’re playing at another level, which is where we need to stay.”

With more performances like Friday’s, they’ll certainly stay in contention for the District 31-5A championship, which became more attainable after climbing to within one game of now-second-place Edinburg North. Daniel Ybarra added 10 points for the Cardinals (22-6 overall, 6-3 district), who exacted revenge for their 69-65 home loss to the Cougars on Jan. 3.

“It felt good,” Ybarra said of the victory. “I’m just glad my team got after it.”

Harlingen clearly kicked it into high gear on Friday, imposing their will on the Cougars from the opening tipoff. The Cardinals scored the game’s first nine points, building a 14-4 lead midway through the first quarter, and used a 9-1 run in the final 2:41 of the second to take a 32-17 lead into halftime.

A nightmare wouldn’t even begin to describe how the second quarter played out for Edinburg North, which dropped to 15-12 overall and 7-2 in district.

The Cougars were held to four points, one field goal and committed 13 turnovers, frustrating coach Rudy Garcia and a disgruntled home crowd.

“They weren’t used to the press,” said Ybarra, who made a remarkable block in the fourth quarter. “In the first half, we were just going man and then we just wanted to try going into press again to see if that works. We got a couple of steals and those steals led to baskets.”

And it led the Cougars, who were coming off an emotional win against Edinburg High on Tuesday, into a tailspin they could simply not recover from. As one of the best defensive teams in the league, Edinburg North showed no signs of that after struggling to slow down the recharged Cardinals. Harlingen High didn’t let its foot off the pedal in the second half, leading 52-32 heading into the fourth quarter.

Powers scored nine of the team’s 20 points in the third period and was one of four Cardinals to reach double figures.

“I felt really good about myself and I’m glad I helped my team out the way I did,” Powers said.

Brandon Davila scored 13 points for the Cougars. Sam Cavazos had 11.

Special to 956sports.com

LA FERIA – Edinburg Economedes’ John Barrientos had a few kind words to share with the rest of District 31-5A’s teams following the championship game of the C.E. Vail Classic on Saturday afternoon.

“They better get ready,” Barrientos said without hesitation. “If not, get out of our way.”

At least for Saturday, Barrientos had every reason to boast after the Jaguars captured their first-ever tournament championship, defeating Harlingen High 88-87 in a thrilling district preview.

If Economedes hasn’t already turned some heads this season, Saturday’s victory definitely will. The Jaguars improved to 16-2 and won Round 1 of what is sure to look like heavyweight bouts between both teams come district play.

“They’re extremely tough and to know that we got to play them again in district is really scary,” Economedes coach Lalo Rios said.

Not only did Economedes survive the four-game, three-day tournament, it withstood its toughest test from one of the Valley’s best boys teams. Because it seemed as though the Cardinals, who lost for only the second time this season, threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Jaguars, answering every Economedes run. Though, doomed possessions at crucial points sealed their fate.

The Jaguars scored eight points off four Harlingen (14-2) turnovers in the final six minutes and held their largest lead at 76-65 with 4:04 remaining, but it was still almost not enough to stave off the Cardinals.

Harlingen pulled to within two points on several occasions after, including on Daniel Ybarra’s basket with 24 seconds remaining that cut its deficit to 86-84. The Cardinals scrambled for a turnover on the ensuing possession, which was almost successful, but Economedes’ J.J. Velasquez iced the game with a basket and foul.

“They put a lot of pressure on us, but we stuck through it,” said Velasquez, who scored 18 points and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “We have four or five returning varsity players. We have chemistry.”

And that chemistry was evident, which helped the Jaguars continue their surprising start to the season. Economedes never trailed by more than three points, which lasted less than two minutes, and had four players score in double digits.

Barrientos scored a game-high 21 points, Ricky Cantu recorded 19 and Jesus Gonzalez added 18.

“I think this team is really special,” Rios said. “Most of them have been on varsity for a long time so it’s scary to think we can be a real special team this year. I don’t even know if we’ve reached our full potential yet.”

The Cardinals hope they haven’t either.

Harlingen dropped its second straight tournament final this season, both of which it won last year. But unlike like last week’s double-digit loss to McAllen Rowe in the BISD championship, the Cardinals were always in this one. However, they played catch up most of the game and were plagued by costly turnovers.

“Credit to what they did, they caused us to turn it over a lot,” Harlingen coach Greg Yates said. “We got into the game we wanted, but the turnovers did hurt us.”

Gilbert Reza led the Cardinals with 18 points, while Charlie Powers scored 15.