Basketball Game Preview: Harlingen Cardinals vs. La Joya Coyotes

The Harlingen Cardinals will venture away from home to face off against the La Joya Coyotes at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Harlingen's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last ten matches.

Harlingen is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Edinburg North just ended the team's eight-game winning streak on Monday. They took a hard 76-59 fall against the Cougars. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Cardinals came into the game with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 143rd, while the Cougars are ranked 411th).

La Joya hasn't had quite the year their fans were hoping for to this point, but back-to-back wins may be a sign of good things to come. They secured a 58-54 W over Austin Achieve Northeast on Saturday.

Harlingen better focus on containing Anthony Romero and Owen Benoit as the pair were huge in La Joya's win. Romero went 8 for 13 on his way to 18 points and six rebounds, while Benoit went 6 of 11 on his way to 19 points and five rebounds. Those 18 points gave Romero a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Eric Garcia, who posted eight points and three steals.

La Joya's win bumped their record up to 8-16. As for Harlingen, their loss dropped their record down to 20-4.

Harlingen came up short against La Joya in their previous meeting back in November of 2020, falling 81-70. Can Harlingen avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.