Basketball Game Preview: Los Fresnos Falcons vs. Harlingen Cardinals

The Los Fresnos Falcons will square off against the Harlingen Cardinals at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Last Friday, Los Fresnos was able to grind out a solid win over Veterans Memorial, taking the game 67-59. Given the Falcons' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 347th, while the Chargers are ranked 806th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Los Fresnos' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Eric Salazar led the charge by putting up 18 points along with eight steals and five boards. The dominant performance gave Salazar a new career-high in steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Gio Galvan, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine boards.

Los Fresnos smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in seven consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Harlingen got the win against Hanna on Friday by a conclusive 68-48. The Cardinals have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 20 points or more this season.

Harlingen pushed their record up to 22-4 with the victory, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.6 points per game. As for Los Fresnos, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 20-7 record this season.

Los Fresnos came up short against Harlingen in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, falling 54-47. Can Los Fresnos avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.