Harrison stresses lessons from last year
Depth, experience give Cardinal boys shot at league title
The Bellaire boys soccer team started well last season, only to fade at the tail end of District 20-6A play and the Class 6A playoffs.
But head coach Doug Harrison has a feeling that things will go differently this time.
“Wewere as high as second place in district but ending up losing two of our last three games and got the No. 4 seed,” Harrison said. “This year’s team is just as good, but we have a little more depth.”
The Cardinals have looked impressive so far. They knocked off Milby 5-1 and Reagan 1-0 last week to run their record to 7-1-2 overall and 3-1 in District 20-6A.
Harrison noted that his squad gained confidence by going 4-0-2 in the Pearland/Pasadena Tournament, winning its bracket. Bellaire has picked up victories over Angleton, Cy Woods, Fort Bend Hightower and Pearland Dawson and managed ties against Fort Bend Ridge Point, a Class 5A-Region III finalist, and Goose Creek Memorial.
The Cardinals could be a threat in what Harrison considers a “wide-open” District 20-6A race.
“Sam Houston was senior-heavy last year and graduated a bunch of players, but they’re always good,” Harrison said. “We’ve improved and so have Westside and Lamar. You can’t count out Reagan and Chavez. Our district should be pretty competitive.”
Bellaire has plenty of talent at every position, making the Cardinals tough to beat.
At forward, Bellaire features seniors Mohamed Kenneh and Augusto Talavera.
“Mohamed is a big kid, very athletic and strong,” Harrison said. “Augusto is dangerous, too. He had two goals against Milby. He can score at any time.”
The midfield is stacked, seniors Jose Martinez and Ben Williams sharing the spotlight with a pair of exceptional sophomores, Jonathan Prudencio and Julio Arzate.
“Jose and Ben are seniors and Jonathan and Julio play with the Houston Dynamo Academy, so we only have them for one year,” Harrison said. “We’re going to lose our entire midfield next season, so we need to win now.”
Sophomore Ronaldo Gonzalez, another midfielder, has given the Cardinals a boost off the bench.
Bellaire’s defense came into the season with limited experience, but the Cardinals have made strides with five key juniors – Juan Carreon, Nick Clague, Jack Lillig, Jose Quintanilla and Erick Sanchez. Lillig was off to a fantastic start before breaking his wrist.
“Most of these guys played as 10th-graders,” Harrison said. “They’re a year older and they know what to expect.”
The Cardinals have a reliable goalkeeper in senior Cesar Carrera.
“Cesar is a three-year starter,” Harrison said. “I’d put Cesar in the top two goalies in our district. He’s our glue.”
Next up for Bellaire is a battle against defending champion Sam Houston at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, at Cowart Stadium. Girls win district
The Bellaire girls basketball team has already clinched the District 206A title.
The Cardinals, 24-7 overall, went into its league finale against Milby in first place with a perfect 13-0 mark. Westside, at 11-2, and Lamar, at 9-4, have clinched the second and third seeds, but Sam Houston and Chavez, both 6-7, were fighting for the final spot.
Bellaire head coach Lamar Simons is proud of his squad, which was picked behind Westside in most of the preseason polls.
“We knew it would come down to us and Westside,” Simons said. “Fortunately, we swept both games, but it wasn’t easy.”
Two weeks ago, the Cardinals rallied from a 15-point deficit to shock the Wolves 49-40 in overtime.
Bellaire has a balanced line-up, led by senior point guard Donnashean Evans (16.5 points, 4.5 assists), senior forward Keejah Dibrell (12.0 points) and 6-foot-4 junior post Mya Hollingshed (11.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.0 blocks).
Simons believes his team, which will face either Katy Taylor Katy Cinco Ranch in a Class 6ARegion III bi-district game next week, has the potential to go deep in the playoffs. However, it’s possible for the Cardinals to fall in the first round.
“We’re one bad shooting night or a couple of bad defensive rotations from losing to anybody. Fortunately, that hasn’t happened to us very often,” Simons said. “Regardless of who we play, we have to be on top of our game. The fourth-place team from the Katy district (District 19-6A) would compete for the championship in our district.” Swimmers solid
Bellaire won’t have any state qualifiers this year, but the Cardinals performed well at the Class 6A-Region 5 Swimming and Diving Championships last week at the Conroe ISD Natatorium in Shenandoah.
“It was probably the best regional meet we’ve had in a while,” said Bellaire head coach Kris Wingenroth. “We don’t have any stud individuals this year, but we had a high percentage of personal-best times.”
Junior Caleb Zhuang won the B finals in the 100yard butterfly. Jeff Jenkins is a freelance writer and can be reached at jenkins.jeffreys@gmail.com.