|
Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Late-game scoring drought costly for Pecos
The second half wasn’t as bad for the Pecos Eagle girls basketball team the second time around against the Monahans Loboes. But it still wasn’t good enough to keep the Loboes from getting their second district win over the Eagles.
Pecos led Monahans by a point at halftime a month ago in Pecos, but were outscored by 16 points in the third quarter and ended up losing by a 63-44 final score. On Friday, the Eagles trailed by a point at halftime in Monahans but were still within striking range in the final period, as the Loboes held only a 39-35 lead. But the points dried up for Pecos over the next few minutes, and while Monahans had their own problems score, they were able to go out to a 10-point lead and then traded baskets and foul shots with the Eagles over the next few minutes before winning by a 54-45 final score.
“Our shooting seems like we just rush it,” said Eagles’ coach Lisa Lowery. “It’s nice to see everybody wants to score, but at times the shots are either rushed or we don’t do a very good job on offensive rebounds. So we get only one shot on offense and the other team gets two or three.”
The Eagles did a better job of keeping Jacquelyn Hopkins and Jenna Finn in check n Friday than they did a month ago at home. Finn scored 13 points and Hopkins 10 after both scored 10 more points than that in the Loboes’ earlier win. But Monahans would get enough points down the stretch from former Eagle Dina Ortiz and Crystal Madrid to pull away from Pecos down the stretch, while the Eagles missed several chances from the foul line in the second half and were only 9-for-19 on the game.
Ortiz hit the Loboes only basket during a stretch of the fourth period when both teams were spending most of their time at the foul line, and later hit two foul shots after the Eagles had cut the lead to eight with 90 seconds to play. Madrid, who didn’t play in the teams’ first meeting, had 12 points on Friday, seven of those in the second half.
Pecos, meanwhile, did better inside on Friday than they did in last Tuesday’s loss to Monahans. Adriana Armendariz helped get Pecos off to an early lead with six of her 10 points in the opening period, while Chantel Mazone finished with 12 points, mostly off rebound chances.
“I think Chantel stepped it up a little. I don’t think she was as intimidated this time,” said Lowery.
The loss left Pecos with a 2-6 district record and a 3-19 overall record, while Monahans’ record in district improved to 5-3. The Eagles will be at home on Tuesday night against Presidio, the team the Eagles have scored two of their three wins against so far in the 2004-05 season.
PECOS (45)
Garcia 5 5-6 17, Herrera 0 2-4 2, Mendoza 2 0-4 4, Armendariz 5 0-2 10, Mezone 5 2-3 12. Totals 17 9-19 45.
MONAHANS (54)
Madrid 4 4-8 12, M. Hopkins 1 0-0 2, Latham 0 2-4 2, Cartwright 2 0-0 4, Fann 5 3-7 13, Ortiz 2 5-6 9, Cutbirth 1 0-0 2, J. Hopkins 3 3-4 10. Totals 18 17-29 54.
Pecos 12 7 9 17 - 45
Monahans 10 10 13 21 - 54
Three-Point goals - Pecos 2 (Garcia 2); Monahans 1 (J. Hopkins). Fouled out - Armenderiz, J. Hopkins. Total fouls - Pecos 19, Monahans 20.
PHS lifters get 2nd, 3rd place efforts at meet
The Pecos Eagles picked up a third and fifth place finish on the boys’ side, and a second place effort in the girls’ division on Saturday, during their opening powerlifting event of the 2005 season.
Ashley Ornelas placed second in the 114-pound weight class on the girls’ side, while Chris Navarette was third at 275 pounds and Michael Lee was fifth in the 242-pound weight class.
“Our freshman girl got second, and she had a chance to get first,” said Eagles’ coach Patrick Willis. “It went down to the last lift and she hitched it a little, but she has a chance to be good.”
Ornelas was the only girl entered for the Eagles on Saturday, and lifted 165-pounds in the squat thrust, 85-pounds in the bench press and 190 pounds in the dead lift. She finished 20 pounds in total lifts behind Blayne Adams of Odessa High.
“As far as the girls go we had one who won’t get eligible until this Friday and another one was taking the SATs,” Willis said. “We had two other girls who aren’t ready to lift, but I took them along just to see what it was like.”
Navarette lifted a combined 1,020 pounds, with a 370 pound squat thrust, a 235-pound bench press and a 415-pound dead lift. Lee had a combined 930 pound lift, with a 350-pound squat thrust, a 205-pound bench press and a 375-pound dead lift.
For the other Pecos lifters, Marcus Luna was ninth in the 165-pound weight class, with a combined 830-pound lift; and Woody Tremble was seventh in the 198-pound weight class, with a combined lift of 890 pounds.
Pecos ended up in 12th place in the division with four points, while Greenwood won the boys title with 35 points to 32 for Odessa High and 23 for Fort Stockton. On the girls’ side, Fort Stockton was first with 45 points to 33 for Odessa High and 19 for Fort Stockton. Orona’s second place finishes was worth five points and put the Eagles in ninth place.
“Overall I thought we did a good job,” Willis said. “Everybody in the district was there, but I don’t think anyone else has as many freshmen and sophomores as we had.
“What’s good about the boys is most of the kids going to the meet are the majority of our offensive line,” he said, adding he hopes to have more lifters out this coming Saturday, when the Eagles compete at Odessa High.
Eagles capitalize on Loboes FT woes
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
The shots finally fell when they needed them to for the Pecos Eagles on Friday night in Monahans, while the host Loboes probably would have been better off taking their foul shots from 3-point range, after Pecos went into Monahans and came away with their first victory in District 4-3A play.
The Loboes hit six 3-pointers during the game, and raced out to a 10-point lead on the Eagles early in the second quarter. But their five 3s were three more baskets than Monahans was able to sink in 20 tries from the foul line, and that 10 percent shooting percentage allowed the Eagles to come back. Pecos rallied to take the lead before halftime, and then hit some key shots down the stretch after the Loboes had cut a nine-point deficit to four and won 54-40, to break an over 10-game losing streak.
“The difference in the game was we went 15-for-20 on free throws, and they were 2-for-20,” said Eagles’ coach Art Welborn. “We still had 29 turnovers, but we rebounded when we needed it.”
“Josh (Anchondo) came up big on the boards for us,” Welborn said. Anchondo only scored four points, but had 13 rebounds, while Lupito Bustamantes shot 67 percent from the field and led Pecos in scoring with 15 points.
Bustamantes hit a pair of foul shots, then sank a jumper and converted a three-point play off a lay-up and foul by Clayton Hires after Monahans had cut a 35-26 Eagle lead to 41-35 with three minutes to play. The Loboes would then cut Pecos’ 13-point lead to eight on a 3-pointer by Scotty Najar and a lay-up by Ricky Rivera, but Bustamantes would hit another lay-up with 1:20 remaining and Saul Pina would cap the win with a pair of baskets in he final minute of play.
“He hit some big shots and Miguel (Estrada) hit some big shots,” Welborn said. Estrada also was in double figures for Pecos with 10 points.
Shawn Merritt also had 10 to lead Monahans in scoring, but he had the most problems of all the Lobo players from the foul line. Merritt sank a 3-pointer and hit another jumper in the closing minutes of the opening period to turn a two-point Monahans lead into a 13-6 advantage But he could have widened the gap even more from the foul line, only to miss both free throws to start an 0-for-10 night from the stripe.
The only foul shots made by the Loboes came from Rivera at the start of the second period, which gave Monahans a 17-8 lead. That would eventually grow to 19-9 after a Najar lay-up, before the Eagles began chipping away a the lead, starting at the free throw line.
Ricardo Morales hit a pair of foul shots and Nathan Guajardo sank one of his two free throws to cut the lead to seven. Bustamantes then hit a lay-up before Mertitt sank his second 3-pointer to make it a 22-14 game. But that was followed by two free throw misses by Kevin Kenyon and another from Merritt that could have gotten the margin back to double-digits.
Morales then added two more free throws, Luis Licon hit a 3 and Miguel Estrada scored on a lay-up to cut the lead to one, and after a Cosme Ortega basket, the Eagles took the lead on a foul shot by Morales and a 3-pointer from Pina.
Najar would miss two foul shots just before halftime to keep the Eagles in front, and Pecos would add to their lead in the third period, going up 345-26 on a three-point play midway through the period by Licon. Monahans would actually get that lead down to four before the period ended, at 35-31, but were again sabotaged by missed foul shots, while Josh Anchondo hit two free throws and Morales sank a jumper to start the final period and widen the lead back to eight.
“We shot 38 percent, which is better than the 28 percent we shot against Fort Stockton. If we had shot like this on Tuesday, we would have won that game,” Welborn said.
The win allowed the Eagles to tie the Loboes for sixth place in the district standings, both with 1-5 records at the midpoint of 4-3A play. The Eagles are 4-18 overall, and they’ll try and tie Presidio in the district standings on Tuesday night, when they host the Blue Devils in a 7:30 p.m. game. Presidio is 2-4 at the halfway point and were idle on Friday. They pulled away from Pecos in the third quarter of their first district meeting back in December and won by a 62-45 final score.
PECOS (54)
Juardo 0 0-0 0; Morales 3 3-4 9, Pina 2 2-2 9, Licon 1 1-2 6, Guajardo 0 1-2 1, Anchondo 0 4-4 4, Estrada 3 1-3 10, Bustamantes 6 3-3 15. Totals 15 15-20 54.
MONAHANS (40)
Kenyon 2 0-0 5, Najar 3 0-2 8, Ortega 2 0-2 4, Hiers 1 0-0 2, Rivera 1 2-2 4, Franco 1 0-2 2, Merrick 4 0-10 10, Birdwell 1 0-2 2. Totals 16 2-20 40.
Pecos 6 19 10 19 - 54
Monahans 13 11 7 9 - 40
Three-Point goals - Pecos 3 (Pina, Licon, Estrada), Monahans 6 (Kenyon 1, Carter 1, Najar 2, Merrick 2). Fouled out - Monahans Hiers. Total fouls - Pecos 15, Monahans 18.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2003-04 by Pecos Enterprise
|
