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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, December 2, 2005
RCCRD continues youth basketball sign-ups
The Reeves County Community Sports and Recreation Department is continuing its sign-ups of players for the winter pee-wee basketball program now through the end of December, while registration for the skills program runs for the next two weeks.
The league is open to boys and girls between 5 years old and those currently in sixth grade, with a registration deadline of Dec. 16 for participating in the pre-season fundamentals program, and Dec. 30 for those just participating in league play.
Parents can pick up enrollment forms at the RCCRD office in the old Pecos High School gym during office hours, from 4 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, from 4 to 6 p.m. on Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Registration fee is $10 per player, and returned forms must have both parents’ signatures and be accompanied by a birth certificate.
For further information, call the RCCRD office at 447-9776.
Pecos suffers though listless loss to Stanton
Fans who complain about too many foul shots in a basketball game would have loved the Pecos Eagle girls Tuesday night. But head coach Lisa Lowery didn’t.
When Adriana Armendariz went to the foul line with 3:14 left in Pecos’ game against the Stanton Buffaloes, she took the first, and as it turned out, only free throw of the night by the Eagles. Stanton, meanwhile, committed only three fewer fouls than Pecos, but took 15 more free throws, which combined with a series of easy lay-ups, allowed the Buffaloes to cruise to a 66-26 win at the Pecos High School gym.
“I am disappointed in our effort. We had no hustle,” said Lowery, as even Stanton’s ballhandlers were able to outrun Pecos’ defenders downcourt for easy lay-ups many times on the night. “I talked to them at halftime and told them I’m tired of coming in here and saying ‘this team isn’t 20 points better than you’.
“They’re a good fundamental team, and they don’t have volleyball, so they work out all year. But I’m tired of excuses. I can understand a five or seven point loss, but not a 40-point one,” Lowery said.
Pecos had a height advantage in the game, but never could take advantage. Armendariz led the Eagles with 11 points, but most of her shots came on mid-range jumpers, while post Chantell Mazone was limited to just one field goal. “She’s got to start playing her size. We need more for her than that,” Lowery said.
Meanwhile, the Buffaloes used a series of steals in the early going to grab a 10-2 lead, and would finish the period with just two fewer points than the Eagles would manage for the entire game.
Eva Dyck was the main player to take advantage of Pecos’ turnover problems, scoring eight of her 15 points in the first quarter. The Eagles did recover briefly in the period, and trailed 19-11 after baskets by Armendariz and Olga Mendoza, but a three-point play by Breann Harp and a lay-up by Dyck in the final 30 seconds of the quarter widened the lead to 24-11.
The end of the second period was even worse for Pecos. They trailed 27-15 after another jumper by Armendariz, but didn’t score over the final 4 1/2 minutes of the half. This time, post Traci Carr did most of the damage during an 10-0 run that gave the Buffaloes a 37-15 halftime advantage.
The third period went the same way for the Eagles. Armendariz would hit a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, then hit a foul line jumper after a Malby Cathorn basket to make it a 39-20 game, and Pecos would then score just two more points in the period, on a lay-up by Vanessa Valeriano. In-between, Stanton widened their lead by 16 more points, to a 55-20 margin, most on back-door lay-ups where the Eagles lost contact with the player they were guarding.
“With the back door you need to sag off a little and be ready, but we just followed them around,” Lowery said. “Even then, with the back door you should be a step back. We weren’t even in the area.”
The period ended with the Buffaloes leading 58-22, and neither team did much scoring over the final eight minutes of the game.
The loss left Pecos with a 1-3 record going into their 6 p.m. game on Thursday against Coahoma in the first round of the Bulldogs’ invitational tournament. A win would put Pecos into a 6 p.m. game on Friday against Midland Classical or Ozona, while the losers of those games will play on Friday at 3 p.m. Following the tournament, Pecos comes home for a 6 p.m. game on Monday against Alpine, which was moved up a day and shifted from the Bucks home court, after the Eagles moved their scheduled Nov. 11 home game to Alpine.
Stanton also won Tuesday’s junior varsity game, 55-30. Kristin Ikeler’s nine points led the Eagles in scoring.
Lack of control buffaloes Eagles
Playing under control and playing out of control were the two sides of the Pecos Eagles Tuesday night, in their home basketball opener against the Stanton Buffaloes.
The in-control Eagles came back from an early 9-2 deficit to grab a 30-20 lead over Stanton midway through the second quarter. The out of control Eagles threw up a series of wild shots and bad passes, and didn’t score for the remainder of the period, as Stanton came back to grab a 31-30 halftime lead.
The Buffaloes would extend that margin to 36-30 in the third period, before the Eagles got their offense going again. Pecos tied the score to start the third period, and then took a four-point lead later in the period before getting out of their offense again, while allowing the Buffaloes to get inside for a series of shots down the stretch, in an eventual 64-53 Stanton victory.
“We just don’t know how to win,” said Eagles’ coach Art Wellborn, whose team faced Stanton again Thursday afternoon, in the opening round of the Coahoma Invitational Tournament. “We had a 10-point lead and I took Lupito (Bustamantes) out so he wouldn’t get his third foul. I called a time out and told them I didn’t want anything but lay-up and we go right out and put up a 30-foot shot.”
Bustamantes and Luis Licon led the 18-4 run that began late in the first period, after a pair of 3-pointers by Licon helped the Eagles tie the game at 10-10 after falling behind early by seven points. Miguel Estrada had a 3-pointer and a lay-up during the run, as Pecos was able to move the ball around to find openings for shots, while also taking advantage of a series of turnovers by Stanton.
But when Bustamantes sat down, the Eagles inside game disappeared, and they ended up hoisting up long shots as soon as they came down court, or lost the ball by trying to pass the ball into the heart of Stanton’s defense. Garrett Fulton would score six of his team-high 19 points in the final 90 seconds of the half to put the Buffaloes back on top.
Stanton led 41-34 when Pecos began their 13-3 second half run. Baskets by Jeremiah Jurado and Felix Salcido closed out the third period, and Licon and Estrada opened the final period with a pair of three-points to give Pecos a 44-41 lead, which grew to 47-43 after a lay-up by Fulton was followed by a three-point play by Bustamantes.
But Mike Carmona, who had been scoreless in the first three periods, then got inside against Pecos’ defense for a rebound jumper, and Fulton hit a lay-up after a missed Pecos shot to tie the score. Carmona would score eight more points over the next few minutes, capping it with a lay-up off a block as part of a 12-2 run that turned a 49-all tie into a 61-51 Stanton lead.
Aside from the block, the Eagles also failed to score on a number of in-close shots in the final period, including a couple of fast-break attempts.
“We set ourselves up, but we don’t finish the play, and our rebounding was atrocious,” said Wellborn. “We’re doing a better job passing the ball and getting some good looks, but we’re not finishing.”
Licon led all scorers with 22 points, while Bustamantes had 12 for the Eagles, who are now 0-3 going into their rematch with Stanton in Coahoma. A win would put Pecos into a 1:30 p.m. rematch on Friday with Ozona, whom the Eagles lost to on Nov. 22 in Fort Stockton. A loss would put them in a 4:30 p.m. consolation game against San Angelo Lake View, Olney or Midland Classical.
Pecos did come away with a win in the junior varsity game on Tuesday, 45-34. Jeremy Rodriguez led the Eagles with 16 points.
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
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