|
Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Wednesday, February 9, 2000
Rodriguez' big night can't save Eagles
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Feb. 9, 2000 -- The San Elizario Eagles had trouble stopping
Pecos' Hector Rodriguez for the second time this season. But they had much
better success again defending the other Eagles players, and that translated
into a 57-39 victory Tuesday night at the Pecos High School gym.
Rodriguez had 15 points last month at San Elizario, but the rest of
the Eagles managed only 11 in a 62-26 loss. This time, Rodriguez put in
a game-high 22 points, and got a little scoring help from Adrian Rayos,
who finished with 12 points. But guard Alex Garcia was the only other Eagle
to score on the night, as Pecos had trouble both with the visiting Eagles'
size and quickness throughout the game.
"We got rattled and they took advantage. That's what a good team will
do," said coach Tino Acosta, pointing to the key stretch of the game in
the third period.
Two lay-ups by Rayos and a pair of foul shots by Rodriguez had cut an
11-point San Elizario lead down to five, at 31-25, when the Eagles got
the ball off a turnover. But with a chance to narrow the margin even more,
David Chavez' pass to Garcia was stolen by James Hernandez, who ended up
scoring on a bank shot in the lane, and then closed out the quarter with
three more baskets, part of a 14-point run that stretched San Elizario's
lead to 45-25 early in the final quarter.
"They outran us a few times. When we had to get out of our defense to
scramble and trap they took advantage of that," Acosta said.
The game started off well enough for Pecos. Jacob Weidner found Rayos
and Rodriguez underneath for lay-ups to give Pecos a quick 4-0 lead, but
the turnover problems began to hurt the Eagles after that. Hernandez and
Frank Jimenez both scored off steals to help the visitors rally for a 12-10
lead by the end of the period, and the Eagles then had trouble inbounding
the ball twice to start the second period, helping San Eli widen the gap
to six points.
The bright spot on the night for Pecos was the free throw shooting,
which has been a problem throughout the season. The Eagles shot 92 percent
from the line, going 12-for-13, while San Elizario went to the line just
five times Tuesday, hitting two shots.
Pecos did win Tuesday's junior varsity game, 63-45, while San Elizario
took the freshman contest, 48-43. Richard Rodriguez led the JV with 23
points, and Joey Ortega topped the ninth graders with 16.
SAN ELIZARIO (57)
Rivas 0 0-0 0; Hernandez 6 0-0 12; Perez 7 0-0 15; Salcido
1 0-0 2; Garcia 2 0-0 4; Martinez 1 0-0 2; Reyes 3 0-3 6; Jimenez 3 0-0
6; Jacobo 4 2-2 10. Totals 27 2-5 57.
PECOS (39)
Weidner 0 0-0 0; Cervantes 0 0-0 0; Rayos 4 4-4 12; A.
Garcia 2 0-0 5; Chavez 0 0-0 0; Tarin 0 0-0 0; Rodriguez 7 8-9 22; S. Garcia
0 0-0 0; Terrazas 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 12-13 39.
San Elizario 12
14 15 16 - 57
Pecos
10 7 8
14 - 39
Three-point goals: San Elizario 1 (Perez), Pecos
1 (A. Garcia). Fouled out: None. Total fouls: San Elizario
13, Pecos 8.
Eagles close rough year, look to 2000-2001
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Feb. 9, 2000 -- Pecos Eagles' coach Brian Williams has more
players coming back by far than any other District 2-4A basketball team
next year. But what kind of attitude they bring with them is Williams'
main concern, after Tuesday's season-ending loss to San Elizario.
The Eagles closed out a 1-21 season with a 43-31 homecourt loss to San
Elizario, in a game where the visiting Eagles went on a 20-2 run after
Pecos scored the first four points of the game. Pecos never got closer
than eight points the rest of the way, and were down by double-digits the
entire second half, after a 25-foot jumper by Reba Madrid at the halftime
buzzer gave San Eli a 25-14 lead.
"I told them `excuses are over.' You all are going to be seniors next
year and you have to decide to step up and take responsibility," Williams
said, adding, "Next year, to be more successful, they're going to have
to get stronger in their upper bodies, and we're going to have to get quicker."
San Elizario was able to run past the Eagles' press most of the night,
and while the Eagles didn't give up many second-chance baskets, they couldn't
hold onto balls several times, either off rebounds or potential steals.
"We couldn't close the trap on our press," Williams said. "It seemed
like we were running in slow motion, even when we went into man (defense)."
Philonicus Fobbs and Maricela Arenivas had the opening baskets, but
after that San Elizario's guards took over. Rachel Diaz and Claudia Diaz
had six straight points to help the visiting Eagles go up 10-4 at the end
of the quarter, and the two plus Madrid and Ana Morales ended up scoring
24 of San Elizario's 41 points.
After taking a 4-0 lead, Pecos didn't score again for nearly eight minutes,
when Christina Arenivas hit two free throws with 5:50 left in the half.
Their next basket didn't come until 3:36 left in the half, when Alexa Marquez
hit a foul line jumper after the Eagles had fallen behind 20-6.
With no playoff spot on the line, Williams gave both his first and second
team players just about equal time on the court, and it really didn't affect
the game much, as both groups had problems scoring all night. The one burst
Pecos has was with five minutes left in the game, when the Eagles cut a
15 point lead down to 10 in 32 seconds, off two baskets by Fobbs and a
foul shot by Dee Dee Molinar. But Fobbs then missed a 1-and-1 with a chance
to narrow the gap to eight, and Madrid hit a lay-up with 3 ½ minutes
left to get the lead back to 12 points.
SAN ELIZARIO (43)
Madrid 4 1-2 10; R. Diaz 3 0-1 6; C. Diaz 2 0-0 4; Morales
2 0-0 4; Solis 1 1-2 3; Rocha 0 0-0 0; Martinez 4 1-4 9; Soto 2 0-0 4;
Jimenez 0 3-8 3. Totals 18 6-17 43.
PECOS (31)
C. Arenivas 0 3-5 3; Rodriguez 0 0-0 0; Marquez 1 0-0
2; Molinar 0 4-6 4; Quiroz 0 0-0 0; Salcido 0 0-0 0; M. Arnivas 3 4-4 11;
Medrano 0 0-0 0; Salgado 0 1-2 1; Lara 0-1 0; Fobbs 4 2-5 10. Totals
8 14-23 31.
San Elizario 10
15 7 11 - 43
Pecos
4 10 8 9 - 31
Three-point goals: San Elizario 1 (Madrid), Pecos
1 (M. Arenivas). Fouled out: None. Total fouls: San Elizario
21, Pecos 18.
Bears end regular season with victories
PECOS, Feb. 9, 2000 -- The Balmorhea Bears and Dell City Cougars will have
a one game playoff for the District 1-A basketball title next week, after
Balmorhea won on the court and Dell City won by forfeit Tuesday in the
teams' final regular season games.
Balmorhea's girls, meanwhile, assured themselves of the second place
playoff spot, following their win at home over the Valentine Pirates.
Balmorhea's girls beat Valentine, 64-32, and the boys downed the Pirates
by a 65-52 score, to close out regular season play. Meanwhile, Dell City
won by forfeit over Sierra Blanca, tying them with the Bears for first
with 5-1 marks. Coach Adolfo Garcia said last Friday, after Dell City beat
Balmorhea to tie for first, a playoff game would likely be early next week
in Van Horn.
Isaiah Rodriguez scored 19 points to lead the Bears on Tuesday, while
Billy Lozano was also in double figures for the Bears with 12. Balmorhea
held only a two point lead after each of the first three quarters, before
outscoring Valentine down the stretch by a 21-10 margin to pull away.
Balmorhea's girls had an easier time. Led by Terri Hernandez' 24 points,
they jumped out to a 16-2 lead after one period and held a double-digit
lead the rest of the way.
Rachel Carrasco and Cathy Garcia also were in double figures for the
Bears with 12 and 11 points. Balmorhea improved to 3-3 in district play,
and earned second place when Dell City completed an undefeated district
season with a win Tuesday over Sierra Blanca. They'll face the winner of
District 2-A title in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
Thomas' sudden death shocks family, friends
By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer
MIAMI, Feb. 9, 2000 - Nearly 12 hours after Derrick Thomas died, his
family and friends remained at Jackson Memorial Hospital, consoling one
another and sharing their memories of the nine-time Pro Bowl linebacker.
They congregated on the third floor of the rehabilitation center, the
place where Thomas was recovering from a paralyzing car crash last month.
Coaches, teammates and childhood buddies sat alongside Thomas' relatives,
all of them still shocked by his sudden death Tuesday.
Thomas probably died from a massive blood clot, doctors said. He was
33.
"We're all in a situation at this juncture where I don't think any of
us can appreciate the personal loss," former Kansas City Chiefs coach Marty
Schottenheimer said.
Thomas was being transferred from his hospital bed to a wheelchair on
his way to therapy Tuesday morning when he uttered something to his mother
and his eyes rolled back, said Dr. Frank Eismont, a neurosurgeon at Jackson
Memorial Hospital.
The Chiefs linebacker, who held the NFL record of seven sacks in a game,
went into cardio-respiratory arrest, he said.
Doctors have not determined an exact cause of death, and an autopsy
might be performed today.
Blood clots are more common in people with paralysis, Eismont said,
and Thomas was on medication to prevent clotting.
"His family is devastated. We all are," said Spencer Hammond, who played
alongside Thomas at Alabama and spent much of Tuesday with Thomas' family.
"It's very upsetting."
Thomas' death surprised everyone, mainly because of the progress he
had made in just a short time since his injury.
"Derrick was an extraordinary person and was breaking all the records
while he was here," Dr. Barth Green said.
Thomas was driving a car during a snowstorm on Jan. 23 as he and two
friends headed to the Kansas City airport to fly to St. Louis for the NFC
championship game.
He lost control of the car, and it overturned at least three times,
police said.
Police said Thomas was speeding and weaving in traffic, but no charges
were filed.
Thomas and passenger Michael Tellis, 49, were not wearing seat belts
and were thrown from the car. Tellis was killed and Thomas' spine and neck
were broken.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
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 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
|
