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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Tuesday, November 14, 2000
Eagles seek better hoop results
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Nov. 14, 2000 -- The Pecos Eagles return to the scene of the crime
-- so to speak -- tonight, when they host the Monahans Loboes in their
2000-2001 boys basketball season opener at the Pecos High School gym.
The boys' game should get underway about 7:30 p.m.,
following the season openers for the Eagles' freshmen and junior varsity
teams against the Loboes.
It was the first quarter of the Eagles' season opener last year
at home against Monahans that foreshadowed things to come.
Pecos was outscored 17-2 in the period, and then played the Loboes even the
rest of the way in an eventual 56-43 loss. Bad stretches like that in
individual games throughout the season that wound up sending Pecos down to
an 0-24 record, their worst mark in 20 years.
This year's team will have a little more experience than last
year's squad, though no more height than before, while coach Tino
Acosta hopes this year's Eagles will be a little more aggressive on defense and
a little bit better in their shot selections.
Pecos scrimmaged at Alpine this past Saturday, and Acosta said,
"When we're aggressive we we're very good, and when we're not, we aren't.
"We looked pretty good with our first team. The younger kids got
their eyes opened up, because they had to scrimmage Alpine's varsity since
that's all they had. But when it was our first group against their first group,
we looked good," Acosta said.
Because of this week's bi-district football playoff games, neither
the Eagles nor the Loboes will be at full strength tonight. Acosta said he
would have nine on the varsity this evening, adding, "Two
of them are getting a shot because we don't have everybody off
the football team. But they've been working hard and they deserve a chance."
"We'll have 12 on the varsity before it's all over with, but which
12 it's going to be will be up to them. We're still in a trial period right now."
"The thing I'm proud of most is of the kids on the varsity group, I
didn't lose any to grades, so not only are they working hard on the court,
they're working hard in the classroom," Acosta said.
The Eagles have five players back from the group that finished
last season on the varsity, although only three _ guards Saul Garcia and
Adrian Tarin and post player Eddie Cervantes _ are available tonight. The two
still in football are guard Alex Garcia and forward Daniel Terrazas.
Tarin said Joey Ortega, Jesse Salazar, Martin Vasquez and Jacob Mora are
the other posts and forwards who'll be on the varsity tonight, while Ismael
Varela and Justin Mora are the other guards the Eagles will have tonight.
"Most of them played in the summer league, and you could see
the benefits of that from the first day we practiced back in August,"
Acosta said. The players were part of a league that included teams from
Monahans, Fort Stockton, Kermit, Rankin and other area cities, and was
something not available to the Eagles in the past.
When the Eagles will have a full team of players available will depend on
when the football season ends, though Friday night's playoff game against El
Paso Parkland has already resulted in Acosta moving Pecos'
scheduled game against Fort Stockton to Saturday afternoon at the PHS gym.
If the football team wins on Friday, the Eagles will then be faced with
a possible football/basketball twin match-up the following week against
the Andrews Mustangs. Pecos definitely will host Andrews in basketball a
week from tonight, and would face the winner of Friday's
Andrews-Borger game if they beat Parkland this
week in the bi-district round.
Bears-Cowboys playoff set for Wink
PECOS, Nov. 14, 2000 -- The Balmorhea Bears and Grandfalls-Royalty Cowboys
couldn't find a midpoint for their bi-district football playoff game Friday
night, so they'll end up having to drive a little farther, to Wink, for
Friday night's 7:30 p.m. contest.
Pecos or Fort Stockton would have been about halfway for both
teams. But Eagle Stadium will be occupied Friday night for Pecos' Class 4A
bi-district playoff game against El Paso Parkland, and Bears' coach
Ennis Erickson said the teams were unable to get use of Fort Stockton's
stadium. So the game will be at Wink, a 40-mile drive for Grandfalls and an 85-mile
trip for Balmorhea.
The Bears had gone four straight seasons without a win
over Grandfalls until this past September, when they defeated the
Cowboys by a 62-38 final score in Balmorhea. It was the first non-district
meeting between the two, after Grandfalls and Buena Vista were moved
from District 8-A six man to District 7-A this past January.
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
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Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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