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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, January 8, 2001
Eagles drop 2-4A opener to Lions
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Jan. 8, 2001 -- The new year got off to a rough start for the
Pecos Eagle girls basketball team on Friday, as they struggled all night
on offense and dropped a 42-27 decision at home to the Clint Lions.
Both teams had their problems scoring in the first half, but the Eagles
went backwards after that, scoring only 11 points in the final two quarters
after going in at halftime trailing by only a 19-16 score.
“They’re tired, or at least that’s what some of them said,” Eagles’
coach Veronica Valenzuela said after the game. “We came out in the second
half and didn’t do much of anything. We didn’t run much of an offense,
and we sure couldn’t put it in the basket.”
Pecos led most of the opening period, as Christina Arenivas hit a couple
of baskets at the start of the quarter, then closed out the period with
a steal and lay-up to give the Eagles a 10-8 lead. It turned out to be
the last lead of the night for Pecos, as Clint opened the second period
with a pair of lay-ups and two free throws by Michelle Tullius, to give
the Lions a 14-10 lead.
Tullius and Marissa Arnold provided Clint with most of its first half
scoring, as well as in the third period, when the scored all 11 points
in an 11-2 run that gave the Lions a 30-18 lead. Arnold ended up leading
all scorers with 15 points, while Tullius finished with 12 points.
A 3-point basket by Kathy Maldonado and a Arenivas lay-up got Pecos
back to within seven at the end of the period, 30-23, but the Eagles were
then shut out for the first 5 ½ minutes of the fourth quarter, while
the Lions were tacking on 10 of their final 12 points to put the game away.
Christina Arenivas ended up leading the Eagles in scoring with eight
points, while the team’s two leading scorers for the season, Maricela Arenivas
and Philly Fobbs, combined for only seven points. Arenivas ended up in
foul trouble for much of the first half, while Valenzuela said Fobbs has
bee bothered by a knee injury.
“Her knee’s been hurt all season, but it was hurting worse again tonight,”
she said.
The loss, in the District 2-4A opener for both teams, left Pecos with
an overall 3-10 record going into their district road opener on Tuesday
at Fabens, while Clint improved to 9-13 on the season. Clint also
won Friday’s junior varsity game, 48-32. Jecina Natividad led Pecos in
scoring with eight points.
CLINT (42)
Hernandez 1 2-2 4; Moreno
1 0-0 2; J. Tullius 2 0-2 6; M. Tullius 5 2-2 12; Cardona 0 0-0 0; Luna
0 0-0 0; Arnold 6 3-4 15; Compton 0 1-2 1; Miller 1 0-0 2. Totals 17
8-12 42.
PECOS (27)
C. Arenivas 4 0-0 8; Rodriguez
0 3-4 3; Maldonado 1 0-0 3; Molinar 0 0-0 0; M. Arenivas 1 1-2 3; Terry
2 0-0 4; Fobbs 2 0-5 4. Totals 11 4-11 27.
Clint 8 11 11 12
-- 42
Pecos 10 6
7 4 -- 27
Three-point goals: Pecos
1 (Maldonado). Fouled out: None. Total fouls: Clint 15, Pecos
14.
Pecos off-target in weekend road losses
PECOS, Jan. 8, 2001 -- The weather may have been warmer on Friday and Saturday,
but the Pecos Eagles’ shooting was cold in a pair of road losses to the
Fort Stockton Panthers and Greenwood Rangers.
The Eagles dropped an 81-57 decision on Friday night in Fort Stockton,
and then were beaten at Greenwood on Saturday afternoon by the Rangers,
82-54, and despite the relatively high scores, coach Tino Acosta said shooting
was the team’s biggest problem both days.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well. We did not play that bad this weekend,
but we just could not make one shot.”
Acosta said the Eagles shot under 35 percent (19-for-54) in their loss
Friday and were just a little better on Saturday, hitting 20 of 55 shots.
“When you don’t make your shots you can’t set up your press and you can’t
play defense.”
The Eagles fell behind Greenwood on Saturday by eight points after one
period, 22-14, and the Rangers added to that margin in each of the final
three quarters, going up 39-24 at the half and 57-39 after two periods.
It was the second loss of the season for the Eagles against the Rangers
and their third loss of the year to the Panthers, though Acosta added the
team did play better than in their 72-45 loss at Fort Stockton seven days
earlier, when the Eagles were outscored 20-3 in the opening period.
Acosta said Alex Garcia led the Eagles on Friday with 11 points, while
in Saturday’s game Ezra Varela’s 14 points topped Pecos in scoring. Will
Womack was the leading scorer for the Rangers in their win on Saturday,
finishing with 20.
The losses dropped Pecos to 4-13 on the season going into their District
2-4A opener this coming Friday, at home against the Canutillo Golden Eagles.
PECOS (54)
A.Garcia 3 4-4 11; S. Garcia
1 0-0 2; Cervantes 0 0-0 0; Varela 6 1-2 14; Torres 0 0-0 0; Salazar 0
2-2 2; Tarin 4 3-5 11; Ortega 2 0-0 4; Mora 0 0-0 0; Vasquez 0 0-0 0; Coria
4 2-3 10. Totals 20 12-18 54.
GREENWOOD (82)
Hadley 0 0-0 0; Hollums
2 1-2 5; O’Donnell 3 1-1 7; Catalano 4 0-1 8; Womack 8 1-1 20; Hopper 3
0-0 6; Pinkerton 5 2-2 12; Minifee 0 0-0 0; Rowold 0 0-0 0; Graham 2 0-0
4; Adams 8 0-3 16; Fuller 1 2-2 4. Totals 36 7-12 82.
Pecos 14
10 15 15 -- 54
Greenwood 22 17 18 25
-- 82
Three-point goals:
Pecos 2 (A. Garcia, Varela), Greenwood 3 (Womack 3) Fouled out: None.
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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