|
Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Wednesday, January 31, 2001
Eagles miss chances, fall to Canutillo
PECOS, Jan. 31, 2001 -- The Pecos Eagle girls had a chance to pretty much
sew up a trip to the playoffs Tuesday night in Canutillo. Instead,
the Eagles will have to battle it out over the next seven days to see
if they can end their 10-year playoff drought.
Pecos lost to the Canutillo Golden Eagles by a 45-37 final score, as poor
shooting finally caught up to the Eagles in the third quarter of Tuesday
night's game.
"They did not play well at all," said coach Veronica Valenzuela. "Shooting-wise
it definitely was not our night. I think in the first half we missed 22 little
jump shots and lay-ups."
Even with those problems, the Eagles still managed to take a 21-17 lead
into the locker room at halftime. But in the third quarter, Canutillo outscored
Pecos by a 13-5 score, and maintained their lead during the final period.
Pecos went into the contest with a one-game lead over Canutillo in the
race for the final District 2-4A playoff berth with three games to play.
A win would have put them two games up with two to play, but Valenzuela said,
"I think the girls put too much pressure on themselves, because they knew
they would be in the driver's seat if they won.
"They were talking about it at practice on Monday about how important
this game was, and it may have made them a little nervous," said Valenzuela,
who added that bus trouble on the 220-mile trip to Canutillo might not have
helped matters.
"We had a blowout, and the bus overheated twice before that," she said.
"We had to ride from Van Horn with the boys."
Marisela Arenivas led Pecos with 15 points, while Dee Dee Molinar and
Philly Fobbs had eight apiece. Canutillo was led by Diana Gonzalez, who scored
most of her 13 points in the second half.
Both teams are now 4-4 in district, a game up on San Elizario and a game
behind El Paso Mountain View, who host Pecos this Friday night. The Eagles
then close their season next Tuesday by hosting San Elizario, while Canutillo
faces first place Clint and last place Fabens in their final two games.
Clint beat Mountain View 35-29 on Tuesday to clinch the District 2-4A
title, while San Elizario downed Fabens, 51-43.
Pecos suffers cold shooting in 58-35 loss
PECOS, Jan. 31, 2001 -- The Pecos Eagles haven't been shooting well in
most of their recent games and they have never shot well in their trips to
Canutillo. Put the two together and the result it a 58-36 road loss Tuesday
night to the Golden Eagles.
"We played good enough defense to win and had a good enough effort, we
just didn't score," said Eagles coach Tino Acosta. "That's our main impediment
right now. When we find it, we'll be on our way."
Jose Rodriguez put in 19 points and while no other Canutillo player had
more than eight, all 12 Golden Eagles scored on the night, while Ezra Varela
led the Eagles with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, and Cesar Coria
added nine points, while getting Golden Eagles' post Eddie Hita into foul
trouble.
"Hita wasn't a factor because we got him into foul trouble," said Acosta.
"Cesar gave the fits."
Canutillo took control early, going up 18-7 after one period and grabbing
a 34-17 lead at the half before playing the Golden Eagles even over the final
two periods.
While the loss dropped Pecos to 0-6 in district, Acosta said, "The thing
that made me happy last night was for the last few years we've gone into
the second half of district and laid down and died. Last night the kids played
their hearts out."
Canutillo's win kept them tied for first in the District 2-4A standings
with Fabens, 72-56 winners over San Elizario on Friday.
The Eagles will now travel to El Paso to face the Mountain View Lobos
this Friday. Mountain View is 1-5 in district after their 42-32 loss to Clint
on Tuesday.
Bears pull out wins over Fort Davis
PECOS, Jan. 31, 2001 -- The Balmorhea Bear boys clinched a bi-district
playoff spot Tuesday night, and Balmorhea's girls moved to within a game
of clinching a playoff spot of their own thanks to a pair of home court victories
over Fort Davis.
Balmorhea's girls used a 30-point second half to come away with a 43-37
victory over Fort Davis, while the Bears struggled with their shooting for
the second straight home game through three periods, before breaking out
for 26 points in the fourth quarter to down the Indians, 60-52.
Coach Adolfo Garcia was unavailable, but girls coach Gary Gallego said,
"I talked to coach Garcia and he said it was one of their worst shooting
nights of the season. No one shot well other than Isaiah (Rodriguez)," who
finished with a game-high 29 points.
Unlike their last home game, when the Bears broke out early in the fourth
quarter to put away Dell City, Gallego said this game was close until the
final minutes. The Bears had to rally from 14-12, 23-20 and 38-34 deficits
after the first three quarters, and secured the victory after the Indians
got into big foul trouble.
"Their big post, Josh Evans, fouled out with about two minutes to go,
and Fort Davis only brought six players and one of them had already fouled
out, so they had to finish with four," Gallego said.
Reggie Lozano and Jerry Mendoza had 10 points apiece for the Bears, who
moved to 6-0 in district and 14-3 on the season in clinching a post-season
berth.
The girls were led by Terry Hernandez' 15 points, while Celina Rodriguez
added 12, though Gallego said both players also struggled shooting the ball.
"Celina had about nine points in the fourth quarter, but she only shot
3-for-10 from the foul line, or it would have been a wider gap," Gallego
said. "Terry Hernandez had another good game, but her shooting also was off.
They were again playing her box-and-1 and Fort Davis did a good job double-teaming
her."
The teams were tied a 13-13 at the half, before Balmorhea outscored Fort
Davis 15-10 in the third period. Gallego said the Maidens got as close as
two points in the final period before the Bears held on for the win.
Julia Garlick had 16 rebounds, and Gallego said Joanna Garza and Chela
Arredondo also played well in the win, which gave the Bears a 5-1 district
record and 12-8 overall mark. Balmorhea can clinch a playoff berth on Friday
with a win at Sierra Blanca. The Bears then close out their regular season
the following Friday with a trip to Dell City.
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
|
