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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Friday, November 30, 2001
Mustangs pull away at finish from Eagles in tourney game
After using a fast start to come up with a win last week in Pecos, the
Andrews Mustangs used a strong finish this time around to defeat the Eagles
at home on Thursday, in the opening round of the Andrews Invitational Tournament.
The Eagles, 59-38 losers at home to Andrews on Nov. 20, fell to the Mustangs
on Thursday, this time by a 56-37 score. But unlike that game, where Pecos
fell behind by 17 in the first quarter and never got closer than 11 points
the rest of the way, coach Tino Acosta said Thursday's game was close until
the final minutes.
"We were within two with four minutes left and then our shots stopped
falling, said Acosta, as the Mustangs outscored Pecos in the final period,
21-8.
"Early on we were getting good shots and running our offense, and defensively
we were playing well and taking them out of their offense. But then the shots
stopped falling and we started fouling, and they made their free throws,"
Acosta said. Andrews was 8-for-11 from the line in the final period, while
the Eagles went to the line just two times in the fourth quarter, and missed
both shots.
The shooting drought was actually the second of the game for Pecos, but
unlike last week, when they managed just two points in the first period,
this time, the cold spell in the first half didn't take Pecos out of the
game. They led after one period, 11-10, then were outscored 12-4 in the second
period to trail 22-15 at halftime.
The Eagles cut that to 35-29 after three periods and were able to narrow
the six-point gap down to two midway through the final period, before the
Mustangs pulled away, led by guard Sidney Hooper.
The senior, who put in 27 points last week, finished with 31 this time,
21 of that in the second half. Hooper hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first
period, but then got the rest of his points inside the line on Thursday.
"Last week he showed us his 3-point game and this week he showed us his
mid-range game. That kid's just a straight ballplayer," said Acosta.
Ezra Varlea, who was held to just two points by Andrews last week, led
the Eagles with 17 this time around. No other players on either team scored
in double figures. Joey Ortega had seven points for Pecos while Kelvin Roberts
finished with nine for Andrews.
The Mustangs are 3-0 on the season, while Pecos falls to 0-5 going into
tonight's 7 p.m. game in the round-robin tournament against Fort Stockton,
which defeated Pecos at home earlier this month, 86-53. On Saturday, the
Eagles will take on the Clyde Bulldogs in a 2:30 p.m. game, then face District
2-4A rival San Elizario, starting at 5:30 p.m.
Pecos' girls were off on Thursday, but travel to Presidio tonight for
a 7:30 p.m. game against the Blue Devils.
The Eagles are 1-3 on the season after their 56-24 loss on Tuesday at
Monahans, in which they were outscored 22-2 in the final period, but scored
their only win of the season so far on Nov. 19 against Presidio, 58-51. Christina
Arenivas had 14 points and Stephanie Herrera 13 in that game, while Karla
Garcia led Presidio with 15 points.
The freshmen and junior varsity girls also are scheduled to play tonight,
at 4:30 and 6 p.m.
PECOS (37)
Barreno 0 0-0 0; Armendariz 1 0-0 2; Gomez 0 0-0 0; Rodriguez 1 0-0
2; Varela 7 2-2 17; Torres 0 0-0 0; Parent 0 0-2 0; Sanchez 2 0-0 4;
Mora 0 0-0 0; Ortega 2 3-4 7; Saldana 2 1-2 5. Totals 15 6-10 37.
ANDREWS (56)
Hooper 12 5-5 31; McCracken 1 1-3 3; Hearne 0 1-2 1; Willis 1
0-0 2; Roberts 4 0-0 9; Valles 1 0-0 2; Fisher 0 1-2 1; Parker 1 2-2
4; Stephens 1 1-2 3. Totals 21 11-16 56.
Pecos
11 4 14 8 - 37
Andrews 10 12
13 21 - 56
Three-point goals: Pecos 1 (Varela), Andrews 3 (Hooper 2, Roberts).
Fouled out: Pecos Armeidariz. Total fouls: Pecos 19,
Andrews 11.
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 newsdesk@nwol.net
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Copyright 2001 by Pecos Enterprise
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