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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, January 13, 2003
Rangerettes' big 2nd half fells Eagles
It isn't a big distance between Stanton and Greenwood, and there wasn't
a big difference between the final scores of the Pecos Eagles' first game
this season against the Rangerettes at the Stanton Tournament, and Friday's
games game on the Rangerettes' home court.
But coach Veronica Valenzuela said her team did a better job in the first
half of Friday's game at Greenwood than they did in last month's 57-37 loss
to the Rangerettes, even if Friday's 57-35 final score was almost an exact
duplicate of that result.
"Actually, we played a lot better," said Valenzuela, whose team trailed
by only an 18-14 score at halftime. "We started off slowly, but once we
started running our press break, we started getting a lot of 3-on-2 situations.
"But then we started turning the ball over," she added. "We started the
second half with three turnovers in a row, and Greenwood went into a zone
(defense) in the second half, and we couldn't score."
The Rangerettes more than doubled their halftime point total in the third
period, outscoring Pecos 19-8, and added to their lead in the final period,
even though the Eagles were able to put 13 points on the scoreboard.
"My girls went into a man (defense) in the fourth quarter, but we did
not play good defense. We missed assignments and gave them a lot of open
shots," the Eagles' coach said, as the Rangers put in 20 points in the final
eight minutes of play.
Meagan Chase led all scorers with 14 points, though Valenzuela said,
"Most of her points came off steals in the fourth quarter." Greenwood had
two other players in double-figures, as Marlene Spain scored 12 points and
Katie Howard put in 10.
Pecos was led by Jessica Martinez, who had 12 points, including 6-for-6
from the foul line. But no Pecos player managed more than three field goals,
although Valenzuela said "We took more shots in the second half, but they
didn't go in, and we got only one shot each time down."
The loss dropped Pecos to 0-3 in district and 6-9 on the season, going
into their Tuesday home game against the Presidio Blue Devils. Greenwood
stayed tied for first in the District 4-3A standings with Monahans at 3-0,
and evened their record for the season at 10-10.
Greenwood also won Friday's junior varsity game, by a 54-20 final score.
PECOS (35)Rodriguez 3 0-0 6; Franco 0 0-0 0; Ornelas 0 2-3 2; Mendoza
0 1-2 1; Herrera 3 0-1 6; Martinez 3 6-6 12; Garcia 1 2-2 4; Terry 2 0-1
4. Totals 12 11-18 35.
GREENWOOD (57)Burgess 0 0-0 0; Jordan 0 0-0 0; Kyle 0 0-0 0; Howard 5
0-0 10; Chase 7 0-0 14; Barton 1 2-4 4; Spain 6 0-6 12; Johansen 4 0-2
8; Hopper 3 3-5 9. Totals 26 5-17 57.
PECOS 4 10 8 13 —35
GREENWOOD 12 6 19 20 —57
Three-Point Goals: None. Total Fouls: Pecos 16, Greenwood 18. Fouled Out:
Terry, Hopper.
Trouble at end of first half cost Pecos at Greenwood
Pecos Eagles' coach Joe Flores was happier than you'd expect following
his team's District 4-3A opening loss on Friday to the Midland Greenwood
Rangers _ except for the final four minutes or so of the first half.
"I thought the effort our kids gave was by far the best effort of the
whole season," Flores said, even though the Eagles found themselves in a
17-point hole at halftime of their evenutal 80-61 loss to the Rangers.
Greenwood used a 27-17 second quarter to jump out to their big lead, and
Flores said the bulk of that came in the closing minutes of the half. "We
made seven of our 16 total turnovers with under four minutes to go in the
second quarter, and five of those seven turnovers were turned into points,"
he said. "They went up by 17 at halftime and whenever you play a good team
like that with good athletes, it's hard to come back, but with the exception
of the last four minutes of the first half, it was a good game."
For the third straight game, Eagle posts Isaiah Armendariz and Joey Ortega
led the Eagles in scoring. Armendariz ended up leading all scorers with 21
points, while Ortega finished with 12 and John Parent put in 11. Ortega
struggled from the foul line on Friday, going 2-for-8, but Flores said, "Joey
didn't have the points, but effort-wise and hustle, he played his best game
all season."
For Greenwood, Kris Hatley was the main scorer in the first half, finishing
with 16 points as part of a 20-point overall effort. That also included two
of the Rangers' four 3-pointers, while post Shane McNeeley was next high
scorer for Greenwood with 15 points.
The loss snapped the Eagles' three game winning streak and left them
with a 10-9 season record, while the Rangers improved to 14-6 overall on
the season.
The Eagles did win Friday's junior varsity game, 62-51, while the Rangers
won the freshman game in overtime, 58-55. Pecos will now play their home
district opener on Tuesday night, against the Presidio Blue Devils. It will
be the third meeting of the season for the teams, who faced each other at
the Gym Bice Tournament in Andrews and the Sandhills Tournament in Monahans,
with Pecos taking both games.
PECOS (61)Sanchez 2 0-0 4; Parada 0 2-2 2; Armendariz 6 5-7 21; Mendoza
0 2-2 2; Reyes 3 1-2 10; Lara 0 0-0 0; Parent 4 3-6 11; Ortega 5 2-8 12.
Totals 20 16-28 61.
GREENWOOD (80)Higgins 4 2-3 10, Smith 2 0-0 5, Hatley 6 6-6 20, Valencia
1 0-2 2, Caver 2 0-0 5, Gasier 0 0-0 0; Woolfolk 1 0-0 2; Brooks 5 2-3 12,
Swafford 2 1-2 5, McNeely 7 1-2 15, Boss 3 0-0 6. Totals 32 12-18 80.
Pecos 13 17 13 19 — 61
Greenwood 19 27 13 21 — 80
Three-point goals: Pecos 5 (Reyes 3, Armendariz 2). Technical foul: Pecos,
bench. Fouled out: Pecos, Ortega, Greenwood, Swofford. Total fouls: Pecos
21, Greenwood 24.
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 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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