|
Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
Payan happy with pitching, defense in OHS scrimmage
The Pecos Eagles did well in what they had worked on and
not so well in what they haven't worked on, which left coach Elias
Payan satisfied overall with his team's first scrimmage of the season
on Tuesday, in Odessa against the Bronchos.
"We did well. Our hitting wasn't there, but I wasn't expecting us
to do real well, because we've been working on our defense,"
said Payan, who is beginning his first season as the Eagles'
varsity coach.
"I thought our pitching was really impressive. We're a lot
further along than I thought we would be, and we turned a double play in
the first inning."
Payan said seniors Barney Rodriguez, Rigo Ramirez
and Matthew Levario along with freshman Eddie Vela pitched
for Pecos on Tuesday. "Barney started and he did a great job
throwing strikes," he said, while adding that Odessa High did get to Ramirez
for a two-run single while he was on the mound.
Payan said with the Eagles moving from District 2-4A
into District 4-3A this season, his pitchers will have to worker
harder to be successful.
"The main thing out in that other district was just throw fastballs
for strikes all day and you'd be fine. With this district, you can't do
that, so I was looking at their off-speed pitches.
"Barney did fine throwing strikes, and he probably
didn't throw more than two or three fastballs all day. With Rigo, it
was his first time on the mound, and he needs a little work. If he
can get his split finger (pitch) over, he'll be dangerous," Payan said.
Aside from the pitching and infield defense, the main thing
the Eagles are looking at right now is catcher. Payan said he tried
both Freddy Torres and Ruvel Carrasco behind home plate on Tuesday.
"Ruvel looked a little more comfortable back there," he said.
"I may have to platoon back there for a while, but we need to settle on
one kid."
Tuesday's scrimmage was the first of two this week for the
Eagles. They'll host Midland Christian on Tuesday afternoon at the
Pecos High School field, then open their regular season on Feb. 18 with
a home game against Odessa High.
Yellowjackets' 3-pointers bomb Eagles to end season
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
After seeing Kermit post Amber Broadway average 30 points a
game in her team's first two wins this season over the Pecos Eagles,
coach Veronica Valenzuela switched up her defense to keep the
Yellowjackets junior from getting the ball as much Tuesday night, when the teams
met for the final time this season at the Pecos High School gym.
This time, Broadway was held to only six points in the first half, but
in the second period, the Jackets bombed away from the
outside, hitting five 3-pointers and three other shots from just inside the 3-point
line, turning a four point lead after one period into a 14-point advantage,
as Kermit went on to defeat Pecos, 74-51 and clinched the third place
playoff berth out of District 4-3A.
"We came out to try and stop 23 (Broadway), because she was the
one who scored all the points, but we forgot to cover anybody else,"
said Eagles' coach Veronica Valenzuela, whose team closed out its season
with a 1-9 record in district, and 7-15 overall. "They got those open
shots from the outside, and then they got a lot of easy little lay-ups.
"When we were in the zone (defense) we tried to make
adjustments. I told the bottom girls on the
outside shooters they'd have to come out and let the girls on top slide down,"
she said. "I called a time out to tell
them, but we still didn't do it. That's why I switched to man (defense)."
Jessica Martinez, who led Pecos with 16 points, hit a jumper for
the first points of the game, but Kermit was able to go up by as much as a
13-6 margin in the period before a 3-point play by Leslie Rodriguez got
the margin back to four as the second period began. The Eagles had
a chance to cut the margin to two, but Erica Franco missed a couple of
free throws, and Kermit then began its string of outside shots.
Reagan Jones and Danielle Pando each hit a pair of 3-pointers over
the next four minutes. Jones, who finished with 13 points, would add another
3-pointer just before halftime and she and Broadway would hit from 18 feet
out in-between, as Kermit outscored Pecos 21-11 in the second period.
When the Eagles did switch to a man defense, Broadway began getting
more chances inside. She would score 11 of her 17 points in the second half,
while teammates Cassandra Garcia and Tiffanie Johnson also began
getting open inside and finished with 12 points apiece.
A basket by Johnson gave the Jackets a 26-point lead as the
third period ended, and the lead pretty much stayed in that area throughout the
final period. Martinez and Stephanie Herrera would hit 3-pointers of their own in
the fourth quarter, with Herrera also finishing in double figures for the
game with 12 points.
Kermit's win, combined with Fort Stockton's 59-49 loss to
Greenwood, allowed the Jackets to claim the final District 4-3A playoff berth with a
6-4 record, to the Prowlers' 5-5. Greenwood won the district title with a 10-0
mark, while Monahans finished 7-3 after beating Presidio on Tuesday night.
Pecos picks up pace, but still outrun by Kermit
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
The Pecos Eagles picked up the pace a little compared to their
recent District 4-3A basketball games.
But much of the time when they didn't they were unable to
complete what they started against the Kermit Yellowjackets.
The Eagles had one good run in the second quarter, cutting a
11-point Kermit lead after one period down to one midway through
the quarter.
But after missing two chances to take the lead, Pecos saw Kermit
roll off 10 straight points to close out the second period, and then go
on to beat the Eagles by a 64-45 final score.
"For our kids to compete against the other kids in district we've
got to get more gym time, as far as playing after the season is over
and after school is over in the summer," said coach Joe Flores. "As you
can see, with the teams we play in district, a lot of their skills are
head and shoulders above ours. But I believe we have dedicated
kids who'll improve on their gym experience for next year."
Flores was referring to the skill level of the Kermit players, who
were able to finish off their plays inside for baskets far better than the
Eagles on Tuesday. Guard Caleb Brown scored off a series of drives and
foul shots and finished with 16 points, while David Haring got
behind Pecos' defense for a series of lay-ups, several from tough angles,
and led the Jackets in scoring with 17 points.
"Defensively we put a new zone defense in to compliment the
traps we were doing all year, and for the most part it worked. But we had
a few breakdowns, since we haven't practiced it enough to get
really good at it yet," Flores said.
A reverse by Haring in the second period put Kermit ahead 21-11
when the Eagles came up with their best streak of the night, a 13-4 run
that cut the lead to 25-24.
Isaiah Armendariz, Bino Barreno and Oscar Parada hit
3-pointers during the run, and Joey Ortega got Pecos to within one on a lay-up off
a pass from Barreno.
Ortega was fouled on the play, but missed his free throw, and
after Kermit's Eric Simonds missed a foul shot of his own, the Eagles
turned the ball over while trying to get off a shot, leading to a Haring lay-up
that began the Jackets' 10-point run to close out the period.
Neither team did much scoring in the third period, which ended
with Kermit up 43-30.
Haring then picked up his fourth foul nine seconds into the
final period, but the Eagles were never able to foul the Jackets' post out
of the game, and he would add a lay-up as part of a 12-2 run to begin
the period that put the game out of reach for the Eagles.
Ortega and Jason Sanchez both has 10 points to lead Pecos, who
are 0-8 in district and 10-16 on the season. "The effort today was
10 times better than last Friday night at Presidio. If we had played with
this same intensity we did at Presidio, we would have won," Flores said.
Presidio followed up their win over Pecos on Friday by
beating Monahans on Tuesday, tying them for third with the Loboes in
the District 4-3A standings. The Eagles will go to Monahans on Friday
night, then close out their season at home against Fort Stockton, which lost
to Greenwood on Tuesday.
KERMIT (64)
Simonds 1 1-4 3; Adams 0 1-2 1; Briones 4 8-8 16; Lujan 1 0-0 2; Hise 4
0-0 8; Sims 2 0-3 4; Haring 8 1-2 17; Shipley 0 0-0 0; Carter 3 1-2 7; Widner 2 1-2
5. Totals 25 13-23 64.
PECOS (45)
Sanchez 3 3-3 10; Parada 2 0-0 5; Armendariz 3 0-0 7; Mendoza 0 0-0
0; Reyes 1 0-0 3; Barreno 3 0-0 7; Hinojoz 0 0-2 0; Lara 1 1-4 3; Parent 0 0-0
0; Ortega 3 4-5 10. Totals 16 8-14 45.
Kermit 18 13 8 19 _ 64
Pecos 7 13 6 18 _ 45
Three-point goals: Kermit 1 (Simonds), Pecos 5 (Sanchez,
Parada, Armendariz, Reyes, Barreno). Fouled out: Pecos, Parent. Total fouls: Kermit
16, Pecos 20.
Baseball, softball camps planned
Instructional camps in baseball and softball have been
scheduled for this weekend at the Pecos High School baseball field.
The baseball camp is scheduled for Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until
4 p.m. at the PHS baseball field, with a registration fee of $40 per player.
The softball camp will be on Sunday, from 10 a.m. until 2:30
p.m., and has a sign-up fee of $35 per player.
Boston Red Sox scout Gerald Fernandez will be the instructor
for the baseball camp, while Fernandez and Kenny Ross will serve
as softball camp instructors on Sunday.
The baseball camp will be divided into two groups, from
ages 6-11 and from ages 12 and up, while the softball camp is open to
players age 10 and older.
Both camps will feature instruction on offense in
hitting mechanics and approach, foundations of hitting and
batting stance and bunting. Defensive instruction will include
outfield drills and relay, technical drills, throwing mechanics and
base running, while pitching instruction will involve work on mechanics
and daily drills, mental training, pitch development and injury prevention.
For further information about the camps, contact John R. Salcido
at 447-9683.
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 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
|
