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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Mustangs overpower Eagle netters
If they were facing each other in an invitational tournament, the results wouldn't have been so bad for the Pecos Eagles. But in a dual meet setting, the Eagles didn't have much luck in the final results against the Andrews Mustangs this past Saturday.
Seniors Trent Graham and Natalia Ornelas both won their singles matches at No. 1 seed, but the Eagles were swept by their former district rivals in their other matches, losing to the Mustangs by a 20-2 final score.
"They finished in the Top 4 in Class 4A during the fall season, so they're a pretty good team," said Eagles' coach Mike Ortiz. "Only the No. 1 boy and the No. 1 girl won. In the other matches we were overwhelmed by them, but I liked the way they competed against the players from Andrews."
Graham won his match over Dustin Ipson, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, while Ornelas defeated Kendall Neighbors, 6-3, 6-3. After that, the closest match for Pecos was at No. 3 boys' doubles, where Francisco Ornelas and Jerris Rayos lost to Michael Deveza and Sam Stavineha, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. In singles, Frankie Hernandez fell by a 7-5, 6-4 score to Patrick Grissom, while the closes loss on the girls' side was a 6-2, 6-4 defeat by Natalia Ornelas and Sara Natividad to Brandy Chesser and Jessica DeLaCruz.
" I told the kids they'll have to work hard to get up there, since they're a little ahead of us," said Ortiz, who added he plans to continue playing the Mustangs during the spring season over the next couple of years. "I am happy for our No. 1s, because that will help us with seeding," going into the District 4-3A tournament in April.
The Eagles will play their final matches at home for the spring season this coming Friday, when they host five other teams in the Pecos Invitational Tournament. Ortiz said he would try and get the tournament's matches into a single day, weather permitting on Friday.
Pecos (2) at Andrews (20)
Boys Singles
Trent Graham defeated Dustin Ipson, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1; Donald Walker lost to Angel Grenades, 6-0, 6-1; Frankie Hernandez lost to Patrick Grissom, 7-5, 6-4; Michael Orona lost to Sam Stavineha, 6-2, 6-3; Francisco Ornelas lost to Joel Ipson, 6-3, 6-4; Jerris Rayos lost to Michael Deveza, 6-1, 6-1; Cedrick Pendleton lost to Tyler Guthrie, 6-0, 6-0; Curtis James lost to Roy Prewitt, 8-2.
Girls Singles
Natalia Ornelas defeated Kendall Neighbors, 6-3, 6-3; Mimi Ornelas lost to Laci Lawrence, 6-2, 6-2; Whitney Lamb lost to Jessica DelaCruz, 6-0, 6-0; Sara Natividad lost to Brandy Chesser, 6-0, 6-1; Crystal Ikeler lost to Erin Eisenrich, 6-2, 6-2; Amber Pando lost to Nicole Duzan, 6-2, 6-2; Angelica Prieto lost to Risty Allen, 6-0, 6-0; Pando lost to Allen, 6-3, 6-2.
Boys Doubles
Graham and Orona lost to D. Ipson and Granades, 6-1, 6-0; Walker and Hernandez lost to Grissom and J. Ipson, 6-2, 6-0; Ornelas and Rayos lost to Deveza and Stavineha, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Girls Doubles
M. Ornelas and Lamb lost to Lawrence and Dolloff, 6-0, 6-0; N. Ornelas and Natividad lost to Chesser and DelaCruz, 6-2, 6-4; Ikeler and Pando lost to Neighbors and Duzon, 6-2, 6-1.
Pecos girls close season with loss at Kermit
Another bad first quarter put the Pecos Eagle girls in a hole Tuesday night, in their final game of the 2003-04 basketball season. And while the Eagles were able to stay with the Kermit Yellowjackets in the middle quarters of last night's game in Kermit, the Jackets would pull away in the final 10 minutes to score a 61-30 win over the Eagles.
Kermit took a 16-5 lead after one period, were up 28-15 at the half, and turned a 10-point lead midway through the third period into a 46-24 advantage by the start of the fourth quarter.
"We started slowly then got a little better," said coach Veronica Valenzuela. "We did OK running our offense in the first half, but in the second half we didn't do anything." She added that Kermit changed up their defense from last month's 51-29 win in Pecos.
"Last time they manned (defense) us. This time they stayed in a zone. They ran man a little but they stayed in a 1-3-1 zone and didn't run a full court press," she said. "We didn't have much trouble with their halfcourt press. We'd get the ball through their halfcourt, but then we wouldn't do anything on offense."
She said the Eagles were only 6-for-22 shooting in the first half, while taking few shots in the final two periods.
The Eagles did do a better job defensively on Kermit post Amber Broadway, who had averaged 27 points in her last four games against Pecos. "She only had two points in the first half," Valenzuela said. "We held her to 16, but (Danielle) Pando ended up with 22. She's the one who killed us."
Pando opened the game with a three-point play and Kermit would jump out to a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes. The Jackets' guard got most of her 22 points in the opening half, while Broadway helped Kermit widen their lead with 14 second half points.
"I worked Chantel (Mazone) in there and she did a good job staying with her. But she picked up two fouls in the first half and in the second half as soon as I put her out there she got her third foul," Valenzuela said.
The Eagles, meanwhile, had no players in double figures. Leslie Rodriguez led the Eagles with nine points, and Danielle Garcia finished with eight.
Pecos finished the season with a 2-8 record in District 4-3A play and a 4-19 overall mark. Kermit, meanwhile, won the district title thanks to both their win last night and winning a coin flip with Monahans, which also ended district play with a 9-1 mark.
"The girls didn't want to have to play a playoff and then turn around and play on Monday, so they flipped for it," said Valenzuela. Kermit, 20-8 overall, draws a first round bye, while Monahans will face the third place team out of District 3-3A in the bi-district round of the playoffs. Greenwood defeated Fort Stockton on Tuesday to clinch the third and final playoff berth out of District 4-3A.
PECOS (30)
Rodriguez 4 1-2 9; Carrasco 1 1-2 3; D. Garcia 3 1-3 8; M. Mendoza 1 0-0 2; Valdez 0 0-0 0; O. Mendoza 0 0-0 0; V. Garcia 1 0-1 2; Armendariz 2 0-0 4; Mazone 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 3-8 30.
KERMIT (61)
Pando 7 6-6 22; T. Wilhelm 0 2-4 2; A. Jones 1 0-0 2; C. Wilhelm 0 0-0 0; R. Jones 2 0-0 4; Broadway 7 2-2 16; Garcia 2 0-0 4; Bell 1 0-0 2; Stevens 0 0-0 0; Bersosa 0 0-0 0; Marshall 2 1-2 5; Stevens 0 0-0 0; Steen 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 13-16 61.
Pecos 5 10 9 6 -- 30
Kermit 16 12 18 15 -- 61
Three-point goals: Pecos 1 (D. Garcia), Kermit 2 (Pando 2). Fouled out: None. Total fouls: Pecos 16, Kermit 13.
Eagles fall to Jackets, stay in playoff race
The Pecos Eagles weren't able to pull out a victory Tuesday night over the Kermit Yellowjackets. But the Eagles' playoff hopes remained alive because the Presidio Blue Devils were able to pull out a win at home over Monahans on Tuesday night.
The Eagles fell behind by as many as 13 points in the first half, cut that lead to six in the third period, then saw Kermit widen that margin back to 13 in the fourth quarter, before a late rally fell short by a 51-46 final score. That dropped Pecos into fifth place in the District 4-3A standings, which was actually a good thing, as Presidio kept Monahans from clinching the third and final district playoff berth by beating the Loboes in overtime, 74-70
Kermit's 6-foot-9 post Garrett Carter scored 19 points, mostly from the inside. But it was a 3-point jumper by Carter early in the final period with Kermit ahead by six that sent the Jackets on a 10-3 run that turned a 35-29 lead into a 45-32 advantage midway through the fourth quarter.
"We kept on battling. The kids gave a courageous effort," said Eagles' coach Joe Flores. "They played hard, but unfortunately, they were a little too big for us."
Carter scored 11 of his 19 points in the final period, which offset the 12 points scored by Oscar Parada in the last quarter for Pecos. Parada had a three-point play in the third period that got the Eagles to within 29-23, after they trailed at one point by a 21-8 score.
"We shot the ball 22 percent in the first half," said Flores. "We went through a period in the second quarter of about two minutes when we didn't even hit the rim."
Justin Lara and Ricardo Morales also had baskets in Pecos' third period rally, while Victor Reyes came up with several steals during the final comeback in the closing minutes of the game. Reyes finished with 12 points while Parada led Pecos with 15.
Kermit had just one player in double figures for the second time in as many games against Pecos, but 10 of their 13 players got on the scoreboard. Landon Forga had nine points, six in the opening period when the Jackets took a 15-5 lead.
The loss left Pecos with a 2-6 record in district, 9-18 overall, while Kermit stayed within a game of first place Greenwood, who they'll face on Friday night. The Jackets are 7-1 and 22-5 overall.
Monahans' loss left them with a 4-4 record in district, while Presidio is now 3-5. The Blue Devils close their season against Fort Stockton and Greenwood, while Monahans faces Kermit after their game on Friday in Pecos.
"The good thing is Presidio beat Monahans and now essentially the playoffs start for us on Friday," said Flores, whose team closes out their regular season next Tuesday night in Fort Stockton.
PECOS (46)
Parada 6 2-3 15; Morales 3 0-0 6; Pina 1 0-0 2; J. Reyes 1 0-0 3; Lara 3 0-1 6; Bustamantes 1 0-0 2; V. Reyes 3 5-6 12. Totals 18 7-10 46.
KERMIT (51)
Wilson 1 0-1 2; Adams 1 0-0 3; Lopez 1 0-0 2; Carter 9 0-0 19; Michaelis 2 0-0 4; Aguirre 1 0-0 2; Brines 0 0-0 0; Forga 4 0-0 9; Hose 1 1-2 3; Lujan 1 0-4 2; Jennings 0 0-0 0; Winder 2 1-2 5; Saenz 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 2-9 51.
Pecos 5 8 13 20 -- 46
Kermit 15 10 11 15 -- 51
Three-point goals: Pecos 3 (Parada, J. Reyes, V. Reyes), Kermit 3 (Adams, Carter, Forga). Fouled out: None. Total fouls: Pecos 5, Kermit 7.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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Copyright 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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