Area Newspaper and Travel Guide for Reeves County, Ward County, Trans-Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

Sports

Monday, December 15, 1997

Eagles' focus returns in time to tame Lions

By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Dec. 15 -- Lydia Patterson Institute was definitely
the focus of the Pecos Eagles' attention this weekend at the
West of the Pecos Shootout. But a lack of focus earlier in
the tournament almost kept the Eagles from avenging losses
to the Lions the past two seasons in the tournament finals.

The Eagles didn't break away from Odessa High's junior
varsity until the second half of their opening pool round
game on Friday, then had to wait until the final minute to
clinch their victory over Presidio, and until the final
seconds to assure themselves of a semifinal win Saturday
morning over the Alpine Bucks.

That got the Eagles into the finals, and after two years of
lopsided losses to Lydia Patterson, they got their victory.

Pecos jumped out to an early nine-point lead and held off
three comebacks by the Lions to win, 65-56, and claim their
own tournament title for the first time in four years.

Fernando Navarrette led the Eagles down the stretch both
against Lydia Patterson and in Saturday's 47-44 win over the
Bucks. The junior had eight points and was 6-for-6 from the
line in the fourth quarter against the Lions, four coming
after Lydia Patterson had cut a 49-42 lead to 49-47 with
3:27 left.

"Fern was our saving grace. He did a good job defensively
and offensively," said Eagles' coach Mike Sadler. "When he
plays a good defensive game and in the front court, then
we're successful."

Navarrette also had seven points in a 12-2 Pecos run against
Alpine, after the Bucks rallied from an early 16-5 deficit
to tie the game at 27-all. He finished with 18 points
against the Bucks while scoring 14 in the win over the
Lions.

Omar Hinojos led Pecos with 19, but was both tired and hurt
by the end of the tournament. He sat out part of the win
over the Bucks after falling hard and injuring his ankle in
the second period, while struggling from the foul line late
against Lydia Patterson.

"Omar was a little beat up. But he's been on the varsity for
three years, and has been the go-to man for at least the
past two years, so if he gets banged up, we've got people
like Favio (Fabien Adame), Jacob (Chavez) and Fernando as a
supporting cast," Sadler said. "That's the thing. We've got
other people to help out and that was the key today."

LPI advanced to the finals with an 80-45 win over the
Bronchos' JV, but never led against Pecos, and were down by
as much as 11 after two lay-ups by Hinojos put the Eagles up
24-13. However, some mental lapses and bad rebounding just
before halftime let the Lions cut the margin to 31-30,
before a Hinojos lay-up and 3-pointer by Chavez got that
margin back to four at halftime.

The Eagles got their lead up to seven a couple of times in
the second half, but weren't assured of the victory until
the closing minute. Adame had a lay-up off a feed from
Chavez, and Navarrette and Hector Garcia each hit a pair of
free throws with 44.3 and 29.4 seconds left, after a lay-up
by Jesus Barranda cut the Eagles' lead to 58-56.

Barranda had 14 points and Luis Monarrez 13 for Lydia
Patterson, but Julio Hernandez and Juan Rodriguez missed
3-pointers in the last 50 seconds, as the Lions' outside
shooting wasn't as strong as in recent years, though they
still managed to equal Pecos' five 3s on the day.

Four were by Chavez, though his best effort came in the
Eagles' 72-52 opening victory over Odessa High's JV. The
senior hit six 3-pointers, including five in a row, as part
of his game-high 24 points. They helped the Eagles turn a
32-25 halftime lead into a 51-36 advantage after three
quarters.

Greg Smithers had 11 to lead OHS, which earlier had scored a
66-57 win over Presidio.

Chavez would add four more 3s and another 24 points Friday
night against Presidio, while Hinojos led all scorers with
27. But the Eagles were sloppy on defense and careless with
the ball, and the Blue Devils took advantage, wiping out an
11-2 deficit and going ahead at one points, 23-19.

Pecos would come back to take a 33-31 lead before the half
was over, but a 3-pointer by Rex Aguirre and a lay up by
Alex Montemayor would put Presidio up 60-55 with four
minutes to play.

The Eagles finally took the lead for good at 64-63 on
3-pointers by Hinojos and Chavez with three minutes left,
and the Eagles sank 8-for-11 free throws over the next two
minutes, to go out to an 11-point lead before a couple of 3s
by Presidio in the final minute cut the lead back to five.

Jorge Medrano led Presidio with 18 points, and Marco Lujan
added 13 for the Blue Devils.

Pecos' problems continued in the 8 a.m. game against Alpine
on Saturday. The Eagles had beaten the Bucks 60-37 two weeks
earlier, but this time, had to run out the clock after
Jonathan Boyd missed a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left.
Cougar McBride's 14 points topped Alpine, which came back to
take third over OHS' JV, 59-47.

Sadler took several of his varsity and JV players to make a
second team to fill out the bracket, though that squad
struggled inside in all three games. They were beaten Friday
by Alpine, 63-46, and by LPI, 94-61, then fell in the
consolation finals to Presidio, 68-37. Moses Martinez led
the Eagles with 11 and 25 points in Friday's games, and
Frank Perea's 12 topped Pecos against Presidio.

The Eagles are off this week for semester tests until
Friday, when they close out their pre-Christmas schedule at
Greenwood. Pecos then returns to action at the Reagan County
Tournament on Dec. 29.

Saturday, finals
LYDIA PATTERSON (56)
Monarrez 3 6-9 13; Guillen 1 1-2 4; Hernandez 0 2-2 2; J.
Rodriguez 4 0-0 9; Quintero 0 0-0 0; Cruz 0 0-0 0; A.
Rodriguez 2 0-1 6; Caballero 4 0-0 8; Barrada 6 2-2 14.
Totals 20 11-16 56.

PECOS (65)
Garcia 1 2-2 4; Luna 0 0-0 0; Navarrette 4 6-6 14; Hinojos 9
0-4 19; Matta 0 2-4 2; Adame 2 6-9 10; Marquez 0 0-0 0;
Chavez 4 4-5 16. Totals 20 20-30 65.

Lydia Patterson 13 19 10 14 --56
Pecos 22 14 9 20 --65
Three-point goals: Lydia Patterson 5 (A. Rodriguez 2, J.
Rodriguez, Monarrez, Guillen), Pecos 5 (Chavez 4, Hinojos).
Fouled out: Lydia Patterson Barrada, A. Rodirugez, Guillen.
Total fouls: Lydia Patterson 21, Pecos 17.

Swimmers snare 1st, 2nd at Seminole

PECOS, Dec. 15 -- The last swim meet before Christmas for
the Pecos Eagles was a lot like the last meet before
Thanksgiving turned out, and mostly for the same reasons.

Pecos' girls finished first and the boys finished second
behind Big Spring on Saturday at the Seminole Invitational.
That was the same result as a month ago at the Pecos
Invitational, and Eagles' coach Terri Morse said depth
played a part in both the girls' win and the boys' runner-up
status.

"Part of the reason Big Spring beat us was they had most of
their guys there," she said. "We swam well enough to beat
them, but we didn't have the depth. They had at least two
relays in each event, and I don't know if we had that if we
would have beaten them, but it would have been closer."

Pecos was also hurt by a disqualification of swimmer Al
Tillman in the 200 meter individual medley, and wound up
losing out to the Steers by a 122-102 point margin, with
Carlsbad next at 83½ points.

Meanwhile, the girls were able to survive the
disqualification of their 200 medley relay team to take
first place with 101 points, nine more than Carlsbad and
Abilene High.

"The girls had a pretty good day. Some of the second, third
and fourth people in their events are getting their times
down and are starting to score points. That helped, because
we're not having to rely on two or three people and our
relays as much," Morse said.

The girls did get their first event gold medal of the year,
as Liz Parent, Dionnie Munoz, Sara Flores and Megan Freeman
won the 400 meter freestyle relay with a 4:40.21 time.
Earlier, Parent just missed out on the gold in the 500
freestyle, falling by .02 second to Big Spring's Somer
Leubner.

Parent also won third in the 200 freestyle, while Munoz was
third in the 100 free and sixth in the 50 free; Freeman was
third in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 50 free; and
Flores was fourth in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the
200 medley. Other points came from Jamie Corson and Kelley
Bagley, fourth and sixth in the 500 free; Randy Key, third
in both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, and Jo Ann
Wein, who was sixth in the 100 back, and from the 200
freestyle relay team, which was fourth, and the 400 `B'
relay team, which placed sixth.

The boys picked up two individual golds, by Kevin Bates in
the 100 meter freestyle (58 seconds) and Kenneth Friar in
the 500 free (6:05.72). Earlier the two teamed with Tillman
and Matt Ivy to win the 200 medley relay in 2:00.56.

Bates was also second in the 100 backstroke and Friar was
third in the 100 fly. Tillman was sixth in the 100
breaststroke; Ivy was third in the 200 free and fifth in the
100 backstroke; Timothy Harrison was fifth in the 200 medley
and the 200 and 400 relay teams placed second and third.

Big Spring was fourth in the girls division with 75 points,
while Abilene Cooper had 67 and Monahans 49. On the boys'
side, Abilene High was fourth with 80½ points, Cooper and
Fort Stockton tied for fifth with 56 apiece, and Monahans
and Andrews were next with 27 and 20 points.

The Eagles will be off for the holiday for the next three
weekends, before resuming on Jan. 10 at the Coker
Invitational in Fort Stockton.

Pecos finds lost offense, gets by Loboes

PECOS, Dec. 15 -- After getting off to a fast start in the
first half of their opening game at the Monahans Sandhills
Tournament, the Pecos Eagles ran into problems on offense in
the first half of their games Friday and Saturday against
the San Angelo Lake View Maidens and Monahans Loboettes.

The Eagles were held to just 17 first half points in the
tournament semifinals against Lake View, as they fell to
their District 4-4A hoop rivals by a 55-38 final score. Then
on Saturday, the Eagles managed just 10 points in the first
two quarters against Monahans, but were in much better shape
on the scoreboard, because the Loboes managed just two
points over the same period. They would add 19 more in the
third quarter, before the Eagles pulled away in the final
period, taking third place with a 48-34 victory.

"We couldn't hit, and they couldn't put a shot up," said
Eagles' coach Brian Williams of the 12-point first half. "In
the second half I told them it was time to start playing
they way they need to, because when you play a team like
Monahans you've got to come out and be the stronger team."

The Eagles lost two points off their lead going into the
fourth quarter, as the Loboes' Lori Enriquez scored 17 of
her team's 19 points in the third period. But she was held
to only five more in the last eight minutes, and the Eagles
were able go out to a double-digit lead.

Lori Marquez led Pecos with 15, and every Pecos player
scored. But only Marisol Arneivas also managed to get into
double figures, finishing with 11. The problem was even
worst in Friday's loss to the Maidens, when Marquez hit for
18 points, but only three other players managed to get into
the scoring column.

Meanwhile, the Maidens got 18 points from Hillary Lee and 15
from Bridgette Leifeste while outscoring Pecos by seven
points in each of the first two quarters.

"Lori was all over the floor, but I told them somebody else
has got to step up and play like her, because someday she's
going to be in foul trouble or not playing well, and what
are we going to do?" Williams said.

He said the Eagles' did stage a comeback in the third period
and the early portion of the fourth quarter Friday. "We got
within three points several times, but couldn't get over the
hump," Williams added.

Marquez, Marisol Arenivas and Shea Lara ended up on the
all-tournament team. Arenivas and Lara were both in double
figures in Thursday's 72-40 win over El Paso Coronado, in
which the Eagles put up 43 points in the first half.

Lake View wound up losing the finals to El Paso Irvin by a
58-56 final score, while Reagan County beat Fabens for
consolation, 43-40.

Pecos was scheduled to play two more games before Christmas,
but Williams said Saturday's home game against Odessa
Permian has been canceled. The Eagles will go to Crane on
Friday night, then resume play after Christmas against
Reagan County, Fabens at Fort Stockton at the Fort Stockton
Tournament.

Saturday
PECOS (48)
Arenivas 3 4-6 11; Lara 2 0-0 4; A. Marquez 0 2-4 2;
Armstrong 3 2-4 8; Orona 1 0-0 2; L. Marquez 6 3-5 15; Bell
1 2-5 4; Levario 1 0-1 2. Totals 17 13-25 48.

MONAHANS (34)
Swiaert 0 0-0 0; Alamnza 0 0-0 0; Covington 0 0-0 0; Crone 0
0-0 0; Williams 0 0-0 0; Enriquez 10 3-4 24; Franco 1 0-0 2;
Jasso 1 1-3 4; Rogers 0 0-0 0; Huckabee 0 0-0 0; Sanchez 1
0-0 3; Wessels 0 2-2 2. Totals 13 6-9 34.

Pecos 6 4 17 21 --48
Monahans 2 0 19 13 --34
Three-point goals: Pecos 1 (Arenivas), Monahans 2 (Enriquez,
Sanchez) Fouled out: None. Total fouls: Pecos 17, Monahans
17.

Cowboys' hopes end in 31-24 Bengals win

By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
CINCINNATI, Dec. 15 -- Elimination didn't sit well with the
Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys were knocked out of playoff contention Sunday
with a 31-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. They knew
coming in that they had only a minuscule chance to win a
wild-card berth. Even that vanished Sunday, leaving them
with unanswerable questions and an uneasy feeling.

``A lot of guys feel we've got the talent to at least be in
the playoffs and have a chance at making the Super Bowl,''
15-year veteran Bill Bates said. ``Well, we haven't done
that. We veterans have to look back and say, `Were we really
good enough to do that, or were we fooling ourselves?' ''

The Cowboys (6-9) let a 10-point first-quarter lead slip
away. With it went their already slim chance of making the
playoffs for a seventh straight year.

``This game was like our season,'' Bates said. ``We fought
our tails off, made too many mistakes and came up short.''

The Cowboys will finish with their first losing record since
1990, when they went 7-9. That season was a reason for
optimism, another step forward in Jimmy Johnson's
rebuilding. This one has jeopardized the job of coach Barry
Switzer and left owner Jerry Jones contemplating changes.

``This is killing him as much as it's killing us,'' Bates
said of Jones. ``He's going to find players and make changes
to right the ship. That's the only thing the players
expect.''

It looked like they had all it would take when they beat the
Steelers in Pittsburgh 37-7 to open the season. That was the
high point of their season.

As the season went along, the Cowboys' offense deteriorated
and dragged the team along. Dallas is one of the worst in
the league at scoring inside the 20-yard line and has scored
24 or fewer points in each of the last six games.

Emmitt Smith topped 1,000 yards rushing for the seventh
consecutive season on Sunday and Michael Irvin topped 1,000
yards receiving for the sixth time in seven seasons, but the
offense once again couldn't get the results it needed.

``Let's not sit here and fool each other and say what would
have happened if we got into the playoffs,'' Irvin said.
``We're not playing good football and that's the bottom
line.

``I think we have found out a lot about ourselves this
season, who we can and The Bengals (6-9) have won three of
four since Boomer Esiason replaced Jeff Blake at
quarterback, a meaningless surge after all playoff hopes
were gone. Esiason threw touchdown passes of 48 and 32 yards
to spark the comeback and completed 13 of 25 passes overall
for 269 yards.

``We hit some big plays and they were taking some chances,''
coach Bruce Coslet said. ``They were putting nine or 10 guys
(near the line of scrimmage) trying to stop our running
game. That's when Boomer is effective with the play-action
pass.''

Corey Dillon, who set a rookie record by rushing for 246
yards in the Bengals' previous game, picked up 127 on 26
carries.

Emmitt Smith, who missed most of a game Monday night because
of a sore shoulder, picked up 56 yards on nine carries in
the quarter. Michael Irvin had six catches for 69 yards, and
Aikman completed eight of 13 passes for 83 yards as the
Cowboys went ahead 10-0.

Once the quarter ended, the Cowboys unraveled. Smith,
suffering from a stomach virus, left the field to get fluids
intravenously and was not a factor again. He finished the
day with 68 yards, giving him 1,034 for the season, his
seventh straight year over 1,000 yards.

Esiason's 48-yard touchdown pass to Darnay Scott -- he beat
cornerback Kevin Smith on a post pattern -- put the Bengals
ahead 17-10 with 25 seconds left in the half.

Dillon's 14-yard run made it 24-10 in the third quarter and
left the Cowboys walking around with their heads down. David
Dunn beat cornerback Kevin Mathis -- a replacement for
injured Deion Sanders -- for a 32-yard touchdown catch that
gave the Bengals a 31-10 lead and their fourth consecutive
30-point game, a franchise first.

The Cowboys had one last rally in them. Aikman threw a pair
of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to David LaFleur, the
last one cutting the lead to 31-24 with 6:27 left. But Corey
Sawyer intercepted Aikman for the second time to end one
possession, and Aikman's desperate pass into the end zone
was batted around before hitting the ground as time expired.

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.