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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Tuesday, January 19, 1999
Eagles seek home wins against Lions
PECOS, Jan 19 -- The Clint Lions are trying to do in the
1998-99 boys basketball season what the Pecos Eagles' former
district rivals Andrews and Big Spring used to do -- start
slow and finish fast -- when they come into Pecos tonight
for the teams' second District 2-4A game of the season.
Clint's girls, meanwhile, want to do what Andrews and Big
Spring's girls have done to Pecos in recent years -- start
fast and finish fast -- while the Eagles will try to get
their first district win and hand the Lions their first 2-4A
loss when the teams meet in a 6 p.m. start.
Clint came into district play last Friday with by far the
worst record among the six 2-4A boys' teams, at 3-17. But
just as Andrews and Big Spring used to start well below .500
and then come on when district play began, the Lions started
off against San Elizario on Friday with a 57-49 homecourt
victory.
That's actually a low score for a Clint game this season, as
the Lions' basketball squad mirrors their football team in
playing high-scoring games more often than not. Also like
the football team, they're led by D.J. Check, who scored 14
points on Friday, while Daniel Arroyo also put in 14 and
Michael Ortega led the Lions with 15.
The Eagles, meanwhile, got their first district win in
almost two years on Friday, winning at Fabens by a 61-57
final score. Pecos was down by nine early, but a 28-point
third period gave them a 17-point lead going into the final
quarter. The Wildcats then outscored Pecos 20-3 to tie the
game, before the Eagles regained their composure and won on
a couple of baskets by Fernando Navarette and two Hector
Garcia free throws in the closing seconds.
"The refs let them play," Eagles' coach Mike Sadler said of
the final period, when things got rough on the court at
times. "But they were the same refs that did a Midland
College game the night before, so it wasn't bad."
Navarette had 21 points and Oscar Luna 17 in the win, which
gave Pecos a 9-11 record for the season.
On the girls' side the teams' records are almost reversed --
Clint comes in with an 18-4 mark, 3-0 in district, while
Pecos is 3-17 and 0-3 overall. But the Lions' three district
wins have all be close games, while the Eagles have been
getting closer in each of their losses, dropping a 51-45
decision at Fabens on Friday.
Clint had a good start and finish to their game against San
Elizario, but managed just nine points in the second and
third quarters and wound up with a 35-27 victory. Polly
Wagner and Tina Varela each had nine points to lead Clint in
scoring.
The Eagles got 22 points out of Shaye Lara and 12 from
Lindsey Hathorn, the first time Pecos has had more than one
player in double figures this season.
"I always said if we could get anybody out there with Shaye
we would be all right," said Eagles' coach Brian Williams,
whose team has scored over 50 points just once so far this
year.
Rockets land Pippen, Knicks grab Sprewell
By CHRIS SHERIDAN
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK, Jan. 19 -- All sorts of deals are being made,
from Scottie Pippen heading to the Houston Rockets to
Latrell Sprewell going to the New York Knicks.
Those transactions should be finalized as soon as the NBA
lockout settlement is put into writing and signed, which
could come as early as tonight.
NBA teams were told Monday that training camps will not
open until Wednesday at the earliest, but that didn't stop
teams from moving ahead with plans to reshuffle players in
anticipation of the season starting Feb. 5.
The Chicago Bulls agreed to a sign-and-trade deal sending
Pippen to the Rockets for forward Roy Rogers and a
second-round draft pick, and the Knicks were set to acquire
Latrell Sprewell from Golden State, numerous league sources
told The Associated Press.
Also, top free agent Antonio McDyess narrowed his choices
to Denver and Phoenix and was expected to choose between
them by the end of the day.
A number of other deals were being discussed, including:
-- Minnesota, Toronto and Denver reaching agreement on a
three-way trade sending guard Chauncey Billups to the
Nuggets, center Dean Garrett and guard Bobby Jackson to the
Timberwolves and guard Micheal Williams and two No. 1 picks
to the Raptors.
-- The Bulls signing and trading guard Steve Kerr and
center Luc Longley, with Kerr going to San Antonio, and
Longley reportedly headed to Phoenix for forward Martin
Muursepp, forward-center Mark Bryant and guard-forward Bubba
Wells.
-- New Jersey reportedly acquiring center Jim McIlvaine
from Seattle for forwards Michael Cage and Don MacLean.
-- The Los Angeles Lakers sending forward Tony Battie to
Boston for center Travis Knight.
All of those deals cannot be finalized until lawyers
representing the league and the union finish putting the
lockout settlement into writing.
Attorneys for both sides were huddled away Monday night
trying to resolve several differences that have popped up.
``We'll know for sure (today) whether we'll be starting
Wednesday or Thursday,'' league spokesman Chris Brienza
said.
The biggest disagreement between the sides concerns the new
average salary exception, which allows teams already over
the salary cap to sign an extra free agent. The union wants
the exception to be used for six-year contracts; the league
wants it limited to three-year deals.
The Bulls will sign Pippen to a deal worth $67.2 million
for five years before trading him.
Although the salaries for Pippen and Rogers do not match,
the deal is allowable under NBA rules because Houston will
have enough salary cap room to fit in Pippen's contract. His
salary for this season will be $10.6 million.
Pippen, a six-time champion with the Bulls, The acquisition
of Pippen should clear the way for Charles Barkley to
re-sign with Houston for the $1 million minimum, giving the
Rockets a formidable front line of Barkley, Pippen and
Hakeem Olajuwon, and allowing Barkley to keep his Larry Bird
rights for another year.
The Knicks emerged as the leading contender in the Sprewell
sweepstakes after Golden State general manager Garry St.
Jean told all the interested teams to make their best offers
by 3 p.m. CST Monday.
Sprewell, a three-time All-Star, drew the longest
non-drug-related suspension in league history last season
for choking his coach, P.J. Carlesimo.
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 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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