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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, February 8, 1999
Bad second quarters doom Eagle cagers
PECOS, Feb. 8 -- The second quarter was the turning point
for both the Pecos Eagle basketball teams on Friday, as they
were beaten in Clint by the Lions boys and girls squads for
the second time this season.
Pecos' girls managed just two points in the second period,
turning a three-point deficit into a 10 point halftime
deficit, and were unable to get closer than six points in
the second half, losing by a 62-46 final score.
Pecos' boys played strong 1½ quarters for the third game in
a row, only to see things fall apart just before the half.
Clint went on an 10-0 run to turn a 19-18 Pecos lead into a
29-20 deficit at halftime, then outscored Pecos 15-2 in the
third period and wound up winning by a 56-33 final score.
"In the second quarter they only score nine, but we turned
the ball over six times and that's where most of their
points came from," Eagles' coach Brian Williams said.
Lindsey Hathorn had Pecos' only points in the period, which
ended with the Eagles down 21-11.
Pecos more than doubled that total in the third period,
outscoring Clint 15-13. The Lions would pull away in the
final minutes, when Williams said Pecos was forced to sent
Clint to the foul line.
"We have to fight so much to get back into the game because
of that bad quarter. We were down 46-53 when we had to start
fouling and that's when they got most of their points," in
the fourth quarter, Williams said.
Shaye Lara had 18 points on the night, while Maricela
Arenivas added 13 and Alexa Marquez 10, with each hitting a
pair of 3-point shots on the night.
"We played a decent game just like the other night (last
Tuesday against Fabens) but they had more to play for,"
Williams said. Monica Rios led all scorers with 21 points,
and Polly Wagner added 12 for the Lions, who clinched the
district title with their victory.
"That girl (Rios) is a senior and she wants to go to college
on a scholarship at UTEP. They had some scouts there and she
impressed them," Williams said.
Clint improved to 9-0 in district and 24-4 overall, while
Pecos fell to 4-21 on the season, and 1-9 in district going
into their final game, at home Tuesday night against San
Elizario.
Clint's boys didn't clinch the district title, but they did
earn a playoff spot with their victory. The Lions had routed
the Eagles in Pecos last month, but this time, the game was
close until the final minutes of the first half.
"I substituted my bench players in there and they just
couldn't hold up," said coach Mike Sadler. "They gave up
five quick baskets that put us nine points behind, and that
was the difference in the game."
Sadler said the Eagles would have had a shot to come back
from the bad third period if the game had been closer. "We
do have to score more points in the third quarter to set
things up for the fourth, but even if we have a bad quarter,
if we went in with a four- or five-point lead, and we'd
still have a chance."
Darrio Arroyo's 14 lead a balanced attack for Clint, which
is 6-1 in district And 9-18 overall. Pecos fell to 2-5 and
10-16 and need to win all three of their remaining games to
have a shot at catching San Elizario or El Paso Mountain
View for the final two playoff berths. Pecos hosts San
Elizario on Tuesday and goes to Mountain View on Friday,
before closing their regular season against Canutillo.
Friday, girls
PECOS (46)
Lara 7 2-2 18; Marquez 3 2-3 10; Garcia 0 0-0 0; Molinar 0
0-0 0; Quiroz 0 0-0 0; Salcido 0 0-0 0; Arenivas 3 5-6 13;
Levario 0 0-2 0; Hathorn 1 1-4 3; Fobbs 1 0-0 2. Totals 15
10-17 46.
CLINT (62)
Brablett 1 1-2 3; M. Tullins 1 0-0 2; Brave 1 0-0 2; Nieto 0
2-2 2; Rueda 0 1-2 1; Wagner 5 2-3 12; Duran 1 3-4 5; Lara 0
0-0 0; Rios 8 5-7 21; Button 0 0-0 0; Varela 4 2-2 10;
Fowler 2 0-0 4. Totals 23 16-22 62.
Pecos 9 2 15 20 --46
Clint 12 9 13 28 --62
Three-point goals: Pecos 6 (Lara 2, Marquez 2, Arenivas 2).
Fouled out: Pecos, Levario, Arenivas, Fobbs. Total fouls:
Pecos 21, Clint 18.
Balmorhea boys earn playoff spot
PECOS, Feb. 8 -- The Balmorhea Bear boys will be back in
the playoffs again this year, after pulling out an overtime
victory on Friday against the Dell City Cougars.
Balmorhea's girls, meanwhile, missed out on a chance to end
their recent playoff drought with a win over Dell City, but
still have one more chance to get the second District 1-A
playoff berth on Tuesday when they host the Valentine
Pirates.
The boys survived a Dell City comeback to defeat the
Cougars in overtime, 88-85, tying them with Sierra Blanca
for first in the district standings. Earlier, Dell City
clinched the district title be beating Balmorhea, 60-36.
"They pulled away in the third quarter," said Bears' coach
Ennis Erickson. "We went from being one point down in the
third quarter to being 16 down."
Erickson said Balmorhea can earn at least a playoff for
second with Sierra Blanca by defeating Valentine in their
final regular season home game. A playoff would probably
take place on Saturday in Van Horn, with the winner meeting
District 2-A champion Wink on Feb. 16.
The boys could face Sierra Blanca again next week in a
first place playoff, depending on the outcome of Tuesday's
game, after they ended Dell City's playoff hopes.
"The boys had a good lead, but Dell City caught up and we
went to overtime," Erickson said, during which Balmorhea
poured in 14 points in just four minutes, and held on for
the win.
The victory assured Balmorhea of their sixth straight trip
to post-season, while the Bears still have a shot at earning
their fourth consecutive district title. The district
champion will face Wink, Fort Davis or Fort Hancock in the
bi-district round, while the runner-up will take on Marfa in
their first round game.
Pecos set to scrimmage Kermit
PECOS, Feb. 8 -- Pecos Eagles baseball coach Bubba Williams
will get his first look at the 1999 Eagles under game
conditions this afternoon, when the Eagles host the Kermit
Yellowjackets in the first of three pre-season scrimmages.
The Eagles and Jackets will have warm temperatures to work
with today, when they begin their scrimmage at 5 p.m. Both
teams still have players participating in basketball, and
the Eagles also will be minus senior Lucio Florez and junior
Kevin Bates, who are preparing for the Region I-4A swim meet
this week.
Williams will get to look at his two returning pitchers from
a year ago, senior Louis Valencia and junior Joshua
Casillas, as well as a number of other players looking for
fill spots due to the loss of six starters from 1998's team
to graduation.
The Eagles will have just one scrimmage today, but will
split their teams into varsity, junior varsity and freshman
squads on Friday for scrimmage games against Fort Stockton.
Pecos' final scrimmage is Feb. 20 at home against Midland
High, and the varsity opens the season with a Feb. 26
doubleheader against Monahans.
Martin hopes victory a preview of Daytona
By MIKE HARRIS
AP Motorsports Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 8 -- One of Mark Martin's
greatest assets is his ability to stay cool in just about
any situation.
After years of dealing with frustration at Daytona
International Speedway, Martin won Sunday's Bud Shootout, a
25-lap race for the previous year's NASCAR Winston Cup
pole-winners. It was a big moment for Martin, who managed to
remain low key in the aftermath.
``I hope we win the Daytona 500 this year, but I believe if
you do the work and give your very best effort, you need to
accept the results. I try not to get too overwhelmed by
winning and not to get too eaten up if things don't go as
they should.''
Asked if the dominating victory, his first in 73 stock car
starts at Daytona, is the start of a new era for him here,
Martin grinned and replied, ``I don't know, but I sure feel
good for Jack Roush. He's built his reputation on being the
king of horsepower, and we haven't been able to give him a
very good showing at Daytona.
``It's 95 percent car at Daytona, and I give my team all
the credit for making a lot of gains from a year ago. They
sure have built me a lot nicer Taurus than they gave me to
work with last year in this race.''
Last year's Winston Cup runner-up, who has come up short on
horsepower in recent years at Daytona, gave a signal of
things to come Saturday when he was fifth in pole qualifying
for next Sunday's Daytona 500.
In the Shootout, Martin came from 13th in the 15-car field
to take the lead on lap 10, following the mandatory pit stop
and two-tire change by all the entries. He never trailed
through the rest of the race.
Several contenders tried hard to mount a challenge to
Martin's Roush Racing Ford, but nobody came close as the
winner crossed the finish line on the 2½-mile, high-banked
oval about four car-lengths ahead of the second-place
Chevrolet of Ken Schrader.
``The pit stop did it,'' Martin said. ``It got me out in
front, and we had a fast enough car to stay there. It's
tough to get a car to run that well in restrictor plates
races. Of course, this isn't the major one. But this is
Speed Weeks. It feels good to win. I can't think of a better
way to start the season.''
The cars are required to used restrictors on their
carburetors in races at Daytona and Talladega, NASCAR's
fastest tracks. It's a rule which makes it difficult and
expensive for teams to find enough power to be competitive.
``I was real pleased with the way we came through the pack,
but I'm not saying we have the strongest car here by any
means,'' Martin said. ``I still realize that we are way
ahead of where we were last year, but we certainly don't
have everything in the bag here. But now we know that if
we're in position Sunday, we've got a shot at winning the
Daytona 500.''
Schrader, who was third in the Daytona qualifying, said,
``When we got to Mark, we were done. We could run with him,
but that's all. Mark was just plain better today.''
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 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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