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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Wednesday, February 10, 1999
San Eli's quickness stops Pecos
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Feb. 10 -- Quickness and three-point shooting have
always been the strengths of the San Elizario Eagles in boys
basketball, and on Tuesday night, they had more of both than
the Pecos Eagles did.
San Elizario ended Pecos' playoff hopes by hitting seven
3-point shots and by just having a little too much overall
quickness for Pecos to deal with, as they used a 16-2 run
late in the third period and at the start of the fourth to
score a 61-42 win at the Pecos High School gym.
Frank Jimenez started the streak with the second of his
three 3-pointers on the night, and James Hernandez opened
the fourth quarter with his third 3-pointer, both of which
helped turn a 32-31 San Elizario lead into a 48-33 advantage.
Playing without guard Oscar Luna for the fifth straight
game, the Eagles just didn't have the team speed to stay
close to San Elizario on defense, as the visiting Eagles
suffered only a few forced turnovers and were able to work
their outside shooters open for 21 points, while Pecos
managed only six from 3-point range.
"The key is on perimeter shots, you've got to run at him
and you've got to get your hand in front of him," Eagles'
coach Mike Sadler said. "When we did that he (Jimenez)
missed, but when we didn't, that's when the defense broke
down, and that's where we missed Oscar and his quickness."
The Eagles had faltered midway through the second period in
their recent games, but played better on Tuesday then they
have since their last win, against Mountain View three weeks
ago.
Hector Garcia did have enough quickness to drive through
the lane for a series of lay-ups in the first half and
finished with a team-high 14 points, while Fernando
Navarette and Mark Marquez also got open inside and finished
with 13 and nine points respectively. But the rest of Pecos'
lineup managed only two baskets, one in the closing seconds,
and the Eagles' trio was outdone by San Elizario's Jimenez,
who led all scorers with 28 points, and Hernandez and Mike
Perez, both of whom finished with 15.
Hernandez scored a couple of times off steals in the first
period, then sank in a jumper from the top of the key as the
first quarter closed to give San Elizario a 17-10 lead.
Garcia would lead a Pecos rally late in the second period,
hitting a 3-pointer and driving for a lay-up to narrow the
lead to 25-21. But he missed twice from the foul line with
10 seconds left, and Hernandez then banked home a shot from
30 feet out as the halftime buzzer sounded, to open the lead
back to seven.
Navarette started the third period with a pair of lay-ups
and baskets by Marquez and Garcia cut the lead to 30-29. But
after the teams traded baskets Jimenez put in eight quick
points, six from 3-point range, to widen the lead back to
nine. Marquez broke the string with a lay-up, but then did
not go after a missed shot by Jimenez that appeared headed
out of bounds as the third period ended. A leaping Omar Pena
was able to save the ball to Donny Ramirez, who sank a
six-footer as the buzzer sounded.
The basket started another 8-0 San Elizario run, which was
ended by Navarette's 3-point with five minutes to play. The
teams then traded baskets over the next few minutes, with
Pecos never getting closer than 14 before Jimenez finished
third off with five of his 11 points from the foul line.
"The bottom line is we played a pretty good game, but they
hit the big shots at crucial times. Defensive breakdowns in
crucial spots spelled disaster for us," Sadler said.
The loss left Pecos with a 2-6 mark in district, while San
Elizario improved to 6-2 on the season. They can clinch a
playoff spot with a victory on Friday, as can Mountain View,
whom the Eagles were able to edge at home three weeks ago
for the last victory.
San Elizario also won Tuesday's freshman and junior varsity
games by 49-26 and 48-41 scores respectively. After Friday,
Pecos closes out their season next Tuesday with a 6 p.m.
game against Canutillo.
Young Eagles falter in season-ending loss
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Feb. 10 -- With the 1998-99 girls basketball season
winding down, Pecos Eagles' coach Brian Williams has been
trying to get his sophomore players more time on the court
in recent games.
Tuesday night, in Pecos' final game of the season, Williams
tried it three times against the San Elizario Eagles, twice
with bad results, and the second time the Eagles' starters
were unable to get the momentum back, as San Elizario
rallied from a 12-point deficit to score a 48-44 victory.
"That's a chance you've got to take," Williams said about
the substitutions. "They did a good job in the first half. I
was just asking them to go out there and give our starters a
little rest.
"I've got to see how these girls are going to do, because
they're going to be my starters next year. They can't just
wait and say next year they're going to do it," Williams
said.
The reserves first came into the game with Pecos ahead 4-3,
and scored off a steal and lay-up by Ashley Salcido. But San
Elizario then bottled the Eagles up in their own end,
getting two straight baskets off steals to take the lead.
The starters returned after that, but still needed about
four minutes before they could tie the game, as San Elizario
widened their lead to as much as 13-8, off a steal and
basket by Fran Martinez, who led all scorers with 18. Pecos
finally tied the score at 15-all on a 3-point basket by
Maricela Arenivas, who hit another outside shot a short time
later to give Pecos a 20-17 lead.
The reserves went back in for the closing minutes of the
half and this time, added onto the lead, as Salcido hit a
jumper and two free throws and Philonicus Fobbs added a foul
shot to widen the margin to 25-19 at the half.
The Eagles would increase that to 35-23 over the first five
minutes of the second half, off a pair of baskets each by
Arenivas and Lindsey Hathorn and consecutive steals and
lay-up by Kartina Quiroz and Shaye Lara.
But the tables turned when the sophomore group went back
in. San Elizario scored nine straight points, four off
steals to cut the lead to 35-32. The starters would return
and Hathorn would get a rebound basket as the third quarter
buzzer sounded, but for the rest of the game the momentum
was with San Elizario.
"I told the girls when they went out to keep their minds in
the game, it's not over," Williams said. "What disappointed
me was the girls I sent back out there didn't do what I told
them to do."
Ruby Jimenez, who finished with 13, led the fourth quarter
surge, tying the game at 37 with a jump shot and free throw.
The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before
Rachel Diaz put San Elizario ahead to stay, 43-41, sneaking
inside for a rebound lay-up with three minutes left. Pecos
then missed a lay-up and three jump shots on their next two
trips downcourt before Diaz found Martinez open for a lay-up
and a four-point lead.
Pecos would misfire twice more downcourt, while Diaz added
a foul shot and Claudia Diaz clinched the win with a jumper
at the 23 second mark.
Arenivas hit one last 3-point to finish with 14 points, and
was the only Pecos player in double figures. The win allowed
San Elizario to finish the season ahead of Pecos, with a 2-8
district record, 4-20 overall. The Eagles ended up 1-9 and
4-21 on the season.
"We played hard, we just didn't get to where we want to
be," said Williams, who'll have eight of his 11 players back
next season. But he added, the Eagles will have to do more
playing during the off-season to improve on their record
next Fall.
"They can't wait until November to pick up a basketball.
They've got to get into the Odessa league during the
summer," he said. "I've asked the parents if they can get
them over there for that, and they've got time to play
volleyball and do this.
"People here in this town have got to understand we've got
a good volleyball team because that's what they focus on. We
need to work harder at basketball if we're going to get
better."
Pecos' freshman team did close out their season with a win
over San Elizario, by a 45-33 final score.
SAN ELIZARIO (48)
Rodriguez 2 0-0 4; R. Diaz 3 1-2 7; C. Diaz 2 2-3 6; Flores
0 0-2 0; Reyes 0 0-0 0; Figueroa 0 0-0 0; Martinez 9 0-0 18;
Jimenez 6 1-4 13. Totals 22 4-11 48.
PECOS (44)
Lara 2 0-0 4; Marquez 1 0-0 2; Garcia 0 0-0 0; Molinar 0 0-0
0; Quiroz 2 0-0 4; Salcido 2 2-2 2; Arenivas 5 0-0 14;
Levario 3 1-3 7; Hathorn 2 1-2 5; Fobbs 0 2-4 2. Totals 17
6-11 44.
San Elizario 11 8 13 16 --48
Pecos 8 17 12 7 --44
Three-point goals: Pecos 4 (Arenivas 4). Fouled out: None.
Total fouls: San Elizario 13, Pecos 10.
Salt Lake duo, U.S. committee linked to bribes
SALT LAKE CIT, Feb. 10 (AP) -- The U.S. Olympic Committee
was linked for the first time to possible corruption and 10
more International Olympic Committee members were implicated
for accepting extravagant gifts as part of a widening
bribery scandal.
A 300-page report issued Tuesday by a Salt Lake Organizing
Committee ethics panel provided the first detailed glimpse
of the way IOC members -- now numbered at 24, roughly a
fifth of IOC membership -- had their hands out. The report
said there were more than $1 million worth of cash payments,
scholarships, shopping sprees, vacations and medical
expenses as Salt Lake bid for the 2002 Winter Games.
The extremes to which bid executives obliged, sharing
another $1 million worth of donated air fares, hotel rooms
and shopping with IOC members, were unethical, the panel
concluded.
But the panel's report also demonstrated that senior U.S.
Olympic Committee staffers seemed willing to curry favor
with an IOC member from Sudan, whose country's athletes were
being trained in the United States with Salt Lake money.
The ethics panel blamed two men for the pandering: Tom
Welch, bid committee president, and David Johnson, his vice
president.
While Welch and Johnson were cast as the champions who
brought the games to Salt Lake, the ethics report also cast
them as two rogues who turned the city's legitimate lobbying
effort into a secretive, no-holds-barred mission to win
votes.
The report said the strategy had its roots in Salt Lake's
four-vote loss to Nagano, Japan, for the 1998 Games. Welch,
who told investigators he had turned down two offers of IOC
influence for cash on the eve of that vote, apparently felt
he had to up the ante if Salt Lake City was ever going to
secure the games.
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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