|
Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Wednesday, November 24, 1999
Williams hopeful despite Eagles' loss
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Nov. 24, 1999 -- Progress may not come quickly for the Pecos
Eagle girls' basketball team, but coach Brian Williams said he did see
some improvement on Tuesday, despite a 60-37 homecourt loss to the Fort
Stockton Prowlers.
The Eagles lost for the third time in as many home games this season,
but Williams said they did do better running the team's offense compared
with their loss last Saturday to Stanton.
"We're still missing a lot of shots, but that was a better game than
I saw them play," he said. "I saw a glimpse of our offense at times. We
ran some back doors and some other plays the way we're supposed to."
Pecos also took 23 more shots than they did in their loss to Stanton,
and had 25 fewer turnovers than three days earlier. But they only hit 15
of their 69 shots, with many of the misses coming from close range.
"We also were 1-for-12 from 3-point range, and we're going to have to
get a lot better from there," Williams said.
At the other end, the Eagles still had problems both playing a man-to-man
defense. Guard Arcie Primera slipped past Pecos' guards several times to
create scoring opportunities, while Isela Gonzales and Mliessa Quintero
were left open for outside jumpers which they hit, while scoring 12 and
11 points.
The Eagles also were out-rebounded by the Prowlers, despite having a
slight height advantage overall in the game. JaCinda Gonzales outplayed
Pecos' front line and ended up with a game-high 14 points, including 8-for-8
from the foul line.
"One of our biggest problems was we would get the rebound and then let
them take it away from us," said Williams. "We've got to will ourselves
into getting into better position."
Pecos led for most of the opening period, but baskets by Isela Gonzales
and Quintero in the closing minutes gave Fort Stockton a 15-11 lead. The
Eagles would run into problems at the end of the second quarter as well.
They were held scoring over the final 3:45 after a Philonicus Fobbs rebound
lay-up cut the Prowlers' lead to 19-17. JaCinda Gonzales had a foul line
jumper and four free throws which helped Fort Stockton take a 26-17 halftime
lead.
Alexa Marquez would hit a 3-pointer and Katrina Quiroz scored off a
lay-up as the third period opened, but the end of the period again belonged
to the Prowlers, who widened an eight point lead to 14 by the time the
final period began. The teams traded baskets over the first four minutes
of the quarter, before Fort Stockton closed out the game with an 11-2 run
for the 23-point final margin.
Maricela Arenivas led Pecos with 10 points, and was also the only Eagle
to hit a foul shot on Tuesday. She went 4-for-7 from the line, while the
rest of the team was 0-for-7 on the night.
"We're going to come in on Friday and just practice shooting," said
Williams, whose team will be at home again on Saturday afternoon, against
the Andrews Mustangs. Pecos' loss dropped them to 0-3 on the season, while
Fort Stockton got their first win after a pair of opening losses.
The Prowlers also won Tuesday's junior varsity game by a 42-27 margin,
while the Eagles' freshman team defeated Fort Stockton by a 42-21 score.
Larua Hinojos' 12 points led the JV, and Tiana Terry had 12 to top the
freshmen in scoring.
FORT STOCKTON (60)
Primera 3 2-4 8; Galindo 3 0-0 6; H. Gonzales 1 0-2 2;
Quintero 5 1-3 11; Aguilar 0 2-4 2; J. Gonzales 3 8-8 14; Quintela 0 0-0
0; I. Gonzales 6 0-1 12; Cavaness 2 1-2 5. Totals 23 14-24 60.
PECOS (37)
C. Arenivas 0 0-0 0; Rodriguez 0 0-3 0; Marquez 1 0-0
3; Molinar 2 0-1 4; Quiroz 3 0-1 6; Salgado 0 0-0 0; M. Arenivas 3 4-7
10; Medrano 3 0-0 6; Salgado 0 0-0 0; Lara 1 0-0 2; Fobbs 3 0-2 6. Totals
16 4-14 37.
Fort Stockton 15 11 17
17 -60
Pecos
11 6 13 7 -37
Three-point goals: Pecos 1 (Marquez). Fouled
out: Pecos, Fobbs, Medrano. Total fouls: Fort Stockton 18, Pecos
21.
Balmorhea, Marfa split games
PECOS, Nov. 24, 1999 -- The Balmorhea Bears had their full boys squad out
for basketball a little earlier than planned, but the Bears made the most
of it Tuesday night with a 58-41 win in Marfa over the Shorthorns.
The game was the second of a doubleheader between the two teams, with
Marfa's girls coming away with a 60-34 win over Balmorhea in the opener.
The Bears had hoped to still be in the six man football playoffs right
now, as they were a year ago. But Balmorhea was beaten out for post-season
play this fall, and several of their football players had key roles in
Tuesday's win.
Manny Mendoza led all scorers with 19 points, including two of the Bears'
three 3-point shots. Chris Barragan had the other and finished with 15,
while Kevin Rodriguez and Isiah Rodriguez had eight points apiece.
Marfa, which was just ousted from the playoffs last weekend, was led
by Ronnie Garcia's 15 points.
In the girls' game, Terri Hernandez had 15 points and Cassy Garcia added
nine, all from 3-point range, but the Shorthorns jumped out to a 23-7 first
period lead and maintained that margin through the middle periods.
Marfa had three girls in double figures, led by Veronica Licon with
19 points.
Johnson, Jones downplaying dispute before game
By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
IRVING, Texas, Nov. 24, 1999 - A few days before Jimmy Johnson's last
game at Texas Stadium, he called a radio station to guarantee that the
Dallas Cowboys would win the NFC championship game.
A few days before his next game at Texas Stadium - his first as a rival
coach since an ugly divorce from the team and its owner, Jerry Jones -
Johnson was watching his words much more carefully.
Johnson and Jones have said nothing but nice things about each other
this week, taking all the sting and much of the fun out of the buildup
for Thursday's game between Miami and Dallas.
So far, the juiciest tidbit is something Jimmy told his father: "This
will be the best game that Dallas plays because they'd love to beat me.
I feel the same way towards them. I want to win."
Not exactly worthy of 3-inch headlines, as Johnson suggested for his
boast before the January 1994 NFC championship against San Francisco. But
that's about as good as it's gotten in a week where everyone is talking
about how much they respect each other.
Much of the bitterness came out of the Jimmy-Jerry feud in December
following the death of Johnson's mother.
As family and friends gathered at the Johnsons' home in Port Arthur,
caterers began delivering platter after platter of food sent by Jones.
"And he sent a beautiful, beautiful wreath," C.W. Johnson said. "Jimmy
knew all about it. He was very pleased with it. I think it kind of helped
their relationship."
The former University of Arkansas teammates were reunited in 1989 when
Jones bought the Cowboys and made Johnson the coach. The Cowboys went 1-15
that season, but were Super Bowl champions by 1992.
The Cowboys won it all again the following season. A few months later,
the power struggle between Jones and Johnson boiled over and Johnson was
gone.
"Actually, when you cut through everything, the No. 1 reason I left
Dallas is I wanted to live in South Florida," Johnson said. "That was the
bottom line."
So it had nothing to do with Jones saying any of 500 coaches could've
won the Super Bowl with the Cowboys? Or anything else Jones did to take
credit for the franchise's dramatic turnaround?
"I think there was tension because Jerry and I are both tremendous competitors,"
Johnson said. "I think people made more out of it than what there really
was. Not being in the same situation anymore, I think our relationship
has gone right back to what it was prior to me coaching the Cowboys.
"I've got tremendous respect for Jerry. I like Jerry. I think our relationship
is extremely positive now."
"I know it makes for a great story about Jimmy's tenure here and how
it all ended, but we're not playing Jimmy," quarterback Troy Aikman said.
"Jimmy is on the sidelines and I don't pay a whole lot of attention to
any of the coaches, no matter who we are playing."
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
|