PECOS ENTERPRISE

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SPORTS


Dec, 13, 1996

Problems on offense continue for Eagles

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By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Dec. 13 -- Outside of the last three minutes of the first half,
the Pecos Eagles had a pretty good night on defense Thursday against the
Monahans Loboes.

But three minutes was also about the amount of time the Eagles played
well on offense, and the result was their second double-digit loss in a
week to Monahans.

The Loboes defeated the Eagles by a 47-24 final score in the first
round of the Monahans Sandhills Tournament, sending Pecos into a noon
game today against the El Paso Burges Mustangs.

The Loboes led 15-8 with 3:07 left in the half when they went on a 13-2
run, beginning with a lay-up by Leah Johnson that became a three-point
play when she was fouled by Penny Armstrong. Johnson hit the foul shot
and followed it up with a steal and lay-up moments later, while Eunice
Tarango would sink a 3-point jumper and convert a three-point play in
the final two minutes of the half.

"We weren't controlling the ball well enough or passing it well enough
when they pressed us," said Eagles' coach Patty Hall, although outside
of the late first half breakdown, the Eagles actually had more chances
off turnovers than the Loboes did during the game.

It was off the set offense that Monahans dominated play. Pecos was led
in scoring by post Lori Marquez with nine, but the junior took only two
shots in the first half, and one came just 41 seconds into play, when
her lane jumper gave the Eagles their only lead of the night, at 2-0.

"We weren't looking for her," Hall said. "We seem to lose our
concentration and forget everything we're supposed to do."

Pecos wouldn't score again until Liz Matta hit from 15 feet out with 36
seconds left in the quarter. While that left Pecos down 9-4, it was
still better than the 13-2 hole they were in after one period of their
52-22 loss to Monahans last Saturday, at the West Texas Shootout in
Crane.

And when the second period opened the Eagles scored right away, with
Annette Marquez hitting two foul shots after a steal. Johnson, who led
all scorers with 16, then sank two free throws and hit a lay-up off a
Sarah Carrell assist, but Veronica Carrasco scored off another turnover,
and the Loboes' lead was just 13-8 halfway through the period.

But the three minute span to close out the half widened the Loboes'
lead to 30-10, and the Eagles would get no closer than 19 points the
rest of the way.

While Monahans was able to run some give-and-go plays for Johnson in
the middle periods to maintain their big margin, the Eagles had trouble
finding openings inside, and Pecos' guards found themselves trapped in
the corner by Monahans' defenders several times.

"We haven't been able to get our outside people to hit yet. We haven't
found anyone consistent enough yet to open it up out there," said Hall,
as outside of Marquez' four baskets, the rest of the Eagles hit only
three shots in the game.

Monahans improved to 4-7 with their fourth win in five games, while the
loss dropped Pecos to 2-6 on the season going into today's game with
Burges, which lost its opener to Reagan County 54-50. Many of the
players on both teams faced each other last month, when Pecos defeated
Burges in the Class 4A volleyball playoffs, and both have scored
seven-point wins over Alpine during the past week.

While the varsity was losing in Monahans, Pecos' junior varsity and
freshman teams were splitting their tournament games in Fort Stockton on
Thursday. Both teams faced Crane, with the freshmen getting a 42-41
overtime victory, while the JV dropped a 71-60 overtime decision to the
Golden Cranes.

PECOS (24)
Arenivas 0 0-0 0; Carrasco 1 1-4 3; A. Marquez 0 3-4 3; Armstrong 0 3-4
3; L. Marquez 4 1-2 9; Camarena 0 2-2 2; Orona 0 0-0 0; Bell 1 0-0 2;
Matta 1 0-0 2; Barrera 0 0-0 0; Thorp 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 10-16 24.

MONAHANS (47)
Tarango 4 1-3 11; Hix 1 0-0 2; Dutton 4 0-0 8; Johnson 6 4-5 16; Cobb 0
1-2 1; Swibert 0 0-0 0; Sloan 0 0-0 0; Tredaway 1 0-0 2; Williams 0 0-0
0; Carrell 4 1-2 9; Sanchez 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 7-12 47.

Pecos 4 6 4 10 -24
Monahans 9 21 8 9 -47

Three-point goals: Monahans 2 (Tarango 2). Fouled out: None. Total
fouls: Pecos 13, Monahans 18.

Brackets changed for Pecos Shootout,

freshmen in consolation finals

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PECOS, Dec. 13 -- Changes left the junior varsity division of the West
of the Pecos Shootout without a team from Pecos competing there on
Thursday, but did give the Eagles' freshman team an extra game in their
division of the three-day tournament.

McCamey dropped out of the varsity division of the tournament, which
opened this morning in the new Pecos High School gym. That forced coach
Mike Sadler to move the Eagles' JV into their place, and they were
scheduled to take on Alpine's varsity in a 1:30 p.m. game.

Pecos' varsity was still minus a first round opponent, and they'll take
on the winner of the San Elizario-Odessa High JV contest this evening at
6 p.m. San Elizario and OHS met at noon today, while the varsity bracket
began play with El Paso Mountain View facing Lydia Patterson at 10:30
a.m.

The winner there will face the Pecos JV-Alpine winner in tonight's final
game, at 7:30 p.m., while the losers face each other at 4:30 p.m. The
consolation finals will be at 8 a.m. Saturday, with the third place game
at 9:30 and the championship contest set for an 11 a.m. start.

The JV division already has one team set for their 11 a.m. Saturday
title game, in the old PHS gym. Fort Stockton claimed one of the two
berths, with a 57-45 semifinal win Thursday night over Lydia Patterson.
The Panthers earlier defeated Odessa High's sophomores, 52-41, while LPI
downed Greenwood in their opener, 42-33.

This morning's other JV semifinal matched Kermit, 56-52 winners over Van
Horn, against Alpine, which downed Crane in their opener, 65-39. OHS
beat Greenwood, 58-52, and Van Horn edged Crane, 66-63, in the
consolation semifinals Thursday. Crane took Pecos' place in the JV
tournament bracket.

The consolation title will be played at 4:30 p.m. today, and the seventh
place game at 1:30 p.m. Both games will be in the old PHS gym.

The Cranes also filled a vacancy in the freshman bracket on Thursday,
and in the process, earned the right to stay home today by qualifying
for Saturday's 9:30 a.m. title matchup.

Crane downed the Eagles' ninth graders by a 75-41 score, then took out
Kermit in the tournament semifinals, 72-33. They'll face either Lydia
Patterson or Fort Stockton, after the Lions beat Alpine in their opener,
63-34, and the Panthers downed Greenwood, 65-38.

The Eagles' freshmen bounced back Thursday night with a 77-53 win over
Van Horn to earn a berth in today's 3 p.m. consolation final against
Greenwood, 55-53 winners over Alpine. Van Horn had dropped their opener
to Kermit, 63-54.

Jacob Esparza had 11 points to lead the freshmen in their loss to Crane,
and he and Jacob Weidner both put in 12 points to top Pecos in their win
Thursday night.

Shorthorns edge Bears in tournament openers

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PECOS, Dec. 13 -- The Balmorhea Bears boys and girls basketball teams
both dropped a pair of close games to the Marfa Shorthorns on Thursday,
in the first round of the Longhorn Classic at Imperial.

Balmorhea's boys lost for the first time in four games this season,
58-53 to Marfa, while the Shorthorns' girls downed the Bears in a
low-scoring game, 33-29.

Marfa, which routed Sierra Blanca and Fort Davis and edged Van Horn to
win their own tournament last week, got 27 points from Eric Garcia and
17 from Jacob Lujan to earn the victory. Scott Clark's 19 points led the
Bears, while Kevin Castillo and Zane Rhyne each put in 12 for Balmorhea,
which will take on Grandfalls tonight at 6:30 p.m. in a consolation
semifinal.

Balmorhea's girls faced the Jal Panthers in their consolation semifinal
game, after falling to 2-2 on the year. Cherry Garcia had 17 of the
Bears' 29 points, while Marfa was led by Danna Bushcer with 15.

Jal's girls lost to Grandfalls in their opening round contest, 43-31,
while the Panthers' boys routed the Cowboys by a 66-21 final score, and
will face Marfa in today's semifinals.

Sanderson beat Dell City, 64-54, and faces Buena Vista, 78-51 winners
over McCamey's JV, in the other boys tournament semifinal. Sanderson
also faces Buena Vista on the girls' side, after the Eagles downed Dell
City, 50-47, and the Longhorns beat Odessa High's JV, 58-23.
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State and Regional Sports Pages--San Angelo Standard-Times


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Copyright 1996 by Pecos Enterprise
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324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
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