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By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Sometimes shots fall, sometimes they don't.
PECOS, Dec. 16 -- Friday night, the Pecos Eagles won a game when senior
Nufie Flores - who had yet to score this season - hit a 20-foot jumper
as time expired to give Pecos a 56-55 victory over San Elizario.
Flores would hit another 3-pointer Saturday morning, in the finals
against Lydia Patterson, but overall, the Eagles had problems with their
shots from the field and the foul line, and fell to the Lions in the
tournament title game of the West of the Pecos Shootout for the second
year in a row, 78-55.
The Lions hit nine shots from 3-point range, just as they did in last
year's title game, but Eagles' coach Mike Sadler said defense wasn't the
biggest problem for Pecos.
"Defensively we did the right things, our offense just didn't have a
good night," he said. "The ball just didn't fall. We had good shots but
it just seemed like it would roll around the rim and come out."
The ball hit nothing but net Friday night, when Flores' shot sent Pecos
into the finals. Trailing San Elizario 55-53 with five seconds left and
with the ball under their own basket, Sadler said the play was set up to
give the senior guard the final shot, even though he went scoreless in
the team's first four games, then missed the four prior to Friday night
with an injury.
"It's something we work and work on in practice," the Eagles' coach
said. "The last time we ran it in practice Nufie hit the shot, and I
said if we get in a situation like that the one who hit the shot (in
practice) would take the last shot.
"If they had run a packed-in zone it would have been a little more
difficult, but they played us tight, so we ran the basic play," Sadler
said. Flores got the ball just past midcourt, and took a couple of
dribbles before letting go outside the 3-point arc as time expired.
The basket was Pecos' first in 3½ minutes, since a Jason Abila lay-up
gave the Eagles a 53-49 lead. But then Roberto Garcia was fouled by Omar
Hinojos from outside the 3-point line and hit a trio of foul shots with
3:06 to play. The Eagles then turned the ball over on their next two
times downcourt, and after the second Frankie Valdez hit his fifth
3-pointer of the game, giving the visiting Eagles a two point lead with
24 seconds to play.
Pecos then came down and Eric Abila missed from 3-point range, then
fouled Cesar Puebla after he came down with the rebound. Abila fouled
out on the play, and it also put San Elizario in the bonus. But with a
chance to put the game away, Puebla missed from the foul line - the only
miss of the night from the line by San Elizario - and the Eagles got
their one last chance to win.
Hinojos had 16 points to lead the Eagles, while Fabien Adame put in 14
and Eric Abila had 11 for Pecos. Garcia had 17 and Valdez 15 for San
Elizario, which came back Saturday to edge Alpine, 39-37, to win third
place.
In the title game, Pecos never led, and four missed foul shots by Adame
in the first minute of play was an omen of things to come. Adame would
finally find the range in the closing minutes of the period, and a
Flores jumper cut an early 16-8 Lydia Patterson lead to 18-14, but Luis
Monarrez then snuck inside for a rebound basket and was fouled by Adame
as time expired. The three-point play made it 21-14, and was just one of
several second chance baskets the Lions scored in the first half.
The second period ended the same way as the first. Pecos cut a 31-20
lead down to 31-27, only to see the Lions reel off the final eight
points of the half to go in up by 12, at 39-27. Four turnovers on their
final four possession of the half helped Lydia Patterson add to their
lead, and when the third period opened Francisco Wilson nailed a
3-pointer to start a 9-2 streak which raised the lead to 19, at 48-29.
Sadler cleared his bench in the final two periods trying to find the
right combination, as the lead grew to 24 points, at 62-38, in the final
seconds of the third quarter. But the Eagles would never cut the deficit
to less than 19, growing to as much as 27 in the fourth quarter.
Eric Abila And Jason Abila were the lone Eagles in double figures,
finishing with 13 and 10 points, while Lydia Patterson had a balanced
attack, with Monarrez and Benjamin Martinez leading the way with 12
points, while Wilson had 11 and Jorge Lopez had 10. Wilson and Lopez
were named to the all-tournament team for the Lions, along with Abila
and Hinojos for the Eagles.
Odessa High's junior varsity won consolation, 59-52 over Mountain View,
which lost to Lydia Patterson in their opener, 57-46. LPI took Alpine in
their semifinal game 58-46, while San Elizario won their opener over
OHS, 68-60.
Pecos' junior varsity was forced to play in the varsity bracket after
McCamey dropped out of the tournament and had a rough weekend. They
dropped their opener to Alpine, 60-17, then were beaten by Mountain
View, 85-28.
The JV had been scheduled to play in their own division of the
tournament, which was won by Alpine, 38-30 over Lydia Patterson. Fort
Stockton beat Crane for third place, 57-38, and Odessa High's sophomores
won consolation, 74-53 over Van Horn.
In the freshman division, the Eagles bounced back from their opening
loss to Crane to win consolation, 54-31 over Greenwood. Roy Marta's
eight points led Pecos.
Fort Stockton won the tournament title, 74-67 over Crane, while LPI
took third, with a 71-55 win over Kermit.
Because of tests early this week, the Eagles had to cancel tonight's
game in Carlsbad, and Tuesday's home game against Kermit. Pecos' next
game will be the day after Christmas, when they go to the Reagan County
Tournament.
SAN ELIZARIO (55)
Pena 2 0-0 5; Valdez 5 0-0 15; Alvarez 1 0-0 2; Sotelo 0 0-0 0; Armento
0 0-0 0; Jacquez 0 0-0 0; Garcia 5 7-7 17; Gutierrez 3 0-0 6; Puebla 5
0-1 10. Totals 21 7-8 55.
PECOS (56)
Flores 1 0-0 3; E. Abila 4 0-0 11; J. Abila 3 2-2 8; Luna 0 0-0 0;
Martinez 1 0-0 2; Hinojos 7 1-2 16; Garcia 1 0-0 2; Adame 6 2-4 14;
Navarrete 0 0-0 0; Chavez 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 5-8 56.
San Elizario 12 12 14 17 -55
Pecos 14 7 18 17 -56
Three-point goals: San Elizario 6 (Valdez 5, Pena), Pecos 5 (E. Abila 3,
Hinojos, Flores). Fouled out: Pecos, E. Abila. Total fouls: San Elizario
13, Pecos 12.
LYDIA PATTERSON (78)
Monarrez 4 3-3 12; Guillen 2 2-2 6; Toquinto 3 2-2 8; Aranda 2 0-0 6;
Wilson 4 1-3 11; Hoffman 2 0-0 5; Cruz 0 0-0 0; Martinez 4 2-2 12; Lopez
3 3-4 10, Barranda 3 2-2 8. Totals 27 15-18 78.
PECOS (55)
Flores 2 2-5 7; E. Abila 5 0-0 13; J. Abila 4 2-2 10; Rodriguez 0 0-0 0;
Luna 2 0-0 5; Martinez 0 0-2 0; Hinojos 3 2-5 8; Garcia 1 0-0 2; Adame 3
2-7 8; Marquez 1 0-0 2; Navarrete 0 0-0 0; Chavez 0 0-0 0. Totals 21
8-22 55.
Lydia Patterson 21 18 23 16 -78
Pecos 14 13 14 14 -55
Three-point goals: Lydia Patterson 9 (Aradna 2, Wilson 2, Martinez 2,
Monarrez, Hoffman, Lopez), Pecos 5 (E. Abila 3, Flores, Luna). Fouled
out: None. Total fouls: Lydia Patterson 22, Pecos 18.
The Pecos Eagles 1996-97 girls basketball season has been "all or
nothing," so far.
PECOS, Dec. 16 -- The Eagles, whose closest loss so far this year has
been by 19 points, won by double digits for the second and third times
this season, in claiming the consolation title at the Monahans Sandhills
Tournament.
One day after scoring just 24 points in a 23-point loss to Monahans, the
Eagles came back and routed El Paso Burges by a 60-42 final score, then
got their second double-digit win in eight days over Fort Stockton,
beating the Prowlers, 64-53, for their highest point output so far this
year.
Marisol Arenivas and Lori Marquez both got into double figures in the
wins Friday and Saturday, after managing just eight points combined in
the loss to the Loboes. Marquez had 16 and Arenivas 12 in the win over
Burges, while Arenivas had 21 points, high for any Pecos player this
season, and Marquez put in 10 in Saturday's victory.
"We got the ball to Lori a little more and she and Penny (Armstrong) did
a great job of rebounding," Eagles' coach Patty Hall said following
Friday's win over Burges. "We were also able to convert our outside
shots, and that opened it up a little bit more on the inside."
The Eagles already had beaten Fort Stockton once this season at the
Crane Invitational by a 55-27 final score. Saturday's game was closer,
mainly because Prowlers' senior Angela Granado found the range, hitting
for a game-high 26 points. But Pecos was still able to get the win and
up their record to 4-6 on the season. The teams will meet again in two
weeks, when District 4-4A play opens on Jan. 2 at the Pecos High School
gym.
Between now and then, the Eagles will have one more home game, Thursday
night against Hobbs, then go to the Odessa Chamber of Commerce Holiday
Tournament on Dec. 26-28.
Monahans lost to Reagan County, 56-55, and Fabens, 46-36, after their
win over Pecos, while El Paso Franklin won the tournament title, 51-39
over Reagan County.
PECOS, Dec. 16 -- The Pecos Eagle boys took home a first place trophy,
and Pecos' girls took home a second place one - thanks to a coin flip -
at the Seminole Invitational on Saturday.
Total points were unavailable, but Eagles' coach Terri Morse said her
boys defeated Big Spring for first place "by about 30 points," for the
title, while the girls division was won by Big Spring, with Pecos and
Monahans tying for second.
"We flipped for the trophy and we won, so we took it home and Monahans
will get one sent to them later," said Morse.
The final swim meet before the Christmas holidays could be a good
indicator of how things will go a month from now, when the District 4
meet takes place at Fort Stockton.
"Big Spring's girls are looking really good," she said. "I'd imagine
first place will be between Big Spring and Monahans. We don't have the
depth (of Big Spring), and we have more out there than Monahans, but our
skill level isn't as high."
The boys lost the district title to Big Spring for the first time in
seven years last fall, but the Eagles have won the head-to-head
confrontations this season. But Morse said "Big Spring really came on
strong this week, so my guys are going to have to stay on top of it if
they want to win district."
The boys got a pair of relay victories, in the 200 and 400 freestyle
races. Seth Whitworth, William Kiefer, Al Tillman and Dennis Harris took
the 200 in Seminole's metric pool with a 1:50.24 time, while Whitworth,
Kiefer, Kevin Bates and Kenneth Friar took the 400 in 4:00.95. Bates,
Tillman, Friar and Harris were second behind Carlsbad in the 200 medley
relay.
Whitworth got a pair of individual wins, taking the 200 freestyle in
2:09.30 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:14.96. Friar was second in the 200
individual medley and the 500 free; Kiefer was sixth in the 100 free and
ninth in the 50 free; Harris was fourth in the 500 freestyle and tied
for sixth in the 50 free; Bates was second in the 100 backstroke and
fourth in the 100 fly and Tillman tied for sixth in that event and was
seventh in the 100 breaststroke.
Also for the boys Matt Ivy was fourth in the 200 free and fifth in the
100 backstroke; Scott Pounds was fourth in 1 meter diving and 34th in
the 50 free; Craig Wein was 19th in the 100 breaststroke and 27th in the
50 free; Timothy Harrison was seventh in the 100 backstroke and Jeff Lam
was 21st in the 100 breaststroke.
For the girls, Christi Whitworth got her first gold medal of the season,
winning the 500 meter freestyle in 6:57.99. She also placed eighth in
the 50 free. Liz Parent won a pair of medals, taking second in the 200
medley and third in the 100 freestyle, Megan Freeman got a third place
medal in the 100 meter breaststroke, and Freeman, Parent, Randi Key and
Dionnie Munoz finished third in the 400 freestyle relay.
The four earlier placed fourth in the 200 medley relay while Whitworth,
Jamie Corson, Leslie Armbruster and Sara Lam were sixth in the 200
freestyle.
Key was sixth and Kelly Bagley ninth in the 200 freestyle; Corson was
fourth in the 200 medley, Briar Prewit was 15, Lam 29th and Armbruster
30th in the 50 free; Munoz was tied for fourth in the 100 fly; Key was
ninth and Prewit 17th in the 100 free; Armbruster was sixth and Lam
ninth in the 500 free; Munoz was sixth in the 100 backstroke and Corson
was sixth in the 100 breaststroke.
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