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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, January 18, 2008
Eagle golfers’ spring seasons starting soon
Winter still has two months to go, but the Pecos Eagle boys and girls golf teams will be starting their spring 2008 seasons in just over two weeks, with tournaments in San Angelo and Monahans.
Coach Tina Doan’s girls will have six tournaments on the varsity level prior to the start of the three-round District 2-3A Tournament in late March, while boys coach Gaylon Doan has five varsity tournaments scheduled before district play begins.
The girls, who start off on Feb. 1-2 at the San Angelo Girls Classic, have two pre-district trips to Andrews on their schedule, along with tournaments in Fort Stockton, Midland and Lamesa. District play opens on March 26 in Fort Stockton, with the second round in Pecos on March 31 and the final round on April 8 in Monahans.
The boys open and close their regular season in Monahans, also playing their final district round there on April 8 after opening with the Loboes’ two-day tournament on Feb. 1-2. In-between, they’ll have varsity tournaments at Fort Stockton, Midland, Andrews and San Angelo, while their first two rounds of 2-3A play also are on March 26 and March 31 in Fort Stockton and Pecos.
The junior varsity girls have two separate tournaments on their schedule, in Andrews and at the Reeves County Golf Course, while the boys have one JV tournament, in Lamesa, but will also have both teams playing with the varsity in Monahans and Fort Stockton.
Eagles shot down by 4th quarter scoring woes
The Pecos Eagle girls’ basketball team closed out their pre-district schedule with a cold shooting fourth period in Greenwood on Tuesday night, as they fell for the second time in 11 days to the Rangerettes.
Greenwood outscored Pecos 17-2 in the final period to break a 27-all tie and go on for a 44-29 win over the Eagles, who’ll travel to Presidio on Friday for their District 2-3A opener, starting at 6 p.m.
Coach Donna Gent said unlike their earlier 38-25 loss to Greenwood, when Pecos had problems getting off shots, the Eagles did get their chances in the final period.
“They rolled in and rolled out. They were very good shots, but they looked like they were going in and just popped out. It was like there was a lid on the basket,” Gent said. “We played well, and I felt like we were the better team, but in the last quarter everything they put up went in, and everything we put up went out.”
“We could have been a little stronger rebounding, and we had too many turnovers in the second half, but we came out in the first quarter and were on fire. We ran the ball and looked really good. Other than the fourth quarter shooting, we played a very good game,” she said.
She said Greenwood also shot well in the second period, when they outscored Pecos 18-9 to turn an 11-6 Pecos lead after on period into a 24-20 deficit. But the Eagles then held the Rangerettes to just three points in the third quarter while tying the score.
Pecos was led by Jasmine Rayos’ 12 points, while Gabby Garcia added seven. Gent said Garcia, who missed the teams’ Jan. 4 game with a knee injury, was bothered by a new problem on Tuesday after scoring 22 points in Pecos’ win last Friday in Rankin.
“Gabby jammed her thumb in the Rankin game. Doc (trainer Joel Birch) taped it up, but it was bothering her so she took it off, and the Greenwood trainer re-taped it,” Gent said. “But she was having a hard time adjusting and her shooting was still a little off.”
Greenwood also had only one player in double figures, as freshman Lindsey Hays finished with 10 points. But the Rangerettes (16-11) had nine players score in the game, while Diana Parada, Veronica Tarin and Brittany Quintana were the only other Eagles to score.
The loss dropped Pecos to 8-12 on the season going into Friday’s game against Presidio. It’s the second trip there this season for the Eagles who jumped out to a 9-0 lead after one period back in November on the way to a 46-38 win over the Blue Devils.
“I don’t know if they’ve improved since then or if they’ve lost any players to grades, but I do know the first time we played them, their point guard was out with an ankle injury,” Gent said.
Friday’s game is the last of four straight road games for the Eagles. They’ll play their next three district games at home, starting on Tuesday night against Monahans.
Pecos to face Lamesa boys after day off
The Pecos Eagle boys’ basketball team will end a one-week break on Friday night in Lamesa, with a 7:30 p.m. game against the Golden Tornadoes.
Pecos, which had been scheduled to play in Sweetwater on Tuesday, cancelled due to the 210-mile trip conflicting with this week’s semester tests. They come in off a 54-43 loss in Rankin last Friday to the Red Devils, which dropped the Eagles’ record to 5-13 this year, including eight losses in their past nine games.
Lamesa also comes in off a loss, falling on Tuesday night in Seminole to the Indians by a 68-45 score. Guard Ryan Diaz led the Golden Tornadoes in scoring with 15 points.
Friday’s game is the next-to-last for Pecos before the start of District 2-3A play. They’ll go to Jal on Tuesday for their third meeting of the season against the Panthers, then open district play at home next Friday against defending 2-3A champ Fort Stockton.
County gets 111 acres for course expansion
Reeves County will be given 111 acres of land by the Town of Pecos City for construction of seven new holes at the Reeves County Golf Course, as part of a plan to expand the course to a full 18 holes while at the same time closing three holes bordering Interstate 20 so the land can be used for commercial development.
City council members made that decision following a special meeting on Wednesday night at City Hall. They agreed to give the county title to land running from the current southern edge of the golf course south to Eastbrook Drive and the northern edge of the city’s old landfill, but will regain title to some of that land if it is not included in the course’s final 18-hole layout.
The 111 acres was the largest of three options presented to the city by Reeves County Golf Course Superintendent Peter Mora. Two other options, for 72 and 84 acres, were also shown to the council, but the larger one was accepted in order to avoid possible problems incorporating the former Pecos Rifle and Pistol Range into the course’s layout.
Public Works Director Edgardo Madrid said because private citizens and area law enforcement for several decades used the range, there are fears of possible lead contamination around the berms at the range. He said an El Paso company was contacted about doing a study and abatement efforts, if needed, at the site, but that the work would cost between $35,000 and $50,000.
Reeves County Judge Sam Contreras, who was also at Wednesday’s meeting, said he had talked to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and they had a privately-owned lab they used that could also doe the testing for about $30,000. However, Nancy Martinez, representing local businessman Leo Hung, said that while the TECQ recommends getting soil samples from the rifle range area, “TECQ has no requirements in the state on led clean-up at rifle ranges.”
Hung, who also was at the meeting, is seeking to acquire land at the north end of the golf course along I-20 as the site of a future motel. A sports bar, to be owned by Steve Valenzuela, who also spoke at Wednesday’s meeting, is also planned for the motel, which would result in the removal of Holes 4, 5 and 6 on the course’s current layout.
Holes 4 and 5 were built on land formerly used for the Pecos Airbase Apartments. Those were torn down in 1984, and the holes were put in three years ago under a deal with the Pecos Housing Authority. Under the current plan, the county would acquire the land outright from the PHA and then resell it and the Hole 6 area for commercial development.
Mora said the 84-acre option would allow the city to retain land along Eastbrook Drive for future homes adjacent to two of the seven new holes, but that the 111 acres gave him flexibility is designing the new holes around the berms.
“The 84 acres would include the berms, but we would either have to move them or incorporate them,” he said. “Having flexibility is why we came out with 111 acres. If we were to get stuck where we couldn’t do anything with the berms, we could work around them.”
“Upon completion, the county could deed over any land we don’t use,” Mora told the council. “The reason to go more is the issue of the berms and land for housing.”
“At this point, housing is not even a discussing issue,” said councilwoman Angelica Valenzuela. She is also the wife of Steve Valenzuela, who spoke at the meeting along with Ken Winkles as a representative of the Pecos Men’s Golf Association, both of whom supported the 111-acre option.
Councilman Danny Rodriguez made a motion to grant the 111-acre request for the land, to be used for recreational purposes only on a 99-year option, with the city having the right to take back any land not used by the county for that purpose, subject to a 30-day deadline. Another part of Rodriguez’s proposal, which would make the county responsible for watering sections of nearby Maxey Park, was taken out because water hazards that could be included in the new course layout haven’t been finalized yet.
“If they disagree to any of this, then we’re back to eight years ago,” Angelica Valenzuela said. “The negotiations are great … but we need to come to an agreement on that at a later date.”
City Attorney Scott Johnson said the city and county would have to have a survey to set out a legal plat for the 111 acres, but that the council could give the deal preliminary approval, pending completion of the survey.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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