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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Hot start carries Eagles to easy win over Bucks
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Up until Monday night, the Pecos Eagle boys' basketball team had been
the victim more than the beneficiary of hot shooting quarters during
the first 10 games of the 2003-04 season. But on Monday, the Eagles had
by far their best shooting quarter of the season.
Pecos shot 83 percent in the first eight minutes of their home game
against the Alpine Bucks, while the Bucks managed only a single basket
during the first period of play. The combination allowed the Eagles to
jump out to a 20-point lead after one quarter, and the margin never got
below 19 the rest of the way, as Pecos won by a 58-36 final score.
"That's the best we've shot in two years," said Eagles' coach Joe
Flores. "Jose (Reyes) was 5-for-9 from the 3-point area."
Reyes hit four 3-pointers in the first half, including one just
before the halftime buzzer that gave Pecos a 35-10 lead and another
earlier in the period that stopped a six-point run by Alpine that had
gotten the lead back inside 20 points. Meanwhile, Oscar Parada was
hitting from inside against Alpine's taller front line, and Victor
Reyes had a pair of lay-ups off steals in the 22-2 opening period.
"We only missed two shots (10 for 12) in the first quarter, while
after that we settled into our normal percentage," Flores said. "We
went a little cold and didn't shoot the ball well at all in the second
half."
Alpine's only points in the opening quarter came on a basket by Ryan
McWilliams, who would then get into early foul trouble. McWilliams
would find his range better in the second half, as would Jaime Rojo,
but McWilliams would foul out midway through the fourth quarter, while
most of Rojo's 11 points came in the final period, which began with the
Eagles still holding a 25-point lead.
Alpine would finally get the lead back inside 20 points in the final
period, at 52-33, but that came with just over two minutes left, and
Victor Reyes then hit two foul shots and scored off another steal to
widen the margin back over 20, which is where it stayed the rest of the
way.
Aside from the improved shooting, Flores said he was looking for the
Eagles to cut down on their turnovers, which led to a series of easy
baskets for Pecos' opponents during this past weekend's Monahans
Sandhills Tournament.
"The main thing I wanted to see out of this game and the game (in
Van Horn) on Friday and the others until district is how we handle the
pressure," he said. "We handled the pressure a whole lot better tonight
than we have, and that's what we have to concentrate on now through the
start of district."
Jose Reyes' 15 points off his five 3-pointers led the Eagles in
scoring, while Parada added 14 points and Victor Reyes had 10 for
Pecos, which snapped a four game losing streak and improved to 4-7 on
the season. Rojo had 11 points to lead the Bucks, who lost to the
Eagles for the second time this season.
Pecos' final game before the Christmas break is this Friday night in
Van Horn. The Eagles have all of the following week off, then return to
action on Dec. 29 at the Lamesa Holiday Tournament, where they'll face
the host Golden Tornadoes in their opening tournament game.
Pecos also won Tuesday's junior varsity game, 41-32. Kole McNary led
the Eagles with nine points.
ALPINE (36)
Torres 1 0-0 3; A. Muniz 0 2-3 2; M. Muniz 3 0-2 7; McWilliams 4 1-5
9; Estrada 1 0-1 2; Rojo 5 0-0 11; Wood 0 0-1 0; Meija 1 0-0 2.
Totals15 3-12 36.
PECOS (58)
Parada 6 2-2 14; Morales 0 1-2 1; Pina 3 1-4 7; J. Reyes 5 0-1 15;
Anchondo 1 0-0 3; Lara 3 0-0 6; V. Reyes 4 2-2 10; Medina 1 0-2 2.
Totals 23 6-13 58.
Alpine 2 8 12 14 36
Pecos 22 13 12 11 58
Three-point goals: Alpine 3 (Torres, Rojo, M. Muniz), Pecos 6 (J.
Reyes 5, Anchondo). Fouled out: Alpine, McWilliams, Meija. Pecos, Lara.
Total fouls: Alpine 14, Pecos 16.
Pecos girls drop final games in Stanton tournament
The Pecos Eagle girls will make another try at ending their current
losing streak on Thursday against the Alpine Bucks, when they begin
play at the Fort Davis Tournament, after losing a trio of games this
past weekend at the Hooptown Classic in Stanton.
The Eagles, who lost to the host Buffaloes in their first game on
Thursday, dropped a pair of games on Saturday, losing to Wink, 41-33,
and to Midland Christian, 84-38, to fall to 1-9 on the season.
Wink used a 16-4 advantage in the opening period to take control of
the game, and maintained that margin for most of the final three
periods.
"We didn't decide to play until the fourth quarter. The offense
couldn't get any shots to fall and we did a poor job rebounding. They
got a lot of second and third chances," said Eagles' coach Veronica
Valenzuela.
Senior Leslie Rodriguez was actually the high scorer overall in both
games. She finished with 10 points in the loss to Wink and had 23 of
Pecos' 38 points in their loss to Midland Christian. The Eagles trailed
after one period in that game, 14-4, and then allowed the Mustangs to
outscore them 56-17 in the middle two periods.
"We only have one person scoring. Everybody needs to be a threat,"
Valenzuela said. "We got a lot of shots under the basket, but we're
just not putting them in."
Pecos' game with Alpine in Fort Davis is scheduled for a 5 p.m.
start on Thursday. The tournament will be the final games for the
Eagles until January 2, when they resume play with a game in Crane.
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 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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