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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, February 7, 2000
Eagle cagers are outfought by Clint
PECOS, Feb. 7, 2000 -- The Pecos Eagle boys fought from behind all night,
but couldn't catch up to the Clint Lions at the finish. Pecos' girls, meanwhile,
just fought, and ended up suffering though a rough night on offense in
Clint on Friday.
The girls couldn't build on their first win of the season last Tuesday,
and lost to the first-place Lions by a 55-19 final score. Pecos' boys had
a lot better night, but saw Clint pull away in the closing minutes of their
game to score a 72-59 victory.
"We had turnovers at the end," said coach Tino Acosta. Clint jumped
out to an eight point lead after one period and were up by 14 going into
the final period when the Eagles made a run to cut the lead back to single
digits. But the Lions were able to turn things around in the closing minutes
to get the win and hold onto third place in the District 2-4A standings.
"We played hard again, but we just made some mistakes at the end that
hurt us," Acosta said. "Until we learn to not make mistakes at the end
we're going to have a hard time winning ballgames.
Hector Rodriguez led all scorers with a season-high 28 points, while
David Chavez was the only other Pecos player in double figures with 10.
"They could not stop him (Rodriguez). He got hot in the second and third
quarters and we just fed him the ball," Acosta said.
D.J. Check led Clint with 20, and the Lions had three other players
in double figures. Pecos' girls didn't have anyone score more than Kalyn
Lara's four points, while Clint got 13 points from Polly Wagner and 12
from Collanne Bramblett. The Lions also got into the Eagles' heads early,
coach Brian Williams said.
"They got into our heads in the first two minutes and we were out of
the game," he said. "We didn't adjust to what they were trying to do. Their
game at home is physical and the officials let things go.
"Instead of playing physical with them our players were trying to push
them down," he said. "We seem to think physical basketball is retaliation."
Pecos managed to shoot just 7 for 44 from the field, and had 32 turnovers
and just three offensive rebounds. "I know we didn't shoot well, but it's
hard when you're getting hacked," Williams said. "But we're going to be
in this district two more years, so our girls have got to learn how to
be physical without going to extremes."
The girls will close out their 1999-2000 season on Tuesday night at
home against San Elizario. The boys will also play San Elizario to end
their home schedule, but will close their season with two more road games,
at El Paso Mountain View and Canutillo.
Lay-up problems cost Balmorhea
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
BALMORHEA, Feb. 7, 2000 -- Lay-ups were a problem for the Balmorhea
Bears' basketball teams Friday night. The girls couldn't shoot enough of
them and gave up too many, while the boys couldn't hit the ones they did
get against the Dell City Cougars.
Balmorhea's girls spotted Dell City a 12-0 lead to start the game, then
used a series of 3-point shots to tie the score at 33-all before the Cougar's
Kelli Stahl got inside for a series of baskets in the closing minutes to
give her team a 43-35 lead and the District 1-A basketball title.
The boys just had a bad night shooting inside, as they missed a series
of lay-ups, while allowing Dell City's Josh Baker to get inside for a game-high
27 points, as the Cougars tied the Bears for first place in the district
standings with a 61-54 victory.
Terri Hernandez and Cathy Garcia led the Bears' comeback from a 33-21
deficit early in the fourth quarter. Garcia had a trio of 3-pointers while
Hernandez did get a couple of lay-ups off fast break steals. Hernandez
was then fouled trying with 4:26 to play, and her missed foul shot was
rebounded and put in by Luz Quinones to give the Bears their first tie
of the night.
But other than the fast breaks, the Bears had problems getting shots
in-close during the game, and went cold from outside over the final three
minutes, while Stahl scored the Cougars' final 10 points of the game, and
finished with 20 overall.
"We caught up at 33-33, but we spent all our time trying to get there,"
said coach Ennis Erickson. "The big problem in the first half was we weren't
getting many baskets because we weren't rebounding. Plenty of times we
would get one shot and that was it."
Dell City suffered a loss when forward Crystal Mendoza suffered a knee
injury late in the third period. Mendoza had 10 points before then, six
in the opening period when the Cougars jumped out to their 12-0 lead. Balmorhea
finally got on the scoreboard on a 3-pointer by Hernandez with 3:16 left
in the opening period, and came out of the first period down 14-5.
"We tried to move around a little more to get her (Hernandez) open.
Some times it works, some time it doesn't," said Erickson. Hernandez led
the Bears with 15 points, while Garcia put in 14 for Balmorhea, which is
2-3 in district and tied with Sierra Blanca for the second District 2-4A
playoff berth.
The boys head beaten Dell City on the road last month, but led only
once on Friday, at 22-21 after a three-point play by Manny Mendoza with
4:46 left in the half. But that lead lasted only three seconds, as Baker
was fouled and hit one free throw to tie the game, and post Mason Templeton
then scored and was fouled for a three-point playoff of his own to give
the Cougars a 25-22 lead.
The Bears only got to within two points once more, at 28-26 on a Kevin
Rodriguez lay-up. Dell City closed out the half with a 9-4 run for a 37-30
lead, and the Bears had climbed back to within 41-38 midway through the
third period, the Cougars ran off 12 straight points to take a 53-38 lead
before Billy Lozano scored on a rebound just before the period was over.
"We missed a lot of lay-ups, a lot of easy shots," said coach Adolfo
Garcia. "We couldn't out-rebound that tall kid, No. 24 (Templeton). They
out-rebounded us 53-41."
The inside scoring by Templeton (18 points) and Baker meant the Cougars
didn't have to rely on much shooting from the outside, but Balmorhea could
manage just one 3-pointer on the night, by Kevin Rodriguez.
"Our 3-pointers weren't going in at all today, and I had two of my leading
scorers (Manny Mendoza and Isaiah Rodriguez) in foul trouble," Garcia said.
Rodriguez led the Bears with 16 points, but fouled out midway through
the final period. Baker, meanwhile, picked up his fourth foul with 5:50
left in the third period, but made it through the rest of the game untouched,
as the Cougars maintained a double-digit lead until the final 19 seconds
of the game.
Both teams are 4-1 in district play going into their final regular season
games, Balmorhea against Valentine and Dell City versus Sierra Blanca.
Garcia said a first place playoff game, if necessary, would probably be
held in Van Horn on Feb. 15.
Pecos girls fifth in opening tourney
PECOS, Feb. 7, 2000 -- The Pecos Eagle girls golf team began their 2000
season over the weekend with a fifth place finish at the San Angelo Girls
Golf Classic.
The Eagles knocked 43 strokes off their first day's score and had the
fourth-best round of the day on Saturday with a 350 total and finished
at 743 for 36 holes.
"The weather was real bad the first day. It was real windy and it is
a harder course," Eagles' coach Tina Hendrick said about the Quicksand
Golf Course, which Pecos played on Friday. The Eagles and the rest of the
Blue Division played Riverside Golf Course on Saturday.
Amanda Stickels had the Eagles' low score, a 93-86-179 while Candace
Hillard had the biggest drop, going from a 112 on Friday to an 86 Saturday
for a 198 total. Cassie Foster shot a 96-89-185, Salem Mitchell shot a
100-89-189 and Lauren Martinez shot a 109-98-202.
Hendrick said Hillard "just blew up the first day. Her and Salem both
had a real rough first day.
"They were in their middle game better on Saturday. We did real well
and I'm proud of them. They kept right on going," she added.
Snyder continued its string of success at San Angelo, taking the Blue
Division title with a 349-321-670 score, 28 strokes ahead of Andrews, which
shot a 365-333-698. Fort Stockton was third with a 365-342-707, Pampa was
fourth with a 382-353-735, and eight shots up on Pecos, while Monahans
and Lake View were sixth and seventh in the 15-team field, with 788 and
818 scores.
The Eagles will face most of those same teams this coming Friday and
Saturday at the Big Spring Invitational, which will also be the season-opening
tournament for Pecos' boys golf team.
Moss gathers in passes, NFC rolls, 51-31
HONOLULU, Feb. 7, 2000 (AP) - The AFC didn't have an answer for Randy
Moss.
The Minnesota Vikings second-year receiver was the star of the Pro Bowl,
catching nine passes for a record 212 yards, scoring a touchdown and setting
up four other scores as the NFC routed the AFC 51-31 Sunday.
"If I'm not into the game, if I'm bored, that's the only way I think
I can be stopped," said the 6-foot-4 Moss, who used his height advantage
to outleap the AFC defensive backs, particularly 5-11 Sam Madison of Miami
and 6-foot James Hasty of Kansas City.
Moss' catches set up two of Tampa Bay fullback Mike Alstott's three
touchdowns. He also had key catches on drives that led to two of three
field goals by Jason Hanson of the Detroit Lions.
"We had a lot of fun," Moss said. "With Alstott rumbling through there,
we did some good things. I'm not really into individual awards and things
like that, but I guess I'll take them when they come."
St. Louis Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams and Tampa Bay linebacker
Derrick Brooks returned interceptions for touchdowns for the NFC, while
Jimmy Smith of Jacksonville had three touchdown passes for the AFC.
The game's 82 points broke the mark of 64 points set in 1980. The NFC's
51 points also set a record.
The NFC was smart to use a game plan that took advantage of Moss' height,
Madison said.
"He's one of the best," Madison said. "They put him in a situation to
make plays, and that's what he did."
Moss' last catch was a 25-yard TD reception from Carolina's Steve Beuerlein
with 1:05 to play that closed the scoring.
The score seemed to bring out some bad feelings between the two teams,
who accused each other of breaking Pro Bowl rules that prevent blitzing
and rushing the kicker.
"They were breaking a whole lot of rules out there," Beuerlein said.
"I think it was a statement from our coaching staff, kind of like, `Look
at the scoreboard, and here's another touchdown to think about."'
AFC coach Tom Coughlin took exception to Beuerlein's comments.
"Steve Beuerlein is out of control in that respect," Coughlin said.
"We didn't coach anything other than what the rules are. Before they speak
about what we were doing, they probably ought to look at themselves."
Alstott, the Tampa Bay fullback, scored on runs of 1, 3 and 1 yards.
He finished with 13 carries for 67 yards.
Brooks picked off a pass from Jacksonville's Mark Brunell and raced
untouched 20 yards for a touchdown to make it 44-24 with 11:12 left.
"I couldn't believe no one was around, so I just took my time getting
to the end zone," Brooks said.
Smith finished with eight catches for 119 yards, while Indianapolis
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was 17-of-23 for 270 yards, with two touchdowns
and two interceptions, including the one to Williams. Warner finished 8-of-11
for 123 yards, including some big plays to Moss. "It's great to be able
to toss it up there and watch him go up and get it," Warner said. "He does
a great job of that."
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 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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