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SPORTS

Friday, January 17, 1997

Steers rebound to down Eagles


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By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
BIG SPRING, Jan. 17 -- The Pecos Eagles worked themselves into another
big third quarter hole Thursday evening against the Big Spring Steers,
just as they had six days earlier against the San Angelo Lake View
Chiefs.

But this time, the Eagles may have worked themselves out of it a little
too early, giving the Steers a chance to regroup and regain the momentum
down the stretch.

Pecos trailed Big Spring by 14 points midway through the third period,
before finding the range from behind the 3-point line. They hit five 3s
in a 3½ minute span, turning a 36-22 deficit into a 42-38 lead.

However, unlike Thursday's game, when the Eagles didn't go in front
until the closing minutes, there were seven minutes left to play this
time -- more than enough for Big Spring's John Smith, Justin Myers and
Craig Wollenzein to find their range. Combined with strong inside
rebounding, they helped the Steers outscore the Eagles, 33-21 in the
final period and pull away for a 71-58 victory.

"We weren't getting very good rebounding positioning, and we weren't
boxing out," said Eagles' coach Mike Sadler. "When they jump that high,
you've got to take good rebounding position.

"We also turned the ball over a lot at the end, but you've got to give
credit to Big Spring, they played well after the third quarter," Sadler
said.

The Steers led throughout the first half, and at one point even grabbed
a 13-point lead, at 26-13 on a rebound lay-up by Smith, who led all
scorers with 24 points. But the Steers' guard also picked up his third
foul moments later, and overall, the half was marked by a series of
missed lay-ups by the Steers and missed 3-point shots from the Eagles.

Pecos' Fabien Adame got loose late in the half inside for a couple of
baskets, part of his 17-point night, while Eric Abila, who hit six
3-points in the win over Lake View, finally got one to fall in the final
minute, helping to cut the Steers' lead to 28-22.

But Smith opened the second half with a pair of jumpers and Myers
scored off an Eagle turnover, building the margin back to double-digits.
The Eagles would go the first 4:40 of the third period without hitting a
field goal, but after Abila connected from 3-point line everything
started falling for the next few minutes.

Adame found Omar Hinojos for a lay-up after Abila's basket, and then
forward Jacob Chavez was left open in the corner and hit three straight
3-pointers, the two following Big Spring turnovers. The last gave the
Eagles a 37-36 lead, and while the Steers were able to go back in front
as the period ended, on two Paul Forseyth foul shots, Jason Abila hit
from 3-point range then added a 15-foot jumper as the final period
opened, and the Eagles had a four-point lead.

That's when the Steers started taking control inside. Chad Warren hit a
lay-up, then followed up the a missed free throw by Smith for another
two points, putting Big Spring back in front with six minutes to play.
He did it again at the 2:51 mark, taking a miss on Myers' second foul
shot and putting it back in for a 3-point play. It followed a Smith
lay-up and an Eagle turnover, and turned a six-point Steers lead into a
59-48 advantage.

Pecos would get within 10 just once more, off another 3 by Chavez, as
they went cold from inside in the final minutes of play.

Myers wound up with 13 points and Wollenzein with 11 for the Steers,
while along with Adame's 17, Hinojos and Chavez both were in double
figures, with 12 points for the Eagles.

"Jacob brought us back, but then we just turned the ball over and
didn't block out," said Sadler, whose team falls to 1-2 in district, 8-9
overall going into tonight's 7:30 p.m. game at 2-1 Fort Stockton. The
Steers also are 2-1 in district, 9-12 overall, and host Lake View
tonight.

PECOS (58)
E. Abila 3 0-0 8; J. Abila 3 2-2 9; Martinez 0 0-0 0; Hinojos 4 4-6 12;
Garcia 0 0-0 0; Adame 7 3-5 17; Navarrete 0 0-0 0; Chavez 4 0-0 12.
Totals 21 9-13 58.

BIG SPRING (71)
Smith 9 5-6 24; Myers 5 1-2 12; Mitchell 3 0-2 8; Warren 4 0-0 8;
Massingill 2 0-0 5; Wollenzein 5 1-1 11; Bristow 0 0-0 0; Forseyth 1 3-4
5. Totals 29 10-15 71.

Pecos 9 13 15 21 --58
Big Spring 14 14 10 33 --71

Three-point goals: Pecos 7 (Chavez 4, E. Abila 2, J. Abila), Big Spring
3 (Smith, Myers, Massingill). Fouled out: Big Spring, Wollenzein. Total
fouls: Pecos 16, Big Spring 18.

Big Spring's press leaves Pecos crushed


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BIG SPRING, Jan. 17 -- The Pecos Eagles had to delay their game against
the Big Spring Steers for two days due to bad weather. They probably
would have liked to have put it off completely, based on what happened
Thursday afternoon.

Just about everything went wrong for Pecos, as Big Spring pressed from
start to finish and bottled up the Eagles in their own end most of the
day. The Steers scored the game's first 17 points, held a 38-2 lead in
the second period, then started bombing away from 3-point range in the
fourth quarter, on the way to an 89-31 victory.

"They're just real quick, and we didn't play," said Eagles' coach Patty
Hall. "We didn't react to the ball, and they've got a good team that's
very aggressive and never let up. We could not get the ball out from
under our basket.

"We got the ball across about three or four times in the first quarter.
When you have 23 turnovers in the first half, that's not good," Hall
added.

The Steers trapped the Eagles along the base line after the inbounds,
and forced them into turnovers along the sidelines. Kara Hughes began
the onslaught with a lane jumper 30 seconds into play, and the Eagles
would get their only points of the period after nearly five minutes of
play, on a 10-foot jumper by Penny Armstrong.

The Eagles didn't help themselves when they had chances to score by
either mishandling the ball or getting called for travelling. Pecos'
next points didn't come until the 2:38 mark of the second period, when
Shrihonda Bell banked in a rebound jumper, followed 90 seconds later by
a foul line jumper from Lori Marquez.

The Eagles' junior had a good start to the third period, and the Eagles
and Steers actually traded baskets for the first four minutes of the
quarter. But after Marquez picked up her fourth foul and went to the
bench with 3:51 left in the period, the Steers began piling up the
points again. They outscored Pecos 14-4 and closed the quarter with a
63-15 lead, then scored the first seven points of the final period.

A jumper by Marquez broke the streak, and Veronica Carrasco hit from
the foul line and added a couple of foul shots at the four minute mark,
before Haddad began her 3-point assault. She took seven shots from
behind the line, hitting three, the last giving the Steers their 89th
point with just under 90 seconds to play before turnovers cost the
Steers a chance at breaking the 90 point barrier.

Outside of Marquez' second half, Hall said the play of sophomore
Monique Levario in her first game was about the only bright spot.
Levario had four points in her debut, while Marquez led Pecos with
eight. Haddad had 15, Krissi McWherter 14, Natalie Cole 13 and Keesha
Lott 12 for the Steers, who stayed unbeaten in District 4-4A play at 5-0
and are 13-=9 overall.

The Eagles fall to 1-4 and 6-12, but will try for their fourth win in
as many games this season against Fort Stockton, when the Prowlers host
Pecos tonight at 6 p.m. Pecos opened district on Jan 2 with a 60-56
overtime victory, after 28- and 11-point wins in tournament play in
December.
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State and Regional Sports Pages--San Angelo Standard-Times


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