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Weekly Newspaper and Travel Guide for Ward County Trans Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

Sports

Dec. 17, 1998

Monahans edges past Mountain View


By Jim Lewallen
Varsity Boys head basketball coach, John Curry, said before Thursday's game against Mountain View, "I wish the football team had gone to state, but since they didn't, I'm glad to get all the players together."

Game one for the Monahans Loboes basketball team was a prime time contest vs the Mountain View Lobos. Monahans won 46-42.
Monahans Lobo guard Brian Morris scored the first points of the game with a 21 ft. jump shot.

Seven straight Mountain View points saw the Lobos from Mountain view take a 7 - 3 lead over the Loboes before Senior Jason Merrick hit a 16 ft. jumper, followed by a Chris Adams shot, and the period ended with the score tied at 9.

Second period play began with Morris making free throw and Adams following with a field goal that gave Monahans a three point lead with 5:56 left in the first half.

Nine unanswered Mountain View points gave the visiting Lobos 18-12 lead with only 2 minutes left in the second quarter. Monahans post Jason Merrick hit a field goal followed by

Adams 2 pointer and Monahans trailed 18-16 at the half.
Fabian Welch was fouled on his next shot, and converted a three point play in the 3rd quarter. Once again, Adams added 2 goals for Monahans. The Monahans Loboes led the visiting Loboes 30-28 shortly before the end of the third period.

After three periods Monahans had one point advantage at 31-30.

With the game tied at 31 and 6:56 left in the game, Dephil Phillips showed hustle and Monahans turned it up a notch as Morris hit a 3 pointer and a field goal, coupled with Adams 3 more field goals, and 2 "big" free throws by Merrick. As the Loboes won 46-42. Adams scored 21 points to lead all Loboes.

After the game, Curry said, "We're more athletic and deeper with all our players back. We were more aggressive, and the kids hung in there."

Mountain view Coach Tom Foster said, "Too many turnovers. We had 19 turnovers, and we have a young ball club."

Friday night it was Game 2 for Monahans that saw the Loboes play to El Paso High Tigers. El Paso won 79-51.

From the tip-off, the Tigers scored 11 straight points. Lobo Adams and Morris scored for the Loboes, but Monahans trailed 14-5. Carlos Suton and Adams had field goals, but the pack still trailed 22-12 at the end of 1st quarter.

Monahans pulled within 11 points with 1:47 left in the second period, but trailed 41-27 at halftime.

A run and gun third quarter saw El Paso turn it up another notch and extend the lead to 56-35 after 3 periods.

El Paso kept up the pace in the 4th quarter and won the game 79-51.

El Paso Coach Bob Polhamu said, "We were lucky to catch Monahans at the right time. I like the way we came out tonight."

Lobo Coach Curry said, "When you play good folks, you expose your weakness."

Saturday afternoon Monahans played El Paso Americas. The TrailBlazers from El Paso defeated the Loboes in a game for 3rd place, 84-66.

Coach Curry said, "We played better than we did Friday evening, we executed a lot better. We got within 5 points several times in the 2nd half."

Morris led Monahans in scoring with 16 points. Adams had 15 points

The Loboes host the Brownfield Cubs Friday night at 7: 30 in the complex.

Cruicial free throws trip Lady Loboes


By Nathan Rogers
At the conclusion of district play last year, the Lady Lobo Basketballers were shaking their heads in disbelief at an 0-10 record. Showing a different attitude this year, after suffering a few close losses and butting heads with the powerhouse Seminole team twice, the girls seem to be back on the right track.

The team entered the Sandhills Tournament ready to play tough and keep alive their slowly growing fire. Facing 5A El Paso Austin in the first round on Thursday night proved to be a test for the girls.

After Austin opened up a five point lead in the first quarter, the Ladies appeared to be making a comeback. The Loboes missed some crucial free throws, however, and Austin took a 29-18 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Once they had a short rest, the team came back out ready to play, and kept close with Austin for most of the third quarter, but as before, missing key free throws. The score after three was 43-30, in favor of the visitors from El Paso.

Though they outscored the El Paso team by two points in the fourth, the Loboes were unable to overcome the preliminary defict. Said Coach Mike Swigert after the game, "We missed 11 free throws. We lost by 11 points. We have to make those points for a reason."

The next round's opponent was Reagan County. Due to the inclement weather, the Lady Owls were unable to travel to Monahans. The game was postponed twice, and ultimately cancelled, giving Monahans the forfeit win.

The Consolation Bracket Championship was set for Monahans and Fort Stockton to square off in a rematch of an earlier game this season. Tracie Jasso was out due to an abcessed toenail, and Jeanette Franco was sidelined with an ankle injury . The Lady Loboes, however, were determined to overcome this temporary adversity to win the game.

After a quick start, the team took a 13-7 lead into the second quarter. Missed free throws were again a problem, but the girls' defense was able to hold Ft. Stockton in check, and led 24-16 at the half.

The story in the third quarter was the same, solid defense by the Loboes making up for the lack of offensive fireworks by both teams. At the final buzzer, the team had won the Consolation Championship, 46-31.

Swimmers set records


Two new school records set as the Lobo swimmers take 1st in Seminole Meet.

The Monahans Green Wave Swim Team adopted the "Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow..." creed Saturday, and despite temperatures in the 20s, they burned up the water in Seminole, setting two school records in the process.

Freshman Autumn Ware set a new school record in the 100 breaststroke of 1:14.80, breaking her own record of 1:16.60 set in the Monahans Invitational this year.

Junior Candice Teague broke the record of 2:25.16 held by Sandra Meeks in the 200 I.M. by swimming a 2:22.10.
"This meet was close all the way thru the last event," said Coach Ward. "Pecos scored 26 points to our 18 in the 400 free relay and we managed to squeak by with a 3 point victory. All of our swimmers (Boys and Girls) swam great. I couldn't have asked for more effort," Ward said.

Team totals for the Seminole Invitational: Girls Division: 1st Monahans 125, Pecos 122, Abilene High 111, Abilene Cooper 68, Andrews 46, Hobbs 43, Artesia 20, Seminole 5.
Scoring Points for the girls were:

200 Medley relay, 1st Monahans 'A' 2:01:40 Candice Teague, Lindsay Fredericks, Marina Martin, Karen Robertson. 200 Free, 5th Beth Cox 2:31.50.

200 I.M. 1st Teague 2:22.10, 7th Jenny Waggoner 2:51.50.
50 Free 7th Renai Beck, 30.80.

100 Fly, 2nd Martin 1:13.80, 5th Alexis Lewallen, 1:22.40.
100 Free, 1st Fredericks 1:00.80; 3rd Robertson 1:02.70.
500 Free, 8th Amy Bowman 7:00.00.

200 Free Relay, 1st Monahans 'A" 1:49.00 Teague, Fredericks, Martin, Robertson.

100 Backstroke, 1st Teague, 1:04.10, 6th Rebecca Pinson 1:17.80.

100 Breastroke, 3rd Ware, 1:14.80.

400 Free Relay, 3rd Monahans 'A' 4:34.60 Lewallen, Bowman, Waggoner, Robertson. 6th Monahans B 5:09.00 April Gonzales, Pinson, Cox, Ware.

Team Standings for the boys were: Pecos 178, Abilene High 102, Andrews 74, Monahans 61, Hobbs 61, Artesia 26, Abilene Cooper 20, Seminole 6.

Scoring for the Loboes:
200 Medley Relay, 5th Monahans 'A' Clayton Cunningham, Westley Everett, Joseph Naranjo, Shawn Hill 1:57.70.
200 I.M. 4th Everett 2:50.00
100 Fly 7th Naranjo 1:10.80, 8th Hill 1:11.70.
100 Free 3rd Brandon Sutter 54.80
500 Free 5th Chris Friar, 7:10.00
200 Free Relay, 3rd Monahans 'A' Hill, Cunningham, Naranjo, Sutter 1:39.60

100 Back, 2nd Sutter, 1:00.20.
400 Free Relay, 3rd Monahans 'A' Cunningham, Naranjo, Sutter, Hill 3:49.00

The next Green Wave swim competition will be split meets in Ft. Stockton and Temple on Jan. 8-9.

Cowboys down Wildcats


By Jim Lewallen
The Grandfalls Royalty Cowboys defeated the Wink Wildcats 44-33 to open the Cowboys Basketball performance in the Buena Vista Tournament. James Stock led Grandfalls in scoring with 14 points while Steven Phillips had 12.

"We pretty much contained every body except Justin Hamm," said Coach Jones. "We slowed the ball down and controlled our shots. Our goal is to shoot 75% from the foul line, we shot 65% tonight, and 60% from the field."

A loss to the Sanderson Eagles, 58-41, Friday put the Cowboys in a Saturday game against the Buena Vista Longhorns. The Cowboys won 32-31.

In a most physical game, Grandfalls led at the end of the first quarter, 10-15. Not scoring any points in the second quarter and leading 10-8 at halftime. The Cowboys led 18-14 after three, and 32-31 at the buzzer.

With 5 seconds left in the game and trailing 31-30, Grandfalls Cowboy Ronnie Vasquez' 3 pointer hit the rim; Vasquez got his own rebound and tipped the ball in for the winning basket.

Coach Jones said after the game, "It was our worst shooting performance ever. It was a physical game. We shot 20% from the field and 30% from the line." Jones said, "It was the 3rd time in the last two years that our last shot beat Buena Vista."

High point for the Cowboys was Sean Francisco with 9 points. Ronnie Vasquez had 7.

The Cowboys play at Wink Friday evening with the JV boys at 5 p.m. followed by the Varsity Girls at 6:30 and Varsity Boys at 8 p.m.

Defense stymies Steers


Keeping right on track after the Sandhills Tournament, Monday night the Lady Loboes met the Lady Steers from Big Spring, at the Complex. The starting lineup for the team was the usual, except for the absence of Tracie Jasso, coming off a foot injury.

The first five on the floor were seniors Shayla Terry, Dedra Wessels, Lori Enriquez, Junior Carleigh Melius, and sophomore Amanda Krone. After the Lady Steers scored the first points, the Loboes took advantage of some missed shots, and took a first quarter lead of 13-8.

Supported by an enthusiastic crowd, the team continued to capitalize on turnovers and rebounds, and took a lead of 18-12 into the locker room at halftime.

The Steers returned looking to intimidate, but were once again stymied by a swarming Monahans defense. Several fouls were made out of frustration and the Lady Loboes utilized free throws to cushion their lead. Tracie Jasso hit from beyond the arc as the third quarter buzzer sounded, and effectively killed any momentum the Lady Steers might have had, making the score 35-22.

For the remainder of the game, the team simply managed to keep Big Spring from scoring, and took the victory, 42-33.
After the game, coach Mike Swigert said, "We looked better tonight than we did this weekend. We made 76 percent of our free throws, which is a major improvement over what we've been doing. We just need to continue to improve."



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