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Sports

Monday, December 21, 1998

Eagle boys split games, girls nip Prowlers


PECOS, Dec. 21 -- The Pecos Eagle girls are now 2-for-4
against the Fort Stockton Prowlers this season, after
closing out their pre-Christmas schedule with a 48-46
overtime victory against the Prowlers in Fort Stockton on
Friday night.

Pecos' boys, meanwhile, close out their season tonight with
a game in Sonora, after splitting their games over the
weekend against Greenwood and Odessa High. The Eagles beat
the Rangers at home Friday by a 55-49 score, then fell in
Odessa on Saturday, 74-47.

The girls have won two of their three games this season from
Fort Stockton, while the Prowlers' only wins so far have
come over Pecos, with all of the games decided by four
points or less. "Our two teams are so even we could play
games every day and they would either go overtime or be two
or three points either way," said Eagles' coach Brian
Williams.

Like their first three meetings, the Eagles started slowly
on Friday, then controlled the second and third periods,
outscoring the Prowlers, 26-14 after falling behind 10-4.
But Fort Stockton caught up at the finish, tying it at
40-all off a pair of steals in the closing seconds.

"Shaye (Lara) came out in overtime and hit two baskets and
then a couple of free throws, and then Philonicus (Fobbs)
hit two underneath and that pretty much did it," Williams
said. "We got more rebounds this game than we have so far.
We had 14 defensive rebounds, which was the most we've had
all season."

Lara led Pecos with 12 points, while Maricela Arenivas had
10, including five free throws in the final period, Williams
said. Fort Stockton's Christina Robledo led all scorers with
16 points.

The girls are off all of this week, but return to action a
week from today, with a first round game against the Iraan
Braves at the Reagan County Tournament.

The boys will be trying to bounce back from Saturday's loss
at Odessa High tonight, when they make the 195-mile trip to
Sonora for their final pre-Christmas game. Pecos snapped a
three-game losing streak with their win over the Rangers, as
they led most of the way thanks to a 19-point night by
Fernando Navarette.

Oscar Luna also was in double figures for Pecos with 13,
while Josh Gilliam and Derek Gash led Greenwood with 10
apiece.

Against Odessa High, the Eagles trailed from the outset, as
OHS jumped out to an 11-5 lead after one period and were up
by 12 at the half. Pecos had three players in double
figures, as Luna and Mark Marquez scored 14 apiece and
Navarette added 12, but the rest of the lineup combined for
just seven.

The Bronchos' Tron Gentry had 14 points and Casey Maxwell
and Greg Smithey had 10 each, but OHS got scoring from seven
other players in their second win in three weeks over the
Eagles.

The split left Pecos with a 6-8 record going into tonight's
game against Sonora, which had a defensive battle with
Marble Falls until the final period of their game on Friday,
when they were outscored 27-6 in a 54-21 loss to Marble
Falls.

PIP students to have practice at gym Tuesday


PECOS, Dec. 21 -- Although school is out for Christmas, the
local PIP youth basketball group will have a practice on
Tuesday, from 10 to 11 a.m. at the new Pecos High School
gym, Pecos Eagles' basketball coach Brian Williams said
today.

The PIP program is a basketball skills program for
elementary school students. Those in the program are
scheduled to perform at halftime during the Pecos Eagles'
District 2-4A basketball games in January.

Cowboys struggle way to NFC East crown, 13-9


By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
IRVING, Texas, Dec. 21 -- Chan Gailey wasn't part of the
Dallas Cowboys last December when the team basically quit,
losing its last five games in a mad dash to end a season
they'd rather forget.

Although the attitude had turned around in Gailey's first
season in charge, the late-season results hadn't. Dallas was
having another disastrous December, losing three straight
with two to play.

The Cowboys snapped the skid Sunday by beating the
Philadelphia Eagles 13-9. Even though it wasn't an
impressive performance, it was enough to win the division --
the greatest sign of the difference Gailey has made.

``Chan deserves a lot of credit for the way this ballclub
has turned around from 6-10 to where we are now,'' running
back Emmitt Smith said. ``A lot of folks never thought we
could do it. But here we are. ...

``I think his leadership is what we were missing last year.
Not only that, but the offensive system he brought in gave
us a fresh opportunity to get out there and do different
things.''

Quarterback Troy Aikman chafed the most at former coach
Barry Switzer's lack of leadership. He's also become one of
Gailey's most vocal supporters.

``He's the one who has got it turned around,'' Aikman said.
``I think he's got everybody focused in on what we're trying
to accomplish. He's given the team some real direction.''

The Eagles are in a similar situation to the one the Cowboys
were in this time last year: heading downhill fast and
unable to pull out of it. Against Dallas, Philadelphia
failed to score a touchdown for the sixth time this year and
didn't win on the road for the 17th straight time dating to
1996.

But at least the Eagles are trying. Their coach is, too,
even though Ray Rhodes said recently he doesn't expect to be
back next year.

``We were really motivated to win this game for Ray,'' said
offensive tackle Steve Martin.

Mental lapses crushed Philadelphia. Passes were dropped
often, especially on third downs. Many of them wouldn't have
been first downs anyway because the routes were too short.

The Eagles also had nine penalties, including consecutive
false starts by right tackle Richard Cooper and one for too
many men in the huddle on their final drive.

Worst of all, Philadelphia may have had just 10 players on
the field when Dallas scored its only touchdown on a fake
field goal. Eric Bjornson's 7-yard run gave the Cowboys a
7-3 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

``I think that we did not have enough players on the field
and that left a big hole on one side of the defensive
line,'' Rhodes said.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, didn't look so great either.

Aikman was sacked a season-high three times and was lucky it
wasn't more considering how poorly the line handled the
blitz. Dallas had two turnovers -- a batted-ball
interception by Aikman and a fumble by Smith -- that both
resulted in Philadelphia field goals.

The Eagles racked up 356 yards, but the Cowboys defense came
up big in the end, stopping two drives in the final minutes
to seal the sixth division title in seven years and the 19th
in franchise history.

``The defense has played their rear off all year, but never
did they play in the clutch any more than they did today,''
Gailey said. ``Yeah, it was ugly at times and I know that.
But we get a chance to work on it in the playoffs and there
are other teams that don't get to do that.''



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Pecos Enterprise
Ned Cantwell, 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 1998 by Pecos Enterprise