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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, November 22, 1999
Score gets worse, but Pecos' play improves
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Nov. 22, 1999 -- It sounds strange to say a 47-point loss looked
better than a 12-point one, but the Pecos Eagles actually did play better
in their second game of the 1999-2000 basketball season on Friday night
than they did in their season opener three days earlier, even if the numbers
didn't show it.
The Eagles, who lost 55-43 last Tuesday to Monahans, were beaten at
home Friday night by Odessa High, 99-52, in a game the Bronchos controlled
from the outset. But Odessa High already had scored a 100-24 win over the
Eagles' former district rival, Andrews, in their season opener, and in
Friday's game, it was more what OHS did on their own than the mistakes
Pecos made that determined the final score.
"I was proud of our effort," said Eagles' coach Tino Acosta. "They played
better than they did on Tuesday. Right now we've still got to play smarter,
and if we do that, we'll be all right."
The Eagles gave up a number of easy points on steals due to lazy passes
while trying to break Monahans' press in their opening loss. Friday night,
the passes were quicker, but so were the Bronchos, who used some baskets
off steals, along with a big size advantage inside and eight 3-pointers,
to control the game.
Gary Williams and Matt Sutherland hit a pair of 3s at the outset of
the game to get OHS going. Adrian Rayos, who led the Eagles with 14 points,
then got Pecos on the board with a lay-up, but Sutherland (24 points) followed
with a bank shot in the lane and Patrick Patton scored on a steal and dunk
that earned him a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
David Chavez hit both technical foul shots 2½ minutes into the
game to cut the lead to 10-4 before OHS reeled off eight straight points.
Chavez nailed a 3-pointer with just under three minutes left in the period
to finally break that string, and Pecos outscored OHS' second team over
the final minutes of the period. But the Bronchos would widen a 15-point
lead after one period to 27 at the half, 51-24.
In the third period, Pecos would get early baskets from Hector Rodriguez
and Alex Garcia, but Odessa closed out the period and opened the fourth
quarter with a 20-8 run, stretching their margin to 81-39.
The big question in the closing minutes was whether or not the Bronchos
would hit 100 points for the second straight game. They reached 97 on a
3-pointer by Trey Vanley with 90 seconds left, and got a Taylor Casey lay-up
with 40 seconds to play. But Casey missed two foul shots, and the Eagles
were able to get a couple of late rebounds to avoid being touched for triple
digits for the first time ever in the new PHS gym.
"They're going to compete for the district title over there," Acosta
said of former Eagle coach Bobby Milliorn's team, which will host Pecos
on Saturday afternoon in Odessa. The Eagles are idle on Tuesday.
"Midland High's come back down to earth and given us a glimmer of hope,"
said Milliorn. "Cooper has a tradition of tough athletes but nobody thinks
they're invincible. Pretty much after that it's a toss up between the bunch."
Chavez and Hector Rodriguez also were in double figures for the Eagles,
with 13 and 10 points respectively. Odessa High also won Friday's junior
varsity game, by a 93-41 final score. Martin Vasquez led the Eagles with
10 points.
ODESSA HIGH (99)
Williams 3 0-0 9; Sutherland 10 1-1 24; Mathis 3 0-0
6; Smithee 3 0-0 6; Patton 2 1-2 5; Ronzier 1 4-4 8; Vaught 2 0-1 4; Vanley
3 0-0 8; Casey 4 1-4 9; Evans 6 0-0 12; Espinoza 5 0-0 10. Totals 42
7-11 99.
PECOS (52)
R. Rodriguez 2 0-0 4; Rayos 6 2-5 14; Chavez 4 2-2 13;
Tarin 0 0-0 0; H. Rodriguez 4 2-3 10; Weidner 0 3-4 3; Garcia 1 1-2 3;
Carson 0 0-0 0; Terrazas 1 3-3 5. Totals 18 13-19 52.
Odessa High 27 24 24
24 - 99
Pecos
12 12 13 15 - 52
Three-point goals: Odessa High 8 (Williams 3, Sutherland
3, Vanley 2), Pecos 3 (Chavez 3). Technical foul: Odessa High, Patton.
Fouled out: None. Total fouls: Odessa High 18, Pecos 15.
Tired-looking Eagles trampled by Buffaloes
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Nov. 22, 1999 -- It was a beautiful afternoon to be outdoors
on Saturday in Pecos. However, indoors, things looked pretty ugly for the
Pecos Eagles' basketball team.
The Eagles were out-hustled all afternoon by the Stanton Buffaloes,
and dropped to 0-2 on the season with a 70-34 loss to the Buffs at the
Pecos High School gym.
"It doesn't hurt them one iota if we win or lose," said Eagles' coach
Brian Williams, who was talking about changing his lineup for Tuesday's
game against Fort Stockton. "Until winning means something to them, we're
just going through the motions."
The main problem for Pecos was an overall sluggishness, and sloppy passing
which led to 46 turnovers in just 32 minutes of play. Several times the
Eagle players failed to move around as Williams yelled for them to run
the offense, and ended up either turning the ball over or taking a low-percentage
shot.
"Right now we don't have enough patience to run the offense," Williams
said. "I know we can run it because of what we did in the first quarter
against Alpine (last Tuesday), but we'll never know what we can do until
we run in the whole game."
Sophomore Jessica Rodriguez was one of the few Pecos players doing much
moving on Saturday, and ended up as high scorer with eight points. Stanton
was led by Stephanie Washington's 16 points, including the first four of
the day on lay-ups, as the Buffs jumped out to an 11-0 lead.
Mireya Medrano finally got Pecos on the board with a short jumper 3
½ minutes into the game, and the Eagles did cut Stanton's lead to
13-8 over the next two minutes of play. But Jessica Denton then scored
and was fouled by Medrano for a 3-point play, and Kaci Moore followed with
a lay-up and a 3-point jumper to close the period, giving the Buffs a 21-8
lead.
Denton opened the second period with two more lay-ups, one off a steal
by Jessica Thompson, before Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to
25-11. The margin would increase to 43-20 by halftime, and while the Eagles
were able to keep it at that margin for a while, they were outscored in
the final period, 16-4, and were shut out over the final three minutes
of the game.
"Somebody's got to light a fire under the rest of them. Right now we
don't have anybody who wants to step up," said Williams, whose team will
have two more home games this week, against the 0-2 Prowlers on Tuesday
and Saturday versus another former district rival, Andrews.
Stanton's win improved their record to 1-1 on the season. The Buffs
also won Saturday's junior varsity game, by a 59-15 final score. Laura
Hinojos led Pecos with six points.
STANTON (70)
Madison 4 1-3 9; Washington 7 2-3 16; Deleon 3 2-3 8;
Moore 5 0-1 12; Salgado 2 0-0 4; Allred 0 2-4 2; Rasberry 1 0-0 2; Christian
0 2-2 2; Phillips 1 0-0 2; Rios 1 2-2 4; Thompson 1 1-2 3; Lansford 2 0-0
4; Williams 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 12-20 70.
PECOS (34)
Marquez 1 0-0 2; Quiroz 1 0-0 2; M. Arenivas 1 3-7 5;
Medrano 2 0-0 4; Fobbs 3 1-2 7; C. Arenivas 0 0-0 0; Rodriguez 3 1-5 8;
Molinar 0 0-2 0; Salcido 1 0-0 2; Salgado 0 0-1 0; Lara 2 0-1 4. Totals
14 5-18 34.
Stanton 21 22 11 16 -
70
Pecos 8
12 10 4 - 34
Three-point goals: Stanton 2 (Moore 2), Pecos 1
(Rodriguez). Fouled out: None. Total fouls: Stanton 21, Pecos
20.
Cowboys' offense stalls again in loss to Cardinals
By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer
TEMPE, Ariz., Nov. 22, 1999 - Defense has brought the Arizona Cardinals
back to life in the weak NFC East.
Arizona made repeated big stops in the final minutes of its 13-9 victory
over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday. At 4-6, after consecutive victories over
Detroit and Dallas, the Cardinals are just two games behind first-place
Washington and one behind Dallas and the New York Giants.
"We see a light from the depths we've been in," Arizona quarterback
Dave Brown said.
The Cardinals earned just their third victory over Dallas in 19 meetings
by stopping one of the game's greatest running backs three consecutive
times deep in Arizona territory.
Emmitt Smith, playing with his broken right hand in a soft cast, gained
127 yards on 29 carries. But he couldn't get one when he needed it most.
Late in the game, trailing 13-7 with second-and-2 on the Arizona 10,
Dallas gave the ball to Smith three straight times, and the NFL's No. 3
career rusher gained just 1 yard.
On fourth-and-1 at the 9, Kwamie Lassiter and Ronald McKinnon stopped
Smith for no gain with 3:22 to play.
"We talked in the huddle that somebody's got to step up and make the
play," Lassiter said. "Either it's coming out, or we're going to punish
him for carrying it."
Arizona defensive coordinator Dave McGinnis called Lassiter's play "one
of the better face-up tackles by a free safety that I've seen in a lot
of years."
Smith, who broke his hand two weeks ago against Minnesota, ran into
the back of one of his teammates as he hit the line.
"I just lost my momentum, and before I knew it, everyone was on top
of me," he said.
Dallas has led in the second half of all five of its losses. Deion Sanders
said maybe the Cowboys should avoid the locker room at intermission.
"I really wish we could huddle in the corner of the end zone like Pop
Warner, because whatever happens in the locker room is unbelievable," Sanders
said.
Arizona punter Scott Player took an intentional safety with 1:49 remaining
to cut the lead to 13-9.
"They respect me so much they even took a safety, and you say my game
is gone," he said.
Sanders returned the free kick 31 yards to the Arizona 43.
Dallas (5-5) drove to the 22, but on fourth-and-3, Jason Garrett threw
a short pass to Rocket Ismail, who was stopped by Aeneas Williams and J.J.
McCleskey at the 21 with 12 seconds remaining.
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 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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