By Brian Gibson, Athletic Director and Football Coach —
Last weekend, the Lady Eagles participated in the Monahans Sandhills Basketball Tournament for the first time. Coach Tucker wanted to challenge his girls this season and knew this tournament would bring the best out of them facing schools that are much larger.
On Thursday, the Lady Eagles were matched up against the Lady Lobos for their opening game. Thinking it would be an easy win for them, the Lobos were in for a dog fight as the Lady Eagles came out with an attacking defensive strategy and were only down by 3 points going into half time.
In the second half it was a back and forth battle as the teams traded baskets and the Lady Eagles were only down by 5 points with 2 minutes to play.
But down the stretch, the girls made some costly turnovers and allowed the Lady Lobos to take a commanding lead and finish off the Eagles with a final score of 52-39. The Lady Lobos scored 18 points from the free throw line, which turned out to be the difference in the game. The Lady Eagles played tough defense and really gave Monahans all they could handle said their coach who was very impressed with their hustle and aggressiveness.
Leaders for the Lady Eagles were Kianna Fierro-14 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals, Leslie Gonzales-9 points, 2 assists, and 3 steals, Justine Quintana 6 points, 2 steals, and 1 assist.
Then last Friday, the Lady Eagles headed back to play two games, the first against Pecos and then Fort Stockton. The girls were ready for some revenge as they had lost the first game of the season to Pecos by two points, and boy did they get it as they managed to beat Pecos 49-36!
The Lady Eagles lead the game from start to finish and really dominated the ball game. Van Horn speed and defense were too much for the Pecos Eagles as the girls cruised to the win. Top players versus Pecos were Kianna
Fierro 17 points, 12 rebounds, 2 block shots, 3 steals. Leslie Gonzales 15 points, 3 assist, 2 steals, Jacque Turnbow 5 points, 5 rebounds, Mireya Quintana 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals.
With only one hour to rest, the girls got ready for their battle with the Prowlers from Fort Stockton. Earlier in the day Ft. Stockton defeated Monahans by 10 points so the Lady Eagles knew this would be a tough game for them. Right from the tipoff, the Lady Eagles jumped all over the Prowlers and showed everyone that they were not intimidated by anyone.
Almost every player for Fort Stockton was much taller than our 1A girls from Van Horn, but the Lady Eagle's speed and tenacity were too much for the big 3A school to handle. The Lady Eagles were out to prove that they belonged in this tournament and showed everyone with a great performance as they handed Fort Stockton their first loss of the tournament in a 54-48 victory!
Top players for the Eagles were Kianna Fierro 21 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals, 1 block shot, 1 assist. Leslie Gonzales 17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 assist, Karina Ramirez 4 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assist, 4 steals, Mireya Quintana 11 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assist, 5 steals, Reba Oñate 2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assist.
Unfortunately, because of the weather, the girls were unable to return for the final day of the tournament and play in a trophy game, but Coach Tucker was very pleased with the girls' performance and effort.
The Lady Eagles continue to get better each week, as they have improved their record to 6-3 on the season. On Tuesday the team will travel to Alpine to play at 6:30 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL NEWS
The Eagle Boys played at the Monahans tournament this past week. Although the team showed a lot of improvement and played hard, they did not come out with any wins.
Our first game was against Monahans Varsity, and they came in strong showing that they were a very talented and athletic team. We gave it our all and tried hard to match their efforts.
Although we came out with a loss, our boys fought hard and we learned from our mistakes. We also looked to improve as we advanced through the tournament. The top scorers of that game were Jacob Ontiveros with 4 points, and Luis Urias with 4 points as well.
The Eagles fared better against Pecos even with a loss 47-31. The point deficit was lower, which showed that our boys put up a big fight and didn't go down easy against another talented team. The top scorers for that game were Jeremy Virdell with 9 points, and Jacob Ontiveros with 10.
Our final game against the Alpine Bucks was a 35- 29 loss. The game was very close from start to finish. Top scorers were Jacob Ontiveros with 10 points and Luis Urias with 9 points. Although we may not see success through the scores of these three games, the Eagles are improving along the way, fixing our mistakes and getting better every day.
Thursday will be the start of the Van Horn Invitational tournament for the boys and the girls. There will be a total of 24 teams participating this year in what looks to be a great tournament over the three days. The Lady Eagles first game will be on Thursday at 6pm against Sierra Blanca followed by the boys at 7:30. Please come out and support your teams!
