The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 8, 1987 Page: 4 of 10
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110 GRAND!) HERALD RIO GRANDE CITY, TEXAS THURSDAY. JANUARY I. 1987 PAGE 4
Rattlers Beat Mercedes, Fall To Zapata
The Rio Grande City Rattler
basketball team, in two non-district
games last week, defeated the
Mercedes Tigers on the road after
falling to Zapata at home earlier in
the week.
The Rattlers were scheduled to
inaugurate their 1987 District 31-5A
season against the Edinburg Bob-
cats on the road Tuesday night.
On Saturday, the Rattlers out-
lasted Mercedes on the road to win
a 54-47 victory. Rio had held a 14-12
lead after one period, but the game
was deadlocked at 23 at in-
termission. After three quarters,
Rio held a 36-33 lead.
Rattler Coach Ricardo Lopez
commented, "The kids were tend-
ing to overlook this game. We
came out real flat, especially on
defense. We were making too many
mental mistakes I felt we should
have won by a bigger margin."
Lopez added, however, that "in
the second half, we came out and
played pressure man-to-man de-
fense. We forced some turnovers.
We were trying to stay a little
more basic."
The Rattlers jpened up as much
as an 11-point lead in the fourth
quarter, but Lopez indicated that
"we could never put the game
a "ay." Mercedes was able to cut
the lead to five points, but could
come no closer.
Lopez contended. "Our defense
played a lot better toward the end.
At the beginning, we were standing
around too much."
The Rattlers shot a good 49
percent, or 24 of 49, from the floor.
They sank six of their 10 free throw
chances, while Mercedes was seven
of 12 from the foul line. The
Rattlers committed 22 turnovers,
the majority of which came in the
first half, said Lopez.
Javier Lopez paced the Rattlers
with 19 points, and Ramiro
Villegas, Jr., added 12. Enrique
Garcia and Lalo Chapa poured in
eight and six points, respectively.
Michael Castaneda led the Tigers
with 13 points, and Roel Villaneuva
chipped in with 10.
Javier Lopez led the Rattlers in
rebounds with 11. Villegas had four
assists, and Neto Garcia and Lopez
contributed three assists each.
Villegas led in steals with six,
while Lopez and Garcia achieved
four and three.
On Tuesday night, the Zapata
Hawks defeated the Rattlers 61-47
on their home court. Zapata led
18-12 after the first period, 26-22 at
halftime, and 41-30 after three
quarters.
Lopez commented, "We were
very cold from the field. The ball
just didn't fall for us . We were
very cold in the third quarter...I
don't think we played as well as
we're capable of playing. Zapata is
playing good ball. They should go
pretty far in their district."
The coach, however, commended
the team for their defense in the
second quarter." But he noted that
"Alvarez got hot again in the third
quarter. He was the one directing
everything for them. They had a
real good running game."
Lopez was referring to Rudy
Alvarez, who paced Zapata with 22
points. Jerry Neal provided in-
valuable support with 16 points.
At the start of the game, said
Lopez, "they (Zapata) came out
pretty hot, and hit a couple of shots
off their fast break."
The Rattlers shot a frigid 27
percent, or 17 of 63, from the floor.
They were 13 of 19 from the foul
line, while the Hawks sank 15 of
their 21 free throws. The Rattlers
committed 14 turnovers in that
game.
Two Rattler players, Ramiro
Villegas, Jr., and Enrique Garcia
were charged with four fouls each.
Villegas led the Rattlers in
scoring with 19 points, and Javier
Lopez ndded IS. Enrique Garcia
chipped in with six points.
Dave Jones led the Rattlers with
14 rebounds, while Enrique Garcia
contributed nine and eight boards,
respectively. Villegas provided two
assists, and he and Enrique Garcia
each achieved two steals.
This Friday night, the Rattlers
will face the McAUen High
Bulldogs at home in their second
district encounter of the season. On
Tuesday night, they will do battle
with Laredo Nixon, again at home.
THE HERALD
SPORTS
Gladiators Split
Two Games
Conserving Irrigation
Water Important
By SILVE.STF.fc GONZALEZ
District Conservationist
Conservation of irrigation water
through proper management is
becoming more and more impor-
tant as demands on our water
supplies increase. Water manage-
ment is equally important whether
it is in farm ditches, water systems
or on the land.
Irrigation water management is
the planned use and management
of irrigation water. It is the
application of water at rate and in
such a manner that the crops can
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use it efficiently and without
causing significant soil erosion.
The purpose of water manage-
ment is to accomplish efficient
beneficial use of irrigation water
according to the moisture needs of
the crop to achieve optimum
production while minimizing losses
of soil and plant nutrients. These
last two items should be of serious
concern to any farmer.
In addition, irrigation farmers
should be concerned over the
amount of water applied during an
irrigation because of the invest-
ments made in seed, herbicides
and in some cases insecticides.
These are expensive items.
If an irrigation farmer is to
water efficiently, they need their
fields prepared adequatley for
handling the irrigation water
Assuming that the land is level,
they will need a good head of water
at delivery point, (2) deep furrows,
or big enough to take up the water
(3) correct row length for crop and
soil type one is dealing with. Only
when the above facilities use
achieved and a good understanding
of the soil one is working with can
irrigation water be applied effi-
ciently.
Farmers don't irrigate cotton,
vegetables-they irrigate or water
soils. There's more to watering
than running it over the surface of
the land. And sorry to say- 90
percent do not think this way.
The Roma Gladiators tuned up
for District 16-4A play by splitting
their two games last week.
Last Tuesday at home, the
Gladiators overwhelmed the Donna
Redskins 82-65. Roma jumped off to
an 18-11 first quarter lead, and
extended their advantage to 45-24
by halftime. The Redskins made a
slight comeback in the third
quarter, cutting the lead to 19, or
62-43, by the end of the period.
Coach Jesus "Chuy" Guerra, Jr.,
commented, "I think our bright
spot was our half-court press that
caused a lot of turnovers that led to
a lot of easy layups, throughout the
game, but especially in the first
half-
Sergio Garza, who poured in 31
points for the Gladiators, "was the
recipient of some easy layups off
the press,'' noted Guerra. The
coach also indicated that Garza
shot very well from the outside.
The closest that the Redskins
could come in the second half was
within 14 points
The Gladiators hit 36 of their 72
shots, or 50 percent, from the field,
while sinking 10 of their 15 free
throw chances.
Coach Guerra termed this game
one of the best-played by the
Gladiators the entire season.
The Gladiator scoring went as
follows: Sergio Garza, 31; Leonel
Perez, 13; Abelardo Escobar, 10;
Isauro Garza, 9; Pedro Suarez, 6;
Gerardo Silva, 6; Bobby Garcia, 3;
Isaac Garza, 2; Manuel Alvarez, 2.
Michael French paced the Red-
skins with 24 points, and Joey Pena
chipped in with 12.
Last Friday night, the Gladiators
lost a spine-tingling 79-75 decision
to the Edinburg Bobcats The score
was tied at 20 after one quarter,
knotted at 39 at halftime, and
deadlocked at 59 after three
periods
Guerra said, "I don't think either
team had more than a two-point
lead throughout the first half."
Lady Rattlers Have
Mixed Basketball Results
The Rio Grande City High girls
basketball team has had mixed
results in their basketball games
over the past two weeks
This past Friday night, the Lady
Rattlers decisively defeated Port
Isabel 46-30 with strong showings in
both the second and fourth
quarters.
After the first quarter, Rio held a
slim 8-6 lead, but moved out to a
22-8 advantage by intermission. But
Port Isabel cut the lead to 26-22 by
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I
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the end of the third quarter
Coach Gracie Gonzalez com-
mented, "The fourth quarter was
the strongest. We had a slow third
quarter They played us man-to-
man, and it took us a long time to
adjust. In the fourth quarter, they
went back to the zone defense, and
we had some fast breaks, as in the
second quarter."
Gonzalez exulted, "The girls
were looking for their shots They
squared off to the basket right
away."
The Lady Rattlers shot 4 of 9
from the foul line, and committed
14 fouls to 12 charged to Port
Isabel
The Lady Rattler scoring went as
follows: Angie Salinas, 10; Myrna
Bazan, 9; Sandra Leal, 8; Priscilla
Saenz, 6; Bertha Alaniz, 5; Lorena
Cabrera, 4; Maribel Bermea, 4.
Kari Hawkinson paced Port Isabel
with 15 points.
Earlier in the New Year's week,
in their first game of the McAllen
Tournament, the Lady Rattlers
were edged 36-35 by Los Fresnos.
Coach Gonzalez noted, "We had a
real bad start.''
She added, "We just didn't
execute effectively at the start. In
the second quarter, they were
looking for their shots a lot better,
and playing more aggressively.
Most of our points were from our
offense We were able to gel some
points from rebounds "
Rio trailed 7-0 after the first
period, but cut the margin to 15-13
at halftime After three quarters,
the Lady Falcons held a 26-21 lead
Gonzalez noted that "they were
usually up by one or two points in
the fourth quarter We took the last
shot. They were up by three, but
we stole the ball and scored with
one second left (in the game)."
Coach Gonzalez added, "It's so
hard to come back when you have
such a bad start We had problems
shooting free throws, and fouled too
much."
She noted, "Four girls had four
fouls. It's hard to play aggressive
when you have that many fouls We
made 23 fouls to their 15."
Bertha Alaniz paced Rio with
eight points Sandra Leal and
Myrna Bazan scored seven points
each, and Lorena Cabrera chipped
in with six Irma Jeffries paced
Los Fresnos with 9 points.
A decisive factor in the game's
outcome was Rio's 11 of 24 shooting
from the foul line, compared with
16 of 29 for Los Fresnos
Later in the tournament, Rio was
thrashed 57-16 by Donna, who
Gonzalez praised as "a fine team
They have a very quick press, with
quick guards "
Rio was onlv down 11-6 after one
t
«!
Early in the third quarter, the
Bobcats moved out to a 48-41 lead
before the Gladiators rallied to tie
the score.
Late in the fourth quarter, with
two minutes to play, the score was
tied at 71. In the last minute of the
game, the Gladiators missed a
shot, committed a foul, and Edin-
burg hit two free throws which
enabled the Bobcats to move in
front for good.
Coach Guerra commented, "It's
the type of game we can learn
from...Our press is beginning to
come around to the way we're
capable of pressuring."
Guerra assessed the Bobcats'
play this way, "Edinburg played
pretty good defense. Their zone
was tight on the inside. They did a
good job of fast breaking and
hitting their inside shots. Lamar
Strong (a guard) did well from the
perimeter."
Roma was also hurt by the fact
that Pedro Suarez and Abelardo
Escobar fouled out in the fourth
quarter.
The Gladiators hit 45 percent
from the floor, while sinking 15 of
their 22 charity stripe op-
portunities The Bobcats had 36
chances from the free throw line,
and converted 23 of them
Roma's scoring went as follows:
Sergio Garza, 24; Pedro Suarez, 20;
Abelardo Escobar, 10; Isauro
Garza, 8; Bobby Garcia, 6; Leo
Perez, 6; Gerardo Silva, 1
Lamar Strong paced the BobcaLs
with 23 points. Jesse Garza and
Eddie Carrillo provided invaluable
support with 20 and 18 points,
respectively.
The Gladiators, the defending
district champion and now 12-6 on
the season, were scheduled to begin
16-4A competition Tuesday night at
home against Laredo Cigarroa
Roma will have an open date on
Friday before playing the Ed-
couch-Elsa Yellowjackets at home
next Tuesday night.
t >
i
I >
♦ >
quarter, but then went ice cold,
scoring only two points in the
second and third quarters com-
bined Rio trailed 26-8 at the half,
and 42-8 after three periods.
Gonzalez said, "We made so
many turnovers in the second and
third quarters. We were not looking
for our shots. They fouled three
times to our 15." She noted that Rio
did not have one free throw
opportunity.
Rio's scoring went as follows
Sandra Leal, 4; Myrna Bazan, 4;
Lorena Cabrera, 4; Angie Salinas,
2; Clarissa Garcia, 2. Cindy Garza
led Donna with 14 points, and
Melissa Hernandez and Rosie
Rosales each scored 12.
On Friday, Dec 19, the Lady
Rattlers dropped to 0-2 in district
play with a 48-37 loss to Laredo
United at home. Rio had a rough
first quarter, falling behind 18-5
At halftime, the score was 28-15,
and after three periods, United
held a 39-28 edge
Gonzalez contended, "The first
quarter is what really did it We
missed some shots under the
basket, and made too many fouls "
Norma De La Cruz paced Rio
with 17 points, and Sandra Leal
added 9. Vicky Ottmers led United
with 15 points, and Arminda
Canales and Missy Munguia each
scored 11.
Rio was 9 of 17 from the foul line,
while United hit 16 of their 27
cha-ity stripe chances,
Gonzalez commented, "I think
this past week, I saw a change in
the girls. They're getting a litde
more excited "
On Monday night, the Lady
Rattlers were defeated 64 30 at
home by Edinburg Gonzalez
commented, "We played a good
first half, but we got into foul
grouble We had three girls with
four fouls The girls looked a lot
sharper, and played a lot better."
This Friday, the Lady Rattlers
will travel on the road to play
McAllen High Next Monday, they
will return home to do battle with
Laredo Nixon
Danyella Mims paced the
explosive I^ady Bobcats with 30
points, 21 of them in the second
half, and Michelle Martin added 16
Edinburg led 16-10 after on e
period, 33-20 at intermission, and
45-23 after three periods.
Bertha Alaniz led the Lady
Rattlers with 12 points, and
Maribel Bermea added seven Rio
shot 12 of 25 from the foul line,
while Edinburg was 10 of 21
The Udy Rattlers are scheduled
to play McAllen High on the road
hr.day night, , nd will face Uredo
Nixon in I^iredo on Monday night
I 1 t
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 8, 1987, newspaper, January 8, 1987; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195062/m1/4/: accessed June 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.