Loboes End First Half of District With 48-35 Win
    By Randy Hogan, Staff Writer ~~ The Monahans News ~~ January 27, 2006

The Monahans Loboes evened their district record at 3-3 with a 38-35 victory over long-time rival Pecos Friday night, and closed the first half  of district play in contention for a playoff spot.

Blake Whisnand led MHS with 18 points, causing problems for the Eagles inside the lane the entire night.

"We came in with a plan to get Blake the ball, and didn't think that they could handle him inside," Coach Thomas Clay said. "We pounded it into him in their zone, and he took care of the rest."

Monahans capitalized on personnel mismatches inside early.  Whisnand scored nine points in the opening period, including two field goals to close the first period.

The Loboes took a 13-10 lead into the second quarter, and would not surrender the lead the remainder of the night.

"With Blake playing well inside we were able to get Collins some open looks," Clay said. "Chris did an excellent job against Pecos, they had a hard time matching up with us."

MHS moved out to a seven point lead in third period, but the Eagles roared back to close the scoring gap to 32-30 as time expired in the quarter.

The Loboes forced Pecos to defend them in man to man coverage, and hammered the Eagles inside to take a 39-30 lead.

Pecos (1-5) sent Monahans to the line repeatedly late in the game, the Loboes connected on nine foul shots in the final three minutes of the game to secure the victory.

Chris Collins finished the game with 12 points, followed by Justin Patterson with 6.  Ricky Rivera scored 5, Chris Bates 4, and Sean Merrick rounded out the MHS total with 3 points.

"It was a big game for us, "Clay said.  "We needed it, especially on the road.  We knew we had to be tough to go in there and win, and the kids responded well."

Keyed by Jason Dimm Senior.