Coronado High School - Legend Yearbook (El Paso, TX)

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“We played more as a team, and we didn’t depend on certain key players as much as we did last year,” said senior Kurt Spier. With the goal of continuing last year’s basketball dynasty, the team members were prepared to present Coronado with another championship team. Senior Kurt Spier commented, “Even though we were smaller this year, we played more as a team, and we didn’t depend on certain key- players as much as wre did last year. The T-bird cagers started their pre- district season by soundly defeating Lydia Patterson Institute on Nov. 20. Two victories against Parkland and Bel Air followed, giving Coronado an undefeated record upon entering the El Paso High Tourney. Despite a loss to Eastwood in the first round of the tournament, the determined T-bird squad rallied to defeat Andress, El Paso and Burges for a first place finish. A week later the T-birds overpowered both Houston Madison and Hobbs in the Sun Carnival Classic. However a loss to Houston Milby lowered the Birds to a second place position in the finals. On Dec. 11, the cagers slipped by the Ysleta Indians with a slim 57-56 victory. The next two games didn’t prove to be as lucky for the Birds, as they were defeated by Hobbs and Eastwood. On Dec. 19, the team traveled to Douglas, Arizona, to participate in a three-day tourney. The T-birds were bent on making up for their previous losses w'hen they arrived in Douglas, and that was just what they did. The Birds systematically defeated all three of their opponents to take the first place award. The cagers returned home to continue their winning streak by outscoring Ysleta in the final game of the pre-district season. With their 14-4 pre-district season behind them, the T-bird cagers set their goals towards achieving an undefeated district season and anxiously awaited the chance to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors. Senior John Williams concluded, “It helped having a good team last year because it made us work harder at becoming even more successful this year.” BOYS’ VARSITY BASKETBALL, FRONT ROW: Greg Beam; Danny Salas; John Claunch; Ronny Dickie; Vicente Aguirre, man- ager. SECOND ROW: Ron Paulk, assistant coach; Jerry Arellano; John Williams; Larry Jones; Don- ald Rogers; John Gilliam; Gary Helsten; Kurt Spier; Wayne Salem; Greg Spier; Tom Wicker; Sergio Guerrero, head coach. r STRETCHING FOR TWO POINTS, sen- ior Gary Helsten attempts a lay-up shot against Houston Milby. varsity basketball 135

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TEAMWORK and TOGETHER were words that the T-bird cagers heard time after time while they were gearing up for the district season. Because we worked as one, we believed that we had the ability to surpass last year’s team, commented senior Wayne Salem. On Jan. 20, the T-birds journeyed to Andress for their first district bout. The fired-up Coronado cagers sailed by the bewildered Eagles, ending the evening’s play with a 54-35 score. Winning two straight games after their season opener, the 18-4 Thunderbirds hosted the Burges Mustangs on Jan. 15, hoping to add one more victory to their three-game winning streak. The Mustangs played their slow style of game throughout the first period, while the T-birds tried to figure out a way to break the low scoring 5-3 duel. Finally Wayne Salem dropped in two foul shots, and assist man Larry Jones drilled a four- footer for a 9-5 edge. Midway through the second period. Jones and Salem triggered a fast break that left Burges behind 22-7. Donald Rogers entered the game just before the half ended, making a ten-foot banker at the buzzer for a 28-8 halftime bulge. The second half breezed by for the T-birds, as they soundly defeated the Mustangs by a convincing 57-37 score. Three days later, the Thunderbirds outscored the El Paso High Tigers 43- 26, bringing their district record to 5- 0. The top T-bird scorers were Larry Jones with ten points and Wayne Salem with nine points. The Thunderbirds extended their perfect district record to six triumphs with an easy 65-48 victory over the Bowie Bears Jan. 22 at Bowie gym. Coronado wasted little time in controlling the momentum, jumping out to a 14-9 lead after the first period and boasting a 31-21 advantage at the intermission. The T-birds put the icing on the cake when they ran away with the game in the second half, and became the first team in the city to record its 20th victory. %THK T-BIRI) BKNCH COMKS AI.IVK as the final buzzer sounds in the .%-.r 4 victory over the Irvin Rockets. “Because we worked together as a team, we won and we lost as a team,” said Coach Sergio Guerrero. 136 the challenge