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

Page 143 text:

I ' t DCRINC THK Jefferson name, all distict guard I-j»rry Jones shoots for two, while all dis trict postman Kurt Spier is ready to help. f KASII.Y TOWKRING OVKK the Humes oppo nents. senior guard John Williams shoots for two points. 4 Al.I.-DISTRICT guard Carv Helsten executes a key defensive play l y blocking a Jefferson basket. • JDNIORCKKC SIMKK drives down the court, while a Jefferson defender makes a futile attempt at catching him. varsity basketball 139

Page 142 text:

frustrated I -bird repeatedly missed crucial baskets that could have possibly enabled them to pull ahead. But the Mustangs continued to take advantage of Coronado’s weaknesses; and with 5:11 remaining in the game, the Mustangs had a 31-23 advantage over the dazed T-hirds. With 1:29 showing on the clock, and the deafening shouting battle going on between the fans, Larry Jones was knocked to the floor by a Burges defender and was charged with the foul as he was being carried off the court with a badly-bruised hip. or the remaining minute, the Coronado supporters angrily protested the official’s call; but nevertheless, the seconds ticked away. As the final buzzer sounded, the ragged Coronado crew stared in disgusted disbelief at the 46-32 Burges victory. Although many of their dreams and goals were not realized, the Thunderbird cagers emerged from the shadow of last year’s team to reinforce Coronado’s newly-made basketball legend. But more importantly, the basketball players learned how to play, how to win and how to lose as a team. With the success of last year’s team weighing heavily on their minds, the T-birds entered the district 1-AAAA post-season basketball tournament with the goal of surpassing the ’78-’79 bi-district championship team. The confident T-bird squad and its faithful fans journeyed to the L’TEP Special Events Center to contend with fourth-place Jefferson in the first round of the play-offs on Feb. 20. The continuous cheering of the Coronado crowd came to a sudden halt when the Foxes jumped out to an early lead and fronted the overconfident Thunderbirds 18-14 at the half. The bewildered T-bird cagers headed for the lockerroom. shocked at the Jefferson lead. As the intermission came to an close, the Birds emerged knowing they were going to have to fight hard in order to win the game. The halftime did a world of good for Coronado, as playmaker Larry Jones ignited a 12-point scoring spree early in the third period to put the T hirds ahead 21-20. A basket by Kurt Spier, a top-of-the-circle shot by Jones and a lay-up by Spier capped the scoring streak. In the fourth quarter, the strong T- bird cagers drilled three quick baskets and coasted through the rest of the game for a 44-31 victory over the stubborn Silver Foxes. With this their second straight finals berth, the triumphant T-bird cagers were well on their way to another district championship. The following evening, the Thunderbirds again traveled to the Special Events Center to contend with third-seeded Burges in the second round of the post-season tournament. From start to finish, it seemed as though the T-birds could not muster enough strength to control the ball game. Even though Coronado had the Mustangs’ two top scorers benched with four personal fouls each, the Thunderbirds had trouble putting the ball through the hoop, and Burges owned a 26-23 edge early in the game. As the game tediously wore on, the The T-bird cagers emerged from the shadow of last years team to reinforce their newly- made basketball legend. 138 the challenge

Page 144 text:

The basketball teams’ recently established winning tradition was pushed out of bounds for the J.V. cagers after a disappointing season. The young and inexperienced junior varsity basketball team had plenty of determination and strong will to overcome the fact that only one team member had ever started on a Coronado basketball team. As the season got underway Nov. 20, the team suffered three straight losses. However, it rebounded with three straight wins, sweeping the Parkland tournament. In the Bowie tournament, two games later, the B- teamers had to settle for a consolation place partly because of a two point loss to Riverside. Sophomore Hector Valenzuela, said, “We should have won. It was a disappointing loss since we had beaten them earlier.” The team members were on a three game losing skid when district play started against Austin. Even so, Coach Ron Paulk commented, They played as a team. Even when we lost they were optimistic.” Jokingly, he added, That sort of bothered me but they always kept their spirit.” The losing streak lasted for eight games before the team defeated Bowie 53 to 26 in one of its finest games of the season Jan. 22. “It was our best game at the point,” said sophomore Regan Coleman. We really played as a team.” Throughout the season, their lack of experience did not keep the team members from trying. As guard Scott Spier put it, Nobody gave up because we knew we were good. We had the potential to beat anybody.” Since the 1978-79 starters were this year’s football players, Coach Paulk’s present starters were inexperienced although they had plenty of potential. Losing games by less than five points hurt our morale,” concluded sophomore Carl Isaac. ) B-TEAM BASKETBALL; Ron Paulk, coach; Greg Gallup. Scott Spier, Bruce Lesley, Scott Thomas. Regan Coleman. Will Brown. George Marshall. Dave McGrath, John Martin, Gus Vil- lanueva, Hector Valenzuela, Micah Mordecai, Carl Issac. Henry Aguilar. 140 the challenge