Post by TEAM FALCON on Feb 15, 2006 22:23:56 GMT 3
Way to go Team! Way to go Coach Jones!
February 15, 2006 — The Los Fresnos Falcons demolished Hanna, 81-53, Tuesday night at home to give their coach a hard-earned Valentine’s Day gift. After his team swept their final three games of the season, Falcons’ coach Shawn Jones recorded his 200th career victory as a head coach.
“It makes you feel good,” Jones said. “That’s a special feeling to have a team do something like that for you. (Falcons’ guard) Joe Leija said ‘We’re gonna win these last three for you,’ and they went out and did it…. Now it’s out of the way, and we can focus on winning games (next season).”
In large part it was Leija’s effort on Tuesday that made it possible for Jones to reach the milestone this season. The junior scored 18 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, and the Falcons were able to relax and enjoy the blowout the rest of the way.
“Los Fresnos played very well,” Hanna coach Don Denson said. “They kind of took us out of our game. We weren’t able to counteract their aggressiveness.”
Los Fresnos managed to find some form of offensive rhythm in a game that featured more whistles than a canary with Tourette’s Syndrome. The two teams combined to shoot 24 free throws, all coming in the first quarter. Hanna center Fermin Lucio alone had 14 chances from the line. By the end of the game, the boys in stripes had called over 50 fouls.
Despite the lack of any real flow, the Falcons shot the ball well and played stingy defense, especially early in the contest.
“I’m very proud of my kids,” Jones said. “That second half of district we woke up, starting playing better defense and team basketball.”
The Golden Eagles were stymied all evening by a relentless Los Fresnos press, which led to turnovers and easy baskets.
The Falcons built an 18-5 lead to open the game and held Hanna to a single field goal in the first quarter to go up 29-10 going into the second.
Hanna appeared to have a chance to get back into the game in the middle of the second, but Los Fresnos went on an 8-1 run to build a 45-19 lead. And after the Golden Eagles began to try and close the gap, Leija made sure they wouldn’t carry any momentum with them into the locker room. He pulled up and buried a NBA-range 3-pointer at the buzzer to give his team a 51-26 lead at half.
With the win basically sealed, the Falcons focused on having a good time in their final contest of the year.
“That’s the whole thing,” Jones said. “We started playing hard and having fun. Tonight you saw smiles and playing hard.”
The Falcons peppered the basket with open threes and open layups in the fourth. And, in the most dramatic moment of the night, Justin Springer narrowly missed on a fast-break alley-oop from Leija.
George Hinojosa, Enrique Mejia, Jose Salazar and Edward Casarez all had eight points for Hanna in a losing effort.
Xavier Figueroa chipped in 13 points for the Falcons, and Sam Azocar and Albert Vasquez each had 11 for Los Fresnos.
As for their coach, it’s on to 300.
February 15, 2006 — The Los Fresnos Falcons demolished Hanna, 81-53, Tuesday night at home to give their coach a hard-earned Valentine’s Day gift. After his team swept their final three games of the season, Falcons’ coach Shawn Jones recorded his 200th career victory as a head coach.
“It makes you feel good,” Jones said. “That’s a special feeling to have a team do something like that for you. (Falcons’ guard) Joe Leija said ‘We’re gonna win these last three for you,’ and they went out and did it…. Now it’s out of the way, and we can focus on winning games (next season).”
In large part it was Leija’s effort on Tuesday that made it possible for Jones to reach the milestone this season. The junior scored 18 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, and the Falcons were able to relax and enjoy the blowout the rest of the way.
“Los Fresnos played very well,” Hanna coach Don Denson said. “They kind of took us out of our game. We weren’t able to counteract their aggressiveness.”
Los Fresnos managed to find some form of offensive rhythm in a game that featured more whistles than a canary with Tourette’s Syndrome. The two teams combined to shoot 24 free throws, all coming in the first quarter. Hanna center Fermin Lucio alone had 14 chances from the line. By the end of the game, the boys in stripes had called over 50 fouls.
Despite the lack of any real flow, the Falcons shot the ball well and played stingy defense, especially early in the contest.
“I’m very proud of my kids,” Jones said. “That second half of district we woke up, starting playing better defense and team basketball.”
The Golden Eagles were stymied all evening by a relentless Los Fresnos press, which led to turnovers and easy baskets.
The Falcons built an 18-5 lead to open the game and held Hanna to a single field goal in the first quarter to go up 29-10 going into the second.
Hanna appeared to have a chance to get back into the game in the middle of the second, but Los Fresnos went on an 8-1 run to build a 45-19 lead. And after the Golden Eagles began to try and close the gap, Leija made sure they wouldn’t carry any momentum with them into the locker room. He pulled up and buried a NBA-range 3-pointer at the buzzer to give his team a 51-26 lead at half.
With the win basically sealed, the Falcons focused on having a good time in their final contest of the year.
“That’s the whole thing,” Jones said. “We started playing hard and having fun. Tonight you saw smiles and playing hard.”
The Falcons peppered the basket with open threes and open layups in the fourth. And, in the most dramatic moment of the night, Justin Springer narrowly missed on a fast-break alley-oop from Leija.
George Hinojosa, Enrique Mejia, Jose Salazar and Edward Casarez all had eight points for Hanna in a losing effort.
Xavier Figueroa chipped in 13 points for the Falcons, and Sam Azocar and Albert Vasquez each had 11 for Los Fresnos.
As for their coach, it’s on to 300.
