Ibarra explodes, Eagles show resiliency to split El Paso road trip

Clayton Jones/News-Sun

Aaron Ibarra scores two of his 39 points during Hobbs' 

78-67 win Saturday at El Paso Chapin High School.

  The Hobbs boys basketball team showed plenty of resiliency during a 78-67 win Saturday at El Paso Chapin – a day after getting thumped by El Paso Bowie by 21 points in a game that wasn't close from midway through the second quarter on.

  Again playing without junior Dane Pannell (out due to injury - not sure when he'll return), the Eagles were facing a Chapin team that had more size and athleticism – somewhat similar to the Bowie team it faced the night before.

  But instead of being passive and settling for jump shots, the smaller Eagles attacked the basket – particularly senior Aaron Ibarra. The increased aggressiveness led to more trips to the free-throw line and more points in the paint.

BREAKING NEWS: Hobbs football coaching candidates released

  I've received the list of the Hobbs football head coaching candidates. These applicants will interview either Monday or Tuesday.
  I'll have a story in Sunday's edition of the Hobbs News-Sun with more detail.
  In alphabetical order, they are:
  – Speedy Faith, defensive coordinator at Roswell High (former Lovington head coach)
  – Charles Gleghorn, head coach at Mesilla Valley Christian (Lovington grad)
  – Heath Ridenour, offensive coordinator at Cleveland High School (Lovington grad)
  – Ken Stevens, offensive coordinator at Carlsbad High School
  – Victor Tarin, offensive coordinator at Lovington High School

54th Annual Hobbs Holiday Tournament bracket released

  One of the best sporting events that occurs in Lea County is set as Hobbs released the bracket for the 54th Annual Hobbs Holiday Tournament today.

  Here is the link for the Hobbs Holiday Tournament bracket, which takes place Dec. 28-30.

  The Eagles open up with Dumas, Texas, and will then either play Odessa High or Volcano Vista. Remember, the Eagles play at 7:45 p.m. each night of the tournament.
  As for this weekend's game, Hobbs should get plenty out of a two-game road trip to El Paso. Bowie (7 p.m. Friday) and Chapin (noon Saturday) are both hovering around .500 for the season but have played tough teams close. Hobbs junior Dane Pannell is expected to give it a go after missing Tuesday's 79-45 victory over Midland Lee with a swollen knee. Hobbs coach Mike Smith said they will be monitoring it closely and if Pannell shows any discomfort with it, Pannell will sit out the games this weekend.
  Read my preview of the Eagles' games in El Paso in Friday's edition of the News-Sun at hobbsnews.com.

Eagles' El Paso road trip tweaked

  The Hobbs boys basketball team's road trip to El Paso for Friday and Saturday has been tweaked some.
  Instead of playing El Paso Chapin this Friday at 7 p.m., the Eagles will play at El Paso Bowie (same game time).
  Another change is Hobbs' Saturday contest against El Paso Chapin has been moved back from 5 p.m. to noon.
  As far as I know, Hobbs' contest against Midland Lee 7 p.m. Tuesday at Tasker Arena is still on. I will post an update if I hear it or the Hobbs girls game against Lubbock Coronado for 5:30 p.m. is canceled.

Eagles get back to winning ways, Lady Eagles make statement

Clayton Jones/News-Sun

Hobbs' Dane Pannell drives against Horizon.

  A weekend trip to El Paso saw the Hobbs boys basketball team lose its first game of the season to a very good Faith Christian team with a checkered past Thursday (read this blog post for info on that), but the Eagles bounced back and beat El Paso Horizon 92-43 Friday (could've put well over 100 on them) and Clint 72-56 Saturday in a game that was closer than expected (though the Eagles played without starting point guard Austin Montoya who was taking his SAT or ACT, I don't remember which one).
  These road trips are always good when you can pick up wins, bond as a team and learn to win on the road away from Tasker Arena (as I've been told by Hobbs alumni, championships are won on the road in New Mexico). The Eagles (4-1 overall) accomplished that. Was it always pretty? No. But if Hobbs is still winning games (and significantly – the Eagles are winning by an average of 24.8 points per game) and there are still things to improve, that's a positive sign.

'Cats, coaching staff prove plenty with third straight state title

Brad Cox/News-Sun

Lovington heads onto the field prior to its Class 3A state championship 

game against St. Michael's Saturday in Santa Fe.

  I'll be honest. I wasn't sure how Lovington was going to do this season. Losing 20 seniors, including all-everything quarterback Jacob Jameson, I thought it may be too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
  Even when playoff time came around and I did my predictions, I thought they'd make it to the finals but fall to top-seeded St. Michael's.
  I should've known better.
  Lovington rallied from a 10-0 deficit and went on to beat St. Michael's 14-10 Saturday up in the frigid weather of Santa Fe to claim its third-consecutive state championship.
  What impressed me about this state title is the Wildcats did it the complete opposite way they have the last two seasons.

First loss for Eagles should motivate

Clayton Jones/News-Sun

Hobbs' Austin Montoya takes a shot during Eagles'

loss to Faith Christian on Thursday in El Paso.

  EL PASO — It was ugly from the get go as a very talented Faith Christian Academy squad out of El Paso jumped out to a 20-4 lead after the first quarter over Hobbs and cruised to an 87-51 victory Thursday at the Canutillo Tournament in El Paso.

  Before I get to the game, this Faith Christian squad (ranked fourth in the El Paso Times rankings, though I doubt there are three teams better than them) Hobbs lost to has an interesting story behind it. Last year El Paso El Dorado had to forfeit games from the 2009-10 season when it was determined four players were recruited from Mexico to play for the team and those players were kicked off the team and suspended for three years by the University Interscholastic League (read link here to story).
  Faith Christian (who plays in the small Texas Christian Athletic League - only 54 members with most being very small schools) just happens to have four players who used to play for El Dorado on their roster (I won't say which ones because really it's not my place to put them out there, but it wasn't hard for me to figure it out with a little internet research).