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Thursday, February 13, 2003

Estancia Starters Suspended

By Tim Menicutch
Journal Staff Writer
    Forget the fact that the Estancia High boys basketball team has swiftly dropped out of contention for the District 6-2A title.
    The Bears appear to have bigger worries.
    According to Estancia head coach Richard Walker, two of his senior starters — Justin Danella and Brady Ness — have been suspended from the team indefinitely for disciplinary reasons.
    "I don't think either one of them acted inappropriately to disrespect me, the school or the program," said Walker. "It was a lack of judgment on their parts. They are both senior leaders and captains. I expect them to set a positive example for the other kids."
    Walker said he's not sure how long the two players' suspensions will last. He was expected to make a decision sometime before tonight's district home game against Tucumcari.
    In Saturday's outing at Clayton, Estancia was predictably overmatched without the two senior starters. Clayton clobbered Estancia 86-43, handing the Bears (2-4, 9-9) their fourth consecutive district setback.
    In a first-round district game against Clayton on Jan. 18, Estancia chalked up a 61-59 victory.
    Clayton wasted no time gaining revenge against the Bears, exploding to a 35-3 first quarter lead in the rematch.
    Estancia — despite a season-high effort from David Benakis, who came off the bench to score 29 points — was outscored in every quarter.
    The Bears' next best scorer had only six points.
    In a surprising turn of events on Tuesday night, Estancia clobbered visiting Laguna-Acoma 92-49 in a nondistrict game.
    "I talked to the Laguna-Acoma coach before the game, and he said he had suspended several of his starters recently for disciplinary reasons," said Walker. "To be honest, they're not a great team. But this was definitely a confidence builder. We had a chance to roll 100."
    The Bears netted 40 field goals en route to their season-high scoring output. Six Estancia players reached double figures in scoring, led by senior guard Benakis with 17 points. Four players achieved career-best scoring performances, including Andres Barela with 15, Anthony Reynolds with 15, Joaquin Morales with 12 and Joey Autry with 11.
    Guard Lorenzo Garley added 12 points.
    In the junior varsity game, Estancia defeated Laguna-Acoma 58-55.
    In a nondistrict game played Feb. 6, To'hajillee knocked off Estancia 67-42. Shane Lutrick scored a team-high 14 points for the Bears.