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Thursday, September 7, 2006

Moriarty Senior Has Stuff of Heroes

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    Jerry Staehlin was my first sports hero. He was a senior, and I was a sophomore during the 1967-68 school year at Rio Grande High.
    But I don't think I ever spoke a single word to him. He was the star basketball player on a team that didn't always fare too well. I was merely a fan in the stands.
    Nearly 40 years later, I have no idea what became of him. But I do remember.
    Staehlin always managed to make the games interesting. He could and would— with regularity— put the ball up from anywhere on the court, swishing the net with long-range jumpers. Unfortunately, the bombs only counted two points back then.
    There are some similarities between Staehlin and Moriarty High senior Daniel Pierce, who led the state in scoring at a 26.4 points-per-game clip last season. The Pintos, like my Ravens of old, didn't do so well as a team with an 8-18 record.
    However, Moriarty has a chance— a chance, mind you— of doing far better under first-year coach Dennis Garcia.
    "It'll take some time for them to get my system down," said Garcia, whose Pintos were 1-6 at the La Cueva summer camp in June and 6-0 at the Temple Baptist camp in July. "I feel like there's a lot of potential."
    Including Pierce, Garcia said seven Pintos seniors participated at the camps. The other six were Luke Carlile, Carlos Garcia, Curt Lents, Ben Martinez, Matt Moore and Kyle Salberg.
    "I've pulled all the seniors aside and told them what I think their roles will be," Dennis Garcia said. "I'm excited. They've responded well in the offseason."
    So what will Pierce's role be, coach?
    "I think he'll play the 3-spot," Garcia said. "He'll have to be the quarterback of the team, and we'll need to go to him. But Daniel will be double- and triple-teamed. He'll have to get the ball to the open man.
    "Daniel will still be our main guy, but I guarantee you he won't be 90 percent of our scoring."
    Pierce had some success with his club team, the 17-and-under New Mexico Force, this summer, too.
    The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 14 points and grabbed six boards a game in 30 contests. He poured in 26 points vs. the Arizona Magic.
    "Daniel played three years with N.M. Force...," Ross Romero, the team's coach, wrote in an e-mail. "He is a tremendous offensive player, and his defense has improved greatly over the spring and summer."
    Romero noted that Pierce is drawing interest from several colleges: Air Force, Boston University, Arkansas-Little Rock, William and Mary, Denver University and "a couple of Ivy League schools".
    Harold Smith can be reached by phone at 823-7104 or by e-mail at hsmith@mvtelegraph.com.