Isaac Hernandez and the Bronchos saw their opportunity.

Tuesday night, they took it.

The Odessa High boys basketball team held a 10-point lead at the half, and only expanded it in the third, keeping a foot on the gas and pushing to a 76-52 win over Lubbock Monterey in the OHS Fieldhouse.

Kaleb Murry led the Bronchos with 15 points, while Memo Anaya scored 13 and Hernandez added 12.

The Bronchos led 33-23 at the break, but, yet to be satisfied, charged out of halftime to outscore the Plainsmen in the third and push to a convincing win.

“When we saw that lead was expanding more and more, we just kept on going at them and at them,” Hernandez said in the hallway outside the Bronchos’ locker room after the win.

“That’s the thing we try to do, is get a good lead and finish it off strong.”

Tuesday, the Bronchos did that, earning a win that’ll send them into a break 12-4, before the Bryon Johnston tournament in Midland over New Year’s weekend.

Odessa High jumped out to a 20-15 lead by the end of the first quarter against Lubbock Monterey, then started the second frame with a five-point run make it a double-digit margin.

Hernandez’s baseline drive and lay-in off the glass put Odessa High up 25-15 with 5:30 left until the half.

From that point until the break, though, Odessa High couldn’t stretch that lead much further — and at halftime, that’s when Bronchos head coach Jance Morris challenged his team to push more when the team returned to the floor.

The Bronchos did just that, and pushed their way to a win.

“I told them, we’ve got to fix that coming out of the half, and we did,” Morris said, of inconsistent play late in the second quarter. “We pitched the ball ahead in transition, we got into our motion offense, we passed the ball around, and we extended the lead.

“It’s amazing how that works,” he said with a sarcastic grin.

Odessa High opened the second half with a 10-2 run, stretching the lead to 43-25 early in the third.

“I told them after the game, ‘If I could bottle that up — the start to the third quarter — and sell it to every head coach in the state, I would be a millionaire,’” Morris said.

Odessa High led 52-35 going into the fourth. On the first possession of the fourth, Hernandez drove to the basket, drew a foul, and completed the three-point play to put Odessa High up 20.

The Bronchos outscored the Plainsmen in every quarter, and put together a largely solid performance, save for late in that second quarter, when the Bronchos struggled to truly put the Plainsmen away until after halftime adjustments.

“We made some mistakes. We made some turnovers, here and there,” Hernandez said of that second quarter.

“When we have a good lead like that, we need to learn how to slow it down, and keep running our offense and don’t get turnovers.”

All told, it’s another win for the Bronchos, who will look to close the year strong at the Bryon Johnston tournament in Midland next weekend, starting Dec. 28.

“We want to keep the same mentality we had this game, for the next,” Murry said.

 “It feels good going into the break 12-4,” he added.
