Tuesday night proved to be a difficult night for the the Odessa High boys’ basketball team.

The Bronchos fell behind early and couldn’t get much going as they fell 72-25 to Amarillo Caprock at the OHS Fieldhouse.

“I give a lot of credit to Caprock because they are a very good team,” Odessa High head coach Anthony Dees said. “I really thought that our guys played hard, but we just didn’t execute from passing to rebounding.”

Dees added, “We just have to continue to work to get better.”

“We just didn’t come out with the focus we needed to,” senior guard Ryan Brazeal said. “It started off with turnovers and offensive rebounds and we just couldn’t get it going.”

The biggest challenge came early thanks to the full court press of Caprock (2-1). The Longhorns forced a number of turnovers early en route to a 9-0 run within the first three minutes of the game.

The lone points of the quarter for Odessa High (1-4) came via two free throws from Luis Holguin with 4:41 left in the quarter.

From there, Caprock used its length and size to its advantage to take a 22-2 lead after the first eight minutes.

“Their length gave us a lot of trouble tonight,” Dees said. “That’s an element that we have to figure out how to deal with in practice moving forward.”

“I thought that our guys played hard tonight,” Amarillo Caprock head coach Reggie Gibbs said. “After a long four-hour bus ride, you never know what kind of team you’re going to get and I thought that they really focused on the game plan and got after it.”

The second quarter saw the Bronchos settle in quickly thanks to an early basket from junior forward Louis Wilson.

Wilson led the Bronchos in scoring with nine points on the night.

As for Caprock, the Longhorns were still able to control the pace of the game by forcing turnovers and getting easy baskets in transition.

Chris Wilson finished with 15 points to lead all scorers and was one of three Longhorns in double figures.

Jalyn Washington finished with 12 points, while Toon Gatkek added 11 for Caprock.

The second half was déjà vu for both teams as the size and length of Caprock proved to be a match that Odessa High couldn’t contend with.

“They (Caprock) gave us a lot of trouble with their length,” junior forward Louis Wilson said. “In the end, we just made too many mistakes.”

The Bronchos will have to quickly regroup as the team heads to San Angelo to compete in the Doug McCutchen tournament this weekend.

“Playing a game like that will really help us when it comes to matching up with that kind of size and athleticism,” Dees said. “My biggest thing with this team is just to tell them to keep fighting.”
