Last season was full of milestones for Odessa High boys’ basketball.

Among the accomplishments were a 24-9 record and the program’s first postseason victory since 2006.

But a new year brings new challenges and in the case of the 2018-19 Bronchos, several new faces.

Odessa High has just two returning varsity players from last year’s team but there is still plenty of optimism that the newer group can pick up where the team left off from a year ago.

“ We can learn a lot from last year’s team,” sophomore guard Justin Ortiz said. “They had one of the best seasons in school history and hopefully we can keep building on the culture that they started.”

On top of the new varsity players, the Bronchos will also have a new head coach on the sidelines. He is, however, a familiar figure in the program.

Anthony Dees becomes the new man in charge after spending the last three seasons as an assistant coach.

He takes over for Jance Morris, who took an administrative position at the school.

“ I’ve learned a lot from the coaches that I worked under,” Dees said on making the transition as the new coach. “They’ve helped prepare me for the task at hand and I’m looking forward to working with this team.”

Having that consistency in the program will be helpful for this year’s team with several new players looking to find their way.

“ Coach Dees is a good coach,” sophomore guard Christian Tijerina said. “He really cares about us and I think everyone else on the team really trusts him.”

“ He pushes me to be better,” senior forward Ryan Brazeal said. “He really wants all of us to do well.”

Brazeal is one of those two returning players and will be tasked to taking on a greater leadership role. It’s a task that the senior is ready to embrace.

“ I do see myself in that role this year,” he said. “I do my best to try to help lead the younger guys in the right direction.”

“ We’re looking for them to develop those other guys,” Dees said. “I’ve seen a lot of growth from them since we started practice to where we are now.

The team will also look to make its mark on defense, an area that Dees and his team sees as the biggest strength heading into the start of the season.

“ I want to see us keep improving defensively,” he said. “We just have to keep working and I feel like we’ll have the success that we want if you do that.”

“ The defense brings us closer together,” Ortiz said. “We hope that we can make it tougher on other teams.”

As for the goals this season, Dees indicated that he just wants to see the team continue to grow and get better. The Bronchos open the season on the road tonight at Abilene High and play their first home game on November 19 and the head coach is ready to see what the team has early on in the season.

“The biggest thing is getting our guys to understand that it’s about putting in work, putting in time and investing in basketball,” Dees said. “I feel like we’re progressing and our kids are working hard trying to learn everything.”

Dees added, “Last year’s success was great with the guys that put in a lot of hard work to help create the culture with what it is now and we want to keep that up.”

>>Follow Tony Venegas on Twitter at @OA_TVenegas
