MONAHANS After Thursday’s games, Odessa High head coach Anthony Dees challenged his team to play with better effort.

The Bronchos answered that challenge early Friday morning, leading from start to finish to defeat Fort Stockton 58-41 at the Old Monahans Gym as part of the Monahans Chamber of Commerce Christmas Tournament.

The win moved Odessa High to 2-1 in tournament play.

“There was a much better effort today,” Dees said following the win. “They talked on defense, flew around but we did what we’re supposed to do as a defensive team which is what we’re trying to become.”

While the Bronchos got off to a good start defensively, it was the offense that picked it up early.

Odessa High started Friday morning’s game on quick 8-2 run thanks to two field goals from Luis Holguin and a three-point play from Christian Tijerina.

Both players finished with 10 points for the game.

“Coach (Dees) talked to us about playing with better effort,” Tijerina said. “He told us that he was going to play his toughest players and that’s when we realized that we just needed to play better.”

Fort Stockton was able to close the gap late but the Bronchos were able to hold a 12-10 lead after the first eight minutes.

The Panthers tied the game early in the second quarter with a quick Jayden Valdez basket but Odessa High had an answer in Kaleb Murry.

The senior guard came in off the bench, scored two quick layups on consecutive possessions and put up 15 of his game-high 22 points in the quarter, including four 3-pointers.

When the halftime buzzer sounded, the Bronchos held a 32-19 lead at the break.

“I just look to see where my teammates are and if I have an open shot, I’m going to take it,” Murry said. “I’ve been feeling pretty confident with my outside shot lately so I’m also going to look to keep shooting.” 

“Kaleb really made a difference for us coming in,” Dees said. “He knocked down some shots and did a better job on defense today.

“He gives us a great offensive spark when he’s doing what he’s supposed to do.”

But with the success that Odessa High was having, Fort Stockton would continue to hang around in the game.

Valdez along with Colby Garrison led the Panthers with 11 points to keep things close for the Panthers.

A layup from Kameron Gonzales broke the three-minute scoring drought to open the second half and helped get the Bronchos going back in the right direction.

Odessa High was able to close the quarter strong thanks to consecutive 3-pointers made by Holguin and a buzzer-beater from Ryan Brazeal to push the lead back to 13 points.

The Bronchos were able to push their lead to as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter before closing the game out with a 17-point win.

>>SECOND GAME STRUGGLES: In a mirror image of yesterday, Odessa High found itself struggling for consistency in the second game.

The Bronchos were outscored 24-7 in the second quarter as they fell 68-50 to San Angelo Lake View Friday at the Old Monahans Gym.

The Chiefs got strong scoring efforts from their guards as three players finished in double figures.

Dylan Hart led all scorers with a game-high 22 points, while Johnny Espinosa and Ahmad Daniels finished with 17 and 16, respectively.

“Lake View just came out with a lot more energy than we did,” Dees said. “They came out and executed really well and we just turned the ball over too many times.

“When you turn the ball over as much as we did and give up offensive rebounds, that’s a bad formula for winning games.”

The Bronchos were able to overcome the mistakes early.

After falling behind 10-2 early, the Bronchos went on a 10-2 run of their own to even the game.

They got a spark offensively with Brazeal hitting three 3-pointers in the quarter.

Brazeal was one of three Odessa High players in double figures, finishing with 10 points.

Murry led the team with 14 points and Josh Cabello added 13.

Odessa High concludes tournament play against Midland Christian at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Jerry Larned Sports Complex.

“Midland Christian is really disciplined and they have some great shooters,” Dees said. “We have to take care of the ball tomorrow and I want to see our guys play hard with maximum effort in that game.”
