MONAHANS The Odessa High boys basketball team got things off to a promising start Thursday morning.

However, the Bronchos couldn’t sustain the momentum as the team earned a split in its two games on the first day of the Monahans Chamber of Commerce Christmas Tournament.

Odessa High defeated Kermit 67-54 in the morning game before falling 66-33 to Snyder in the second game of the day at the Jerry Larned Sports Complex.

“We had some ups and downs throughout the first game, but we were able to work through it,” Odessa High coach Anthony Dees. “We just came out lethargic on the second game and we’re still trying to find ourselves right now.”

The first game against Kermit started off as a see-saw battle. Odessa High started the game on a 5-0 run before Jordan McNew hit a 3-pointer for the Yellow Jackets. From there, the Bronchos were able to answer strongly thanks to an 11-0 run to go up 16-3 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter proved to be the exact opposite as the Yellow Jackets closed the gap with a 9-0 run to start the second quarter. That run was finally snapped by a layup from Conner Anastasio with 4:07 left in the half.

Kermit was able to tie the game multiple times late in the half, but the Bronchos regained the lead on a 3-pointer from Kaleb Murry at the buzzer to take a 27-24 advantage at the break.

Kermit came out with a strong effort in the second half, opening with a layup from Anthony Muniz. Muniz finished with a team-leading 16 points for Kermit.

The Yellow Jackets were able to cut the Bronchos lead to one point, but that’s when the Bronchos started finding the rhythm from outside.

Murry hit three 3-pointers in a row to spark a 12-0 run that pushed the Odessa High lead up to 13 points. Murry finished with a game-high 25 points with Josh Cabello adding 15 to lead the way for the Bronchos.

Leading by as many as 14 points, the Bronchos did enough to hold off a late charge from Kermit.

“I’m just trying to find some guys with energy,” Dees said. “I want to see flying around and we have to work and play harder.”

“We did that well in the first game but not so much in the second game.”

After taking a quick break, Odessa High was unable to sustain the momentum into the next game.

Snyder jumped out to a early 8-0 lead and got plenty of offense from its guards. Alonzo Wesley finished with a game-high 21 points while Teafale Lenard added 11.

The Bronchos got on the board with 3:30 left thanks to a layup from Louis Wilson.

Dees emphasized the need to drive the ball to the basket and feed the post when talking with his team.

“Louis has shown some improvement with the time we’ve been with him,” Dees said. “He’s worked himself into better shape and we just want to keep progressing with him.”

Both games also featured a number of full lineup changes from Dees, a move that he hoped would provide a spark for his team.

Snyder eventually turned on the afterburners in the second and third quarters, outscoring the Bronchos 40-20 to put the game out of reach.

Odessa High resumes tournament play at 9 a.m. toiday against Fort Stockton and later at 3 p.m. against San Angelo Lake View.

“We just have to keep working,” Dees said. “I’m looking forward to getting back to practice once we’re done with this tournament after some time off.”

“We’re not where we need to be yet.”
