THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

The Odessa High Bronchos battled on the final night of the boys basketball season, but Midland Lee pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 83-63 at the Odessa High Fieldhouse. In a matchup of the bottom two teams in District 2-6A, the Bronchos and Rebels played an up-tempo game that saw them tied 43-43 at halftime. Lee outscored Odessa High 25-10 in the fourth quarter to close out its season on a winning note. “They played hard and I’m just so grateful for my seniors — Conner Anastasio, Kaleb Murry, Ryan Brazeal and Zach Rios,” first-year Odessa High coach Anthony Dees said. “They showed that if you just keep working hard, eventually something good’s going to happen. “We came out fighting early, punching. I’m so proud of them.” The Bronchos (8-25 overall, 0-10 district) were led by Murry with 18 points, while Brazeal added 15 points and Justin Ortiz had 14. The trio combined for 10 of Odessa High’s 12 3-pointers. Anastasio scored nine points and Christian Tijerina added seven for the Bronchos. Lee’s Zhuric Phelps poured in a game-high 30 points as the Rebels (12-21, 4-6) had four players finish in double figures. Jaythan Jones scored 12 points with Kyler Pettus adding 11 and Shemar Davis finishing with 10. Odessa High shot 46 percent (23 of 50) from the floor, making 12 of 27 3-point attempts. Lee finished 30 of 61 from the field (49.2 percent), going 10 of 23 from 3-point range. The Rebels finished with a 37-26 rebounding advantage. Both teams came out gunning as Odessa High took a 25-24 lead in the first quarter. The Bronchos took their biggest lead of the night at 22-15 on a 3-pointer by Brazeal with 1:29 left in the period, but Lee closed the quarter on a 9-3 run. The Bronchos’ 25-point quarter was a welcome turnaround for a team that repeatedly struggled to score early in district games. “It was one of our nights where it seemed like everything we shot was going in,” Murry said. “It’s sad that we couldn’t have that for the last nine games.” Brazeal said the performance was a product of the team continuing to work in practice even after being eliminated from playoff contention. “We just had to go to practice and shoot every day and make sure every drill we do, we were going hard,” he said. “We had to push ourselves hard instead of slacking because you never know what can happen at the end.” The lead changed hands five times in the second quarter before Phelps hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to send the teams into halftime deadlocked. After five more lead changes in the third quarter, Phelps put the Rebels ahead to stay at 49-48 midway through the period and Lee opened up a five-point lead. The Bronchos were still within four points early in the fourth quarter before the Rebels used an 8-0 run to go up 12 with five minutes remaining.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

ODESSA HIGH DROPS SEASON FINALE TO MIDLAND LEE

SAM WALLER

Odessa American | 2/15/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Odessa Athletics