THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Permian High School Athletics

MIDLAND The Permian Panthers overcame a midgame letdown, but responded when needed to take a 58-44 victory over Midland High at the Chaparral Center to wrap up the first half of the District 2-6A boys schedule all alone in first place. Permian jumped out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter and then went scoreless for nearly six minutes as Midland High closed the gap. The Bulldogs took their only lead early in the third quarter, but the Panthers scored the next 12 points to resume control. “We've had some games where we've had some lulls,” Permian coach Tim Thomas said. “Hadn't had any in the last couple of weeks, but we've had some lulls. It's good to see we can take that hit and come back and get it together and turn it around. “I thought we got complacent after we got that big lead. They became more aggressive, had more a sense of urgency, and I thought we lost our sense of urgency. We were able to corral it and get it back. That's the way games go sometimes — peaks and valleys, highs and lows. You just want to make sure you have more peaks than you do valleys.” Brother Miller and Ozzy Terrazas each had a double-double for the Panthers (23-3 overall, 5-0 district). Miller scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Terrazas added 12 points and 15 rebounds. “We're right where we want to be,” Miller said. “Tonight was kind of tough. We kind of got relaxed after the first quarter with such a big lead, but I felt we responded. After halftime, we regrouped and coach went over what we needed to be doing and what got us here. Just the game plan in general. Derrick Wright added nine points for Permian. “We just have to come out and execute and make some plays and get some stops, mainly. We pride ourselves on defense, so we just try to get some stops and get it going.” Midland High got back in the game by hitting nine 3-pointers. Daniel Elliott and Duve Warren each made three 3-pointers in scoring 11 points to lead the Bulldogs. Nat Rodriguez added nine points and Rakhiem Petterson scored seven. The Panthers went on a 10-0 run in the first quarter to break a 3-3 tie and went up 21-8 on Terrazas’ basket with 1:06 left in the period. Permian didn’t score again until Justin Hammond’s basket with 3:16 left in the half as Midland High pulled within three. Elliott scored eight points early in the third quarter, giving Midland High it’s only lead at 32-31 on a 3-pointer with 6:16 left in the period. Permian needed all of 21 seconds to regain the lead as Miller sank a pair of free throws to ignite the decisive run. The Panthers led 43-32 with 3:35 left in the third and Midland High got no closer than eight the rest of the way. Thomas said rebounding and defense were the keys to Permian getting things turned around. “The boards were huge for us,” Thomas said. “Ozzy had 15 rebounds, seven offensive. Brother had 10 rebounds, four or five offensive. That was huge for us. Justin Hammond came in and led the team with six steals. Ozzy had four steals. “We had a lot of guys figure out a way to win. Games like this, you've kind of got to figure out a way to win. Fortunately for us, we've been able to do it different ways.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Permian High School Athletics

PERMIAN OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO TAKE DOWN MIDLAND HIGH

SAM WALLER

Odessa American | 1/27/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: James Durbin