THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Permian High School Athletics

The Permian boys basketball team had its way on Senior Night to the extent the seniors got to take off the entire fourth quarter. The Panthers wrapped up their home schedule Friday with a 75-38 victory over Midland Lee at the Permian Fieldhouse, setting up a winner-take-all game for the District 2-6A championship on Tuesday at Amarillo Tascosa. Shy Stephens-Deary came off the bench to score a game-high 23 points, hitting five of Permian’s 10 3-pointers, while Nakaveion White added 15 points and Genuwine Powell added 13. “I thought we passed the ball and shot the ball extremely well,” Permian coach Tim Thomas said. “We had 20 assists. That’s something we’ve been talking about, playing team basketball and making the extra pass and stuff like that. “We’re just looking for improvement, trying to keep getting better.” The Panthers (22-7 overall, 7-2 district) remained tied atop the 2-6A standings with Tascosa, which rallied to beat Midland High 57-47. Lee (11-21, 2-6) was eliminated from playoff contention with the loss and Wolfforth Frenship’s victory over Odessa High. Permian finished 28 of 54 from the field (51.9 percent) and shot 40 percent (10 of 25) from 3-point range. Meanwhile, the Rebels finished 16 of 45 (35.6 percent), making just three of 17 from beyond the arc. The Panthers posted a 35-22 rebounding advantage and forced Lee into 19 turnovers while committing 14. Powell grabbed seven rebounds to lead Permian, while White had five rebounds and five assists. Senior guard Jonathan Anaya had six points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Lee was led by Jaythan Jones with 10 points. Kyler Pettus came off the bench to score nine points and Loic Fouonji added eight points. Permian never trailed after White scored the first two baskets of the game. The Panthers used a 7-0 run to pull away and finished the opening quarter with a 21-9 lead. The Rebels got no closer than 12 the rest of the night. The Panthers led 39-15 at halftime, closing the half on a 12-0 run, and led by 30 most of the second half. The margin allowed Thomas to empty the bench in the fourth quarter. “It’s always great for the kids who are our reserve players to get to play,” Thomas said. “They come to practice every day and they work hard every day. It’s always a really good thing when you get the opportunity for those guys to play. I think they earned it. “With it being Senior Night and our last home game, I think it was really special.” The backups continued to extend the lead with Ke’Shawn Wright scoring four points, while Breion Green had three and Peyton Lay and Saul Cooper each scored two. “It was basically just play as a team, play team defense,” Lay said of so many players getting extended minutes. “We just kept playing hard, hustling, everything coach wants. We had to execute as a team. Team is the most important thing. “It makes it easier to win playing as a team. That was basically it, just playing as a team.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Permian High School Athletics

PANTHERS DOMINATE REBELS ON SENIOR NIGHT

SAM WALLER

Odessa American | 2/7/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Permian Athletics