The Midland Legacy girls basketball team proved to be too much for Permian as the Lady Rebels took a 61-28 win in District 2-6A action Tuesday at Permian Fieldhouse.
Fresh off a dominating 74-13 win over Odessa High last Friday, Legacy took down another Odessa team while improving its playoff chances as the Lady Rebels moved to 13-13 overall, 3-1 in district play.
“We have to start off better,” Legacy head coach Ginger Hartman said. “We started off a little slow and defense got us back into it.”
The Lady Panthers fell to 19-13, 1-3.
“They took it to us,” Permian head coach Michael Ellis said. “They were the better team. I thought they out-coached us and out-played us.”
Permian’s lone district victory was a 53-40 win against rivals Odessa High back on Jan. 5.
Legacy was led in scoring by Erinn Mayberry and Aniyah Mayberry who both had 14 points while Natalie Magallanes had 11.
Permian’s Kimora Pierce had 13 points while Morgan Crow had four.
Permian took an early 2-0 lead, thanks to free throws by Kimora Pierce.
She added a layup while drawing a foul soon after with 5:45 left in the first quarter.
Pierce completed the three-point play for a 5-0 Permian lead.
That would be the highlight of the game for Permian.
The Lady Rebels then used a 5-5 run to draw even in the quarter.
Both teams continued to fight it out and the game was tied at 10-all with 1:19 left in the quarter.
Legacy’s Tagan Treadwell scooped up a loose ball and she drove straight to the basket, scoring off the transition for a 12-10 lead late in the quarter.
The Lady Rebels ended the quarter with a 13-10 lead.
Legacy kept its foot on the gas and took a 17-10 lead with 5:45 left in the second quarter.
Permian’s Morgan Crow scored a crucial inside shot to make it a seven-point deficit with 4:13 left in the quarter.
Treadwell’s layup made it 21-12 soon after and the Lady Rebels remained in control.
Permian’s shots were limited as Legacy managed to grab the majority of rebounds.
Legacy took a 24-12 lead off a three-point play by Tarayah Hubert.
The Lady Rebels led 25-14 at the halftime buzzer.
“We’ve been talking about how defense creates offense and once we started buying in and getting pressure, it helped our offense,” Hartman said.
Legacy came out of halftime with a 4-2 run, capped by a layup from Magallanes.
Legacy’s Madyson Solis’ inside jumper soon made it 31-17 with 4:20 left in the third quarter.
Erinn Mayberry scored back-to-back buckets to make it 35-18 soon after as the Lady Rebels pulled away from Permian.
Kyndall Torres drove to the basket off a steal and gave Legacy a 41-19 lead with 1:33 left in the quarter.
It was 43-20, Legacy, at the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Rebels didn’t slow down at the start of the fourth quarter, going on a 6-0 run.
Permian will get a chance to move in the right direction when it travels to face Midland High at 6 p.m. Friday at Midland High.
“We have to get it,” Ellis said. “They’re thinking the same thing, too. If we want to make the playoffs, we have to start winning.”
Legacy will have the honor of hosting district powerhouse Wolfforth Frenship at 6 p.m. Friday at home.
“We take it one game at a time,” Hartman said. “We’ll enjoy this game for 24 hours and then focus on the next team.”
