The Permian boys basketball team’s triumph at last week’s Tall City Oilman’s Tournament has gotten the Panthers back on the right track but has also left them hungry for more.
On Saturday, the Panthers wrapped up their undefeated run in the tournament by defeating Fort Stockton 91-33 in the tournament finale to clinch the championship for Permian.
Now, the Panthers sit at 9-6 for the season after beginning last week at 4-6 (the Panthers also recorded a 65-59 win over Lubbock Estacado last Tuesday on the road).
While the team is happy for the tournament title, Permian head coach Steven Flores said it was something they expected to win.
“We’re happy that we won,” Flores said. “But we got back on a little win streak and we think that’s what we need to do as a team. It’s a confidence booster but to be honest, we expect to win. We’re able to take the win and get better every single day.”
The Panthers began their run in the tournament with an 81-52 win over Lubbock-Cooper on Thursday at Midland Legacy High School before rolling off a 72-54 victory over Amarillo Caprock on Friday followed by a 73-47 win over El Paso Burges that same day.
Flores liked what he saw from his team’s speed throughout the week.
“One of the biggest takeaways that we liked as a coaching staff is that we were able to get up and down the floor,” Flores said. “We’re pretty quick and fast. We want to be the quickest and we want to be the fastest. We want to get deflections and steals and we did that well this past weekend.”
Permian’s Ben Saldivar and Ryale Moses were both named to the all-tournament team.
“They both played well,” Flores said. “They’re both consistent. Ryale Moses leads our team in rebounds. They stay consistent all the time. Ben’s starting to come around. He got a late start because of football. But everything’s starting to fall into place. It’s good to see his shots fall.”
While the Panthers didn’t play on Tuesday this week due to semester finals, Flores said it was good to give his players a quick break.
“It’s good,” Flores said. “We’re treating this like an open date. It gives their legs a little more of a rest. We’ll hit it hard on Wednesday and Thursday and get ready for Midland Christian.”
Te team will resume its schedule with a 7:30 p.m. game Friday at Midland Christian, a team that Permian has already played this season.
Midland Christian dealt Permian a 50-44 loss back on Nov. 20 at Permian Fieldhouse.
Now, Friday’s game gives Flores and his players a chance to see how much better they’ve gotten in the last month.
“I’m sure it’s going to be jam-packed,” Flores said. “They beat us at home already. We’re going to use that game to see where we’re at.”
Still, Flores said there’s more that his players can work to improve on as they know there’s still plenty of action before District 2-6A action starts next month.
“I told the kids that we still have to play more up-tempo,” Flores said. “We still want to push the pace of the game a little bit faster. We have to get faster. Playing more games will help. We have to push ourselves in practice. we can play more up-tempo throughout the game.”
