The Permian Panthers boys basketball team kept rolling through District 2-6A, defeating Wolfforth Frenship 54-29 Tuesday night at the Permian Fieldhouse to open the second half of the district schedule.
Permian (24-3 overall, 6-0 district) remained a game ahead of second-place Odessa High heading into Friday’s second crosstown meeting.
Wolfforth Frenship (13-16, 1-5) remained fifth in the standings.
Brother Miller led Permian with 14 points with Ozzy Terrazas adding 12 on 5-of-5 shooting. The Panthers again enjoyed balanced distribution with Elijah White adding nine points, while Nakavieon White and Derrick Wright each scored seven.
Skyler Newsome led the Tigers with six points, while Ryan Bennett had five.
Permian also held the Tigers to 29 points in their district opener. In Tuesday’s rematch, the Panthers held the Tigers to 42.3 percent shooting from the field (11 of 26) and forced 29 turnovers. Permian forced five turnovers in the first six possessions in taking an early 7-2 lead and never trailed.
“We were not clicking offensively like we like to,” Permian coach Tim Thomas said, “But we always say if we play great defense we give ourselves a chance. I thought, defensively, the kids clamped down and really kind of got after it, especially the second half. It looked like they were really focused on trying to execute the game plan.”
Wright said the key to the defensive success was constant motion.
“We really rotate,” he said. “We just communicate. We always hold each other accountable and rotate and help each other. Coach always tells us to help the helper, so we just rotate, keep talking and moving, and concentrate on defense.
“It gives us a lot of energy when we make teams turn the ball over and when we capitalize. The more they turn over, the more energy we get and that leads to more points.”
The Panthers led 31-17 at halftime and upped the margin to 20 points in the third quarter. Thomas said it was one of the better team performances of the season.
“I thought, overall, we had some guys step up,” Thomas said. “Nakavieon played one of the best games he’s played. He had six rebounds, 3 for 4 from the field, had four steals. Elijah White had seven steals and contributed greatly to the game. Brother Miller led us in assists with five and had three steals, so we had guys step up a variety of ways to help our team.”
The key, Thomas said, was for every player to have a positive impact, whether or not it showed up on the stat sheet.
“We talk about trying to impact a game,” he said. “You impact it by communicating with your teammates, getting deflections, getting loose balls, taking charges, getting rebounds, getting assists, making a hustle play. Find a way to impact the game.
“I tell the guys if your presence doesn’t make an impact, your absence won’t make a difference. We want the players to make an impact, and they can always impact, cheering for a teammate, to impact the team and impact the game.”
WOLFFORTH FRENSHIP (13-16 overall, 1-5 District 2-6A)
Calaway Dykes 1 0-0 3, Ryan Bennett 2 0-0 5, Noble Robinson 1 1-2 3, Skyler Newsome 2 2-2 6, Jack Kirkpatrick 1 2-2 4, Dyllin Dominguez 0 0-0 0, Jaden Lemons 1 0-0 2, Mario Urias 0 0-0 0, Landon Parrott 1 0-0 2, Graham Cepica 0 0-0 0, Javier Rios 2 0-0 4, Drew Turnbow 0 0-0 0, Grayson Gerber 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 5-6 29.
PERMIAN (24-3, 6-0)
Brother Miller 4 4-4 14, Elijah White 4 0-0 9, Nakavieon White 3 1-2 7, Derrick Wright 3 0-0 7, Ozzy Terrazas 5 2-2 12, Fabian Flotte 1 0-0 2, Ty’derick Henderson 0 1-2 1, Zach McGee 1 0-0 2, Jayln White 0 0-0 0, Justin Hammond 0 0-0 0, Kevon Fox 0 0-3 0. Totals 21 8-13 54.
Frenship………………. 7.. 10 4 8 — 29
Permian……………… 15.. 16 10 13 — 54
3-Point goals — Frenship 2 (Dykes 1, Bennett 1), Permian 4 (Miller 2, E.White 1, Wright 1). Total fouls — Frenship 14, Permian 10. Fouled out — Newsome. Technical fouls — none.
