The Permian boys basketball team had little trouble in getting past Midland Lee, posting an 81-34 win in District 2-6A play Friday at Permian Fieldhouse.
The Panthers improved to 17-4 overall, 9-1 in district play and maintained their hold of second place in the district standings. Midland Lee fell to 9-9, 3-8 and was eliminated from postseason contention after San Angelo Central defeated Abilene High Friday.
“I think our team showed a lot of growth and we’re trying to peak towards the end of the season and get better,” Permian head coach Tim Thomas said. “We’re always trying to find ways to get better and I think our kids did a good job of executing our game plan tonight and we got a lot better.”
Shy Stephens-Deary led the Panthers with a game-high 31 points with Race Herr adding 17 and Ben Salvidar contributing eight points off the bench.
Elijah Maxwell had 10 points to lead the Rebels while Shemar Davis had eight and Tre Hubert finished with six.
Midland Lee got off to a good start, starting with a 5-2 advantaged and growing that to a 10-5 lead with 2:50 left in the first quarter after a Maxwell 3-pointer.
Permian responded with a quick 6-0 run as Stephens-Deary made a 3-pointer to give the Panthers an 11-10 lead and later an 18-12 at the end of the first quarter.
The lead continued to grow as Herr scored the opening basket of the second quarter and added a three-point play to make it 25-12 Panthers with 4:07 left before halftime.
Permian took control and pulled away to a 35-14 halftime lead. An additional 13-5 run to start the second half further cemented the Panthers’ advantage as they ended the quarter with a 52-26 lead and did not look back after that.
“Permian just took it to us,” Lee coach Doug Gordon said. “They’re a better team. They beat us in all aspects of the game.”
