There was excitement and frustration all wrapped up into one.
It was not only a classic rivalry game between Permian and Midland Lee, but it was the District 2-6A girls basketball opener.
Permian began the game with a 17-6 lead before it was outscored 21-9 in the fourth quarter by the Lady Rebels to force a deciding overtime period.
Midland Lee had not held the lead at all in regulation, but the ball bounced its way as it came out on top 57-56 on Friday night at the Permian Fieldhouse.
“We’re a better ball team than this,” Permian head coach Angela Braziel-Smith said. “We got to bounce back to the next step.”
The Lady Panthers (10-13 overall, 0-1 District 2-6A) began the game with an 8-1 lead. Alena Madero scored six of the eight points.
Madero went on to score 12 points in the opening quarter to put Permian on top 17-6.
Midland Lee struggled to find a basket in the first half as it was held to 12 points in the second quarter.
Permian held a 27-18 lead at halftime. Madero led the first half with 14 points while Ashton Garner had six.
Midland Lee’s Myleah Young tallied nine points at the break.
Young made a three-pointer with 1:16 left in the third quarter to cut the deficit to seven, but Permian got a boost from Garner, who had nine points in the quarter which helped extend its lead to 11.
The Lady Rebels rallied behind Braydyn Hill in the fourth quarter, who had nine points in the frame.
Permian held a slight 50-49 lead with just 21.96 seconds left in regulation.
Loredana Fouonji landed two key shots in the paint for Midland Lee while Young hit a three-pointer to tie the ballgame with 3.83 seconds.
In the first overtime period, Fouonji made four of Midland Lee’s five points in the frame, which was just enough to hold off the Lady Panthers.
Madero and Garner led all scorers with 20 points each. Twelve of Garner’s points were made in the second half.
Reyna Rayos finished with seven after making a pair of three-pointers. Permian went 7-for-13 from the charity stripe.
The Lady Rebels (14-11, 1-0) had four players in double-digit scoring figures. Young tallied 17 points while she made four 3-pointers.
Hill and Paige Low each had 11 points while Fouonji had 10. Midland Lee finished the night shooting 7-of-16 from the free throw line.
“It’s big. It doesn’t matter how you get the win, any win is big,” Midland Lee head coach Alfred Acosta said. “We definitely appreciate that. We obviously started slow and they made some big shots.
“That was the message every time out was, ‘Hey, trust it. Keep playing hard. Let’s see what that score says at the end of the 32 minutes.’”
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