Permian’s comeback fell one point short Friday night.

Down by nine points entering the fourth quarter against Midland Lee, the Lady Panthers slowly worked themselves closer to a victory over the Lady Rebels, but to no avail.

Permian held Midland Lee to just one fourth-quarter basket, but couldn’t get the start to District 2-6A play it had hoped for, dropping a 42-41 decision at the Permian Fieldhouse.

Permian senior Alexis Contee led all scorers with 17 points, followed by teammate Klarrissa Cruz, who finished with 12.

Alaysha Green led Midland Lee with 12 points.

“It hurts,” Permian’s Angela Braziel-Smith said about the close loss.

After Midland Lee’s A’Quincia Strambler converted her team’s lone fourth-quarter basket to put the Lady Rebels back up nine, Permian (10-10 overall, 0-1 District 2-6A) starting mounting its comeback with six minutes to go in the game.

The Lady Panthers surge started when Cruz took a charge to nullify a Midland Lee basket. Then, near the midway point of the quarter, Contee made a 3-pointer to bring her team within four for the first time in the second half.

On the ensuing Midland Lee possession, Contee dove to steal a ball and called timeout — the Lady Panthers’ last with 3:33 to go.

In that 30-second huddle, Braziel-Smith preached to her team to play with energy and to attack the basket.

They did just that in the final three minutes as Midland Lee (12-11, 1-0) couldn’t sink a shot and had to call its final three timeouts during that stretch to try and find some consistency.

“We didn’t do a very good job of closing out that game,” Midland Lee head coach Alfred Acosta said. “And it’s kind of been an Achilles heel for us a little bit here recently.

“But at the end of the day, we’ve been on the wrong end of those here recently too, so it’s good to come out on top. It’s good to be 1-0.”

After Permian got within two with 30 seconds to go, they sent Midland Lee’s Paige Low to the free-throw line, but Low missed the free throw and Permian had a chance to tie the game.

Contee drove her way toward the hoop, put up a shot that hit the rim, got fouled and had her shot fall away from the basket — giving the Permian senior guard two free throws with 10 seconds to play.

She made the first, but the second hit the front him and landed in the hands of a Midland Lee player. The Lady Rebels dribbled the game out from there to escape with the narrow victory.

“There’s no such thing as an easy win in our district,” Acosta said. “So the fact that we came to their place and won at their place — whether it’s one, whether it’s 20, whatever it may be, the fact that we came out with a win, that’s the most important thing.”

After the game, Braziel-Smith knew her team could have done a few things differently to win its district-opener against Midland Lee for the second straight season.

“I think we got misplaced a couple times on defense and relaxed on offense instead of attacking and doing what were capable of doing,” Braziel-Smith said. “Offensively, I think we just never really got going.”

Today, more than two months after the Permian and Odessa High girls basketball teams started the 2017-18 season, one of the most important dates on the calendar has arrived — the start of the 10-game District 2-6A campaign.

The Lady Panthers begin with four of their first five district games at home, including a 6 p.m. tipoff tonight against Midland Lee.

The Lady Bronchos open with a road trip to face Amarillo Tascosa, also at 6 p.m.

Both the Lady Bronchos and Lady Panthers have younger teams with a limited amount of previous District 2-6A experience.

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For Odessa High, junior Skylar Herrera, the 2016-17 District 2-6A co-Defensive Player of the Year, is the only returner to start in every district game a year ago.

Klarrissa Cruz is the only returning Permian player from last year’s all-district team and has already seen her team go through some highs and lows this season.

“It’s kind of like a roller coaster. We’ve been through our ups and downs, but we’ve pushed through,” Cruz said. “We really work as a good team and we really communicate with each other. We’ve gotten to know everyone very well.”

The Lady Panthers (10-9) have made the playoffs each of the past three seasons after taking fourth place in their district, while Odessa High is chasing their first playoff berth in over a decade.

The last time the Lady Bronchos (5-16) made the postseason was 2005 and most around the Odessa High program thought that streak was going to end last year.

That’s when Odessa High entered district play with a 17-4 record, but the Lady Bronchos lost their first eight district games to be eliminated from playoff contention.

Most of that team has graduated and a younger group of Lady Bronchos hope to turn the tide of what has been a nondistrict campaign full of growing pains.

“Because of our current record now, a lot of people don’t expect us to compete,” Odessa High head coach Olivia Pyburn said. “But I do know that one thing that they know about Odessa High girls is that they will put up a great fight. They won’t just lie down and hand it to them.”

Most recently, Odessa High went through what Pyburn considers a mini District 2-6A in the Lady Roo Classic in Weatherford where Odessa High got to see plenty of different styles and solid teams.

“Hopefully I’ll see us talking and not giving up when we’re down, some people stepping up and being leaders.” Odessa High post Jaquelin Urquidi said. “Our confidence is up there. We’re going to do our best to win games and play hard.”

Permian and Odessa High face each other twice during the District 2-6A stretch. The first crosstown-rivalry matchup takes place Jan. 16 at the Permian Fieldhouse, with the latter game at the OHS Fieldhouse on Feb. 2.

“That’s one thing in this district that I see is it’s anybody’s game, anybody’s night,” Permian head coach Angela Braziel-Smith said.

Permian has had several changes to its opening-game roster throughout the season and brings a diverse squad into district play.

“We’ve had a lot of challenges, but with this group of girls, they’ve got heart and they go out and they play hard,” Braziel-Smith said. “We’ve found ways to win and compete.”

Permian will focus on consistency throughout district play as it battles with more experienced squads. Lady Panthers’ senior Alexis Contee believes that her team is ready for that challenge.

“I’ve learned that we have a lot of chemistry together … It’s like one big family, we’re always here for each other,” Contee said. “I know that our defense is very good and I know we can use that against any team that we play against — that’s our strength.”

Odessa High will focus on limiting its mistakes. Turnovers have been a problem all season long for the Lady Bronchos and Pyburn knows that problem will be fixed now or never.

“I think we’re just going to use these few practices that we have before Friday to regroup and get back together and refocus,” Herrera said this week. “I just see it as it’s our time to show people what we’re about.”

There will be plenty bumps in the road during the next five weeks. Both Permian and Odessa High will have two trips to the Chaparral Center in Midland and have to fend off the sharp shooters at Wolfforth Frenship.

Both teams also will have to try to defend Amarillo Tascosa’s Ka’Lia Smith, who was the district’s MVP last season.

And no matter what challenges are ahead, getting a top-four spot means their season doesn’t end early.

“On any night, it can go either way. We just got to play the way that I know we can play,” Pyburn said about her team. “Once we do those things I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine.

“We just got to play.”