ABILENE The Odessa High Bronchos nursed a lead for nearly 28 minutes Friday before Arlington Martin roared back to take a 66-56 victory in their Class 6A boys basketball area playoff at Abilene High’s Eagle Gymnasium.
The Warriors scored 35 points in the fourth quarter, overcoming an 11-point deficit to end Odessa High’s season.
Odessa High coach Jance Morris said the tide began to turn when Bronchos post Memo Anaya picked up his fourth foul with 6:49 to go in the game and Odessa High leading 40-33.
“(Martin) went on a run, made some subsitutions and attacked our smaller post players when Memo was out,” Morris said.
Arlington Martin (17-18) advances to the regional quarterfinals against North Crowley. Warriors coach Clint Schnell said details of the matchup have yet to be worked out.
Odessa High (24-9) led by 11 points early in the second quarter and again at 36-25 midway through the third before the Warriors came back.
“We were sharing the ball,” Morris said. “We were playing unselfish, not that we haven’t been unselfish all year. The shots we’re going in, then they just weren’t. That’s basketball.”
Isaac Hernandez scored 18 points to lead the Bronchos with Josh Cabella scoring 12 points, Kaleb Murry 11 and Anaya 10.
Both Hernandez and Murry credited the Bronchos’ defensive effort with helping build the lead.
“We played some good defense, and that good defense led to offense,” Murry said. “We were just feeling good about ourselves.”
Hernandez said Odessa High executed its game plan almost to perfection early on.
“We were stopping them and getting rebounds,” he said. “We did what we had to do. We were focused in. The fourth quarter came around and it just slipped away.”
The Warriors were led by Isaiah Pittman with 19 points, while Nick Gardner and Taj Davis scored 12 each and Adam Lavelle added 11. Davis and Lavelle were part of a productive Martin bench that helped turn things around.
“I went with a smaller lineup,” Schnell said. “We were having a hard time staying in front of them, keeping them out of the paint and scoring on layups, so I took my big guys out.
“I think that challenged (Odessa High), having to guard five of my guys versus four on the perimeter.”
The Warriors hit eight 3-pointers, taking the lead for good at 46-44 on Lavelle’s 3 with 3:49 to go. That was part of a 15-4 run that Martin used to take control.
“The biggest thing was we stopped them from scoring,” Schnell said. “We held them for consecutive stops and started finding ways to score.
“When I went smaller, they changed their lineup a little bit and that created some more mismatches. When the momentum swung, we took full advantage of it.”
ARLINGTON MARTIN (17-18)
Isaiah Pittman 6 3-4 19, Nick Gardner 4 4-7 12, DaCorian Hymond 1 3-6 5, K.J. Jones 1 1-2 3, Montreal Pena 1 0-0 2, Chris Rountree 1 0-0 2, Nyhiem Doss 0 0-0 0, Taj Davis 5 1-2 12, Patrick Hail 0 0-0 0, Adam Lavelle 4 0-0 11. Totals 23 12-21 66.
ODESSA HIGH (28-5)
Isaac Hernandez 5 8-9 18, Josh Cabello 4 2-2 12, Kaleb Murry 5 1-2 11, Miguel Fonseca 2 0-0 5, Memo Anaya 3 4-6 10, Kameron Gonzales 0 0-0 0, Ryan Brazeal 0 0-0 0, Cole Bordner 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 15-19 56.
Martin…………..13 10 8 35 — 66
Odessa High….20 8 11 17 — 56
3-Point goals — Martin 8 (Pittman 4, Davis 1, Lavelle 3), Odessa High 3 (Cabello 2, Donseca 1). Total fouls — Martin 16, Odessa High 20. Fouled out — Hernandez. Technical fouls — None.
