Look Out Region Five, Odessa’s Found Their Stride
(Feb 4, 2022) Odessa, TX – Using Daniss Jenkins carrer high 33 points, the Wranglers roped the Westerners 99-68 in route to their twelfth consecutive victory. The win moves Odessa to 20-5 overall, and resting in the pole position in WJCAC standings at 11-0. Western Texas slides to 13-12, 3-8.
During the 12 game victory march, the Wranglers have been winning by an average 22.9 ppg, compared to their first thirteen games when it was only 5.9. Remember, the Wranglers record during that stretch was 13-5. Also, during those last dozen games, OC has had 7 different leading scorers. That in itself is more scary than the average margin of victory.
The game had three lead changes, the last occurred about 2:00 into the game on a Jenkins triple. After that it was all OC as they led at half, 42-26, and out pointed Western Texas 57-42 in the second.
Odessa warmed up quickly shooting 47/42/100% in the first twenty minutes. Jenkins did most of the damage pouring in 18. But the hot shooting continued after the break. For the game, the Wranglers were 37-67 (55%), 14-28 on threes (50%), and 11-13 from the FT line (85%). The Westerns percentages weren’t far off from Odessa’s, but OC shot more times, and hit a higher percentage, so do the match.
Odessa also had a plus 8 rebounding advantage, seven fewer turnovers, went plus 20 in points in the paint, and plus 24 on bench points. But probably the most impressive stat was their unselfishness. Of their 37 made FGs, there was a direct assist on 23 of them. Dian Wright-Forde finished with 6, Jenkins with four. Dontrell Hewlett and Anthony Marshall had three a piece.
Jenkins, besides his 33 points and 4 helpers, he snagged five rebounds and had four takeaways. In support of Jenkins, Hewlett added 4 boards and 16 points (6-10/2-3/2-2%), and Kiree Huie scored 15 points (7-8 FGs) with 7 rebounds.
WTC was led by Gerry Clark’s career high 29 points, the only Westerner in double figures. Jaeden Jefferson had 3 assists, while Tyson Brown had game high rebounds with nine.
Odessa is one win away from assuring themselves of at least a share of the WJCAC title, and two wins from locking up the sole possession of the Championship and #1 seed in postseason play. It would be their third shared or outright WJCAC crown in the four seasons under Coach Kris “Bucket” Baumann.
