Odessa beaten by Reardan

Tigers 47, Indians 56

ODESSA — The Tigers' comeback was too little, too late against Reardan Tuesday.

Kendall Fisher opened the fourth quarter with a 2-for-2 stint at the line for Odessa to cut the Reardan lead to 16. A Reardan turnover gave Fisher an opportunity to connect with Aaron Bruya for a layup to close the gap further.

One of Drake Costlow's six threes came in the early minutes of the fourth quarter to make it 47-35 and sparked what appeared to be a comeback for the Tigers. The three from Costlow was followed by another Fisher-Bruya connection.

A missed shot by Reardan set up a fastbreak 3-ball for Costlow to whittle Reardan's lead down to seven and the Indians were forced to take a timeout to try to ice Odessa's shooters.

The Tigers came out of the timeout, looking for more and got it when James Glenn earned a steal and finished it off with a 3-ball to cut the lead to four.

"We closed the lead to four in the fourth and I'm proud of them for that effort," said Assistant coach Randy Schorzman who was filling in for an ill head coach Ken Schutz. "In our scouting report, we saw that they pressured the ball and breaking the press early is what gave us a chance to comeback."

With 4:30 left in game the Glenn fouled out and sent Reardan to the line for an and-1 that didn't pan out for the Indians. Reardan settled for a putback on the missed free throw to effectively kill Odessa's momentum.

Despite the momentum shift, the Tigers continued to play aggressively on both ends of the court. Fisher found Bruya for one more layup to make it a 6-point game with three minutes left.

A Reardan bucket and timeout slowed Odessa's momentum further. After the timeout, Fisher earned the Tigers' final field goal of the game and made it a 53-47 ball game.

The Indians finished out the game with a combined 3-for-6 at the line.

Early on, Reardan jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Odessa came barreling back with two 3-balls from Costlow.

The Indians were able to continue pressuring the Tigers on the offensive end, extending their lead to five to end the quarter.

Odessa kept pace with Reardan, at the foul line to begin the second period. Costlow went 2-for-2 and trimmed the Reardan lead to three. The Indians answered, separating from Odessa with back-to-back buckets with five minutes to play in the half.

Costlow drove to the hoop to make it a 19-14 ball game and followed it up with another layup on the next trip downcourt.

The last big play of the half was Costlow's — the guard drained a three and was able to draw the foul. The and-1 was no good but the gym was energized by the play nonetheless.

"We're working to be as good as we can be at the end," said Schorzman.

The Tigers went into the locker room down 29-19.

Odessa hung with Reardan through the third quarter as well. Keeping the Indians from pulling away with yet another three from Costlow.

The third quarter was marred by three consecutive turnovers by Odessa. The Tigers recovered with Costlow's fourth 3-ball of the night and then saw Bryce Todd earn a 3-pointer of his own for Odessa's last field goal of the period.

"I liked the minutes I got out of Bruya tonight," said Schorzman.

Costlow led the Tigers with 24 points. Bruya added 10 points to the Odessa effort. Glenn earned six points. Fisher had four points. Todd had three points.