However, the fact that the rest of the seven Leopards who played scored only 10 points never gave TC an opportunity to knock off the deep, talented, experienced Texans.
Permenter scored 18 of his game-high 27 points after halftime and Ellis had 18, but 12th-ranked South Plains seized control in the middle portion of the first half and used its strength in numbers to preserve a double-digit lead throughout the second half for a 101-82 victory at TC Gym.
“In a game like this, against a team as good and balanced as South Plains, you’ve got to get something from everybody out there,” said TC coach Kirby Johnson, whose team dropped to 7-4 - as many losses as last season’s 27-win Leopards had. “We didn’t get much from our inside game other than Russ.
“South Plains is a good team - they make open shots, they make free throws and they don’t turn it over,” he added. “If they keep playing well and efficiently like they are right now, they’ll be tough to beat.”
Having defeated Temple 107-77 in Levelland on Nov. 14, South Plains (7-0) - which got 26 points from Texas Tech commitment David Tairu - completed a season sweep.
TC also got 14 points from sophomore wing Conley and 13 from freshman point guard Cooks, but the Leopards’ inability to get production from their reserves and play consistent defense prevented them from overtaking SPC.
“They didn’t allow us to make a run, but I’m not disappointed with my guys at all,” said Johnson, who was highly critical of the officiating and received a technical foul for arguing early in the second half. “I don’t know what we could have done differently. You’re never going to play a perfect game.”
Bo Ingram scored 17 points for South Plains, and California signee Markhuri Sanders-Frison and Ladarius Hall added 10 apiece. Two Texans chipped in eight points and three others had seven.
Last season, South Plains finished in fourth place in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference but swept through the Region V Tournament in Belton and then the Division I national tourney in Kansas to capture its first-ever national championship.
Although this season’s Texans aren’t showing many, if any, weaknesses, coach Steve Green isn’t ready to proclaim them as good or better than the 2007-08 squad that went 30-5.
“Last year we finished fourth in conference, but there wasn’t much separation from first to fourth,” he said. “Our league is so strong that we didn’t face anyone as good as Midland or Howard at the national tournament, and whoever wins our region this year will have a good chance to win it again.
“We lost the MVP of the national tournament (Jonathan Hall) and (Texas Tech signee) Nick Okorie, but we’ve got some of the same ingredients.”
The first seven minutes Monday were fast and furious, with a tip-in and a 16-foot jump shot by Temple High School graduate Permenter and Ellis’ leaning banker and banked-in 3-pointer helping Temple trail by only 17-15.
“Russ played really hard,” Johnson said. “They double-teamed him a lot and he played with four fouls for a long time. He played really well.”
Ingram scored inside and Antwain Thomas hit a 17-footer to spark an 11-2 run that made it 28-17 at the midway point. Sean Jones scored inside, but then TC didn’t make a basket for almost four minutes and 3s by Tairu and Hall helped extend it 40-21 with 5:50 left in the half.
The Leopards did well to keep themselves in the game after that, getting 3s from Conley and Ellis (TC had just three 3s overall) to trim SPC’s halftime lead to 51-35.
The second half was interesting in that TC played better overall at both ends but never could put much of a dent in the South Plains advantage. The Texans seemed to have an answer for each big play the Leopards mustered.
Permenter got loose for a dunk, but on the way back down Johnson got his technical for arguing a previous no-call, and Tairu made the two free throws for a 58-41 game.
Ellis (Harker Heights) came up with a steal, drove the lane and threw down a huge one-handed jam that had the fans buzzing and led to an SPC timeout, but Tairu responded with a 3 to make it 63-45.
The score was 76-57 when Temple made its final push. Two baskets by Permenter and one each from Ellis and Cooks made it 80-65 with 8:00 left, and Conley’s three-point play and two Permenter free throws had it down to 82-70 at 6:46.
Conley then had an open look at a 3 from the right corner, but he passed it up to drive the baseline and has called for an offensive foul - his fifth.
It still was a 12-point game with five minutes remaining, then South Plains quickly removed any doubt by pulling away for the 19-point win.
Despite the fact that Temple already has four losses, Ellis says he’s confident the Leopards, who have two home games early next month, will be much better by January for the start of conference play.
“I still have a really strong belief about this team,” he said. “I remember that everything changed after Christmas last year when we started realizing what everyone needed to do.”
