Golden Tornado Basketball, it’s Fan-tastic! But at the same token it might be a little tough for the faint of heart. After all, how many times in the same game can you start feeling somewhat comfortable, up 16 at the end of the third quarter, to be sweating it out at the very end up by only four in that same game’s closing minutes. For the second time this high school hoop season, the Tornado basketball boys found themselves with just enough left in the tank to hold off the Odessa Compass Academy Cougars by a 37-31 margin. Strangely enough last Tuesday’s home game against these Cougars followed suit to the one that they played against them last month at Odessa. The Tornado boys would open up big early leads before hanging on at the end. Fortunately, for the home town fans, their beloved Golden Tor boys had just enough in to win both of these games by the same six point margins. Back on January 10 at Odessa, the Tor boys held off the Compass Academy Cougars, 52-46. “Part of the reason why we’re so inconsistent is we’re so young,” Coach Boston Hudson said. “But then we’ve never made the playoff with seven freshmen on our varsity before either.” Last Tuesday night’s boys game against Compass Academy is a prime example of this squad’s youth. To say this season’s gotten rather wild at times for Hudson is definitely an understatement. A couple of three-pointers, one from Zach Barron and the other from Cylius Mc-Curley put Lamesa up 16-11 at the half. The Tor boys appeared to have this game well in hand midway through the third quarter after Lamesa scored the first 10 points of the second half. Another Cylius McCurley three-pointer put the Golden Tor boys up 26-11 midway through that quarter. Compass Academy found the bucket just twice in the third quarter. Another McCurley three-pointer appeared to give the Golden Tors a comfortable 16-point cushion at the end of that third quarter at 31-15. But just as quickly as the Golden Tors opened up that sizable lead in the third quarter it evaporated in the fourth quarter. After Compass Academy scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter ,Coach Hudson called timeout to settle his troops down. The Golden Tor boys appeared to get things under control after a McCurley lay up put the home team up eight at 35-27. The Cougars gave the home team one more scare with back-to-back buckets which cut Lamesa’s lead to four at 35-31. The Golden Tor boys scored the game’s final bucket on a lay up by Barron capping off the home team’s 37-31 victory on Senior Night. The Golden Tornadoes’ lone senior is point guard Isiah Martinez. “Isiah’s been fun to coach. He’s a great kid and a hard worker,” Coach Hudson said of Martinez. “Isiah gives us all he’s got and has just been really enjoyable to coach this season.” Most of Lamesa’s scoring here Tuesday night came from three players: Mc-Curley with a game high 17 with Barron and Martinez chipping in nine points each. After taking Friday night off, the Golden Tor boys will be back at home Tuesday when they host Coahoma in their regular season finale. The Golden Tor boys will be looking to avenge Coahoma’s 58-44 victory over Lamesa back on January 17. A Lamesa victory here Tuesday night would give the home team 3-3A’s third spot in the playoffs which will tip off in the Lone Star State Feb. 17. A big key for the home team here Tuesday night is finding some way to slow down the Bulldogs’ Landon Wells and Javen Mendoza. “We’ve also got to find a way to start scoring more points,” Coach Hudson said. That would help! In three out of their past four games, the Tor boys haven’t scored over 36 points a game.