OKLAHOMA CITY – Putnam City North routed an overmatched Lawton squad, 89-15, in the first round of the Class 6A West Girls Regional Tournament Tuesday (Feb. 20).

The host Lady Panthers (19-5) held a couple of one-point leads early in the contest (3-2 and 5-4). From there, North outscored the Lady Wolverines 23-2 and the rout was on. Junior Nykaiya Dillard scored nine of her 19 points in the period.

North forced Lawton turnovers with a heavy backcourt press, something North coach Logan Martin has said is her team’s speciality, causing chaos for their opponent.

“That’s kind of what we wanted to do is pick up the pressure and the tempo and not foul smart and aggressive,” Martin said. “We’ve been really working on that, moving our feet and not reaching, trying to speed the game up.”

When the Lady Panthers weren’t snagging steals, they were disrupting Lawton’s offense on both ends of the floor. North held to Lawton to single-digits scoring in each quarter and only a single point in the fourth quarter.

“We really work in practice on trying to play fast, but under control, making good decisions at a fast pace,” Martin said.

After a sloppy second quarter, senior Alaysia Burrough got hot from beyond the arc, drilling three treys en route to a game-high 22 points (with four 3-pointers total).

“I was really impressed with the way we moved the ball,” Martin said after four players finished in double figures.

Besides Burrough and Dillard, senior Nevaeh Sanchez added 19 points, adding four 3-pointers of her own. Junior Raya Shawareb scored 11 points, coming off the bench.

Because the game was out of reach for Lawton, Martin was able to play reserves, something that will help the team down the stretch during the playoffs.

“We play about nine (players) and so getting some of those players bigger minutes than they normally would or big for us because our depth, that’s something we really rely on,” Martin said. “So having everybody at their best is huge.” 

UP NEXT: The Lady Panthers meet Norman North in the second round Friday (Feb. 23). The Timberwolves beat crosstown rival Norman, 72-70, in triple overtime. Tip-off is at 3:30 p.m.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
Lawton	6	3	5	1	15
Putnam City North	28	12	25	24	89