NOBLE – Friday night’s Class 6A West Area between sister schools Putnam City West and Putnam City North featured two teams many observers had written off due to struggles during the regular season.

The Patriots outlasted their rival Panthers, 66-64, and are now one win from the state tournament.

“We weren’t supposed to be here,” Putnam City West coach Brian Booker said. “We’re enjoying the moment and we’re trying to let the kids enjoy the moment.”

The Patriots (13-13) were several games below .500 earlier in the season and Booker was given the coaching duties, taking over for Lenny Bert. West rebounded from losing the regional opener to Mustang by winning the next two games to advance.

North finishes the season five games below .500 at 11-16 and the young team has been up and down, struggling in district play but beating Mustang (who had beat them earlier in the season) in the regional consolation bracket to advance to the area tournament.

The Panthers built a seven-point lead early in the second quarter as junior Anthony Leonard scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half. That was the only lead the Panthers would hold as West came back to tie the ballgame at halftime, 33-33.

In the third quarter West outscored North, 23-17, by turning defense into offense.

“We got stops and then we touched the paint a lot (in the third quarter),” Booker said. “And then from the paint, go inside out. That’s when we started hitting open threes.”

The Patriots hit three treys in the third quarter with sophomore Jace Coleman drilling two shots from beyond the arc.

North stayed close and cut into the West lead late in the fourth quarter. Leonard scored a bucket with :32 left to make it a 64-61 game. Patriot Junior Kaidon Rayfield added a bucket twelve seconds later. Panther freshman Mekhi Thomas sank a 3-pointer to make it a two-point ballgame.

North had chances to tie or take the lead in the end but the Patriots got key rebounds to hold on for the win.

For North coach Mike Jeffries the lack of second chance shots and lack of rebounding is what stings the most.

“It’s driving me crazy,” Jeffries said. “That’s what I told (the team), ‘You gotta be tough, mentally tough, and boxing out’s a choice, you know?’”

West had four players in double figures led by Rayfield who scored 17 points. Senior Jordan Warrior added 16 points. Coleman finished 14 points and senior JJ Wilson added 13 points.

Booker praised Warrior and Wilson for leading the team “playing like seniors.” He also highlighted Coleman who came back from a knee injury.

“A lot of people don’t know who (Coleman) is,” Booker said. “He’s playing well, can play all the time.”

For North, junior Khai Brown scored a game-high 22 points with four 3-pointers. Leonard added 18 points and freshman Mekhi Thomas finished with 13 points. Thomas hit three treys, two during the Panthers’ fourth quarter surge.

UP NEXT: West meets Norman Saturday (March 2) for a spot in the state tournament. The Tigers fell to Deer Creek Friday, 39-38, after leading most of the game.

The Patriots split the season series with Norman, who won the Class 6A District 3 title, going 20-5 overall.

On paper, the Tigers would the be favorite but that doesn’t faze Booker.

“So, hey, why not us? Why not us winning tomorrow? We’re going to make some noise.”

Despite the season-ending loss, North’s Jeffries has hope for his young team.

“We had a lot of adversity this year, new coach, new guys with different roles and a lot of inexperience,” Jeffries said. “Towards the end, they just started kind of understanding the roles a little bit more and buying in.”

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
Putnam City North	18	15	17	14	64
Putnam City West	15	18	23	10	66