SHAWNEE – Putnam City West’s season came to a frustrating end Saturday (March 2) as the Patriots couldn’t overcome foul trouble and the Norman Tigers, losing 51-45 in the Class 6A West Area Consolation Championship.

West (13-14) had a small lead for most of the first half and led 23-20 going into the locker room, but there was trouble brewing as both junior Kaidon Rayfield and senior JJ Wilson were in foul trouble. Rayfield was held scoreless in the first half.

The Patriots extended the lead to 27-20 with 5:20 on two free throws from sophomore Jace Coleman (which followed Rayfield’s first bucket of the game).

The Tigers (21-5) then reeled off a 10-0 run to take control of the game, leading 30-27 with 3:07 left in the third quarter.

“(Norman) broke our pressure and got layups off of it. In which our rotations were too slow,” Putnam City West coach Brian Booker said. “Maybe some of us were tired from playing last night, but you can’t be tired right now (in the playoffs).”

Rayfield broke dry spell with an alley-oop slam to cut the deficit to one (30-29) with 2:34 left in the third quarter.

Those four points would be Rayfield’s only points of the game as he picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes later on an offensive foul. He and Wilson spent a good chunk of the final period on the bench with the foul trouble.

Booker was vocal with the referees’ judgement on the foul calls while he contends Norman’s impact players didn’t get the same scrutiny.

“I can take losing a game, I’m not a sore loser,” Booker said. “But it’s like when you’re in control of the game, and then, it’s call after call after call, it doesn’t go your way, it goes the other way.”

In the second half, West was whistled for 12 fouls while Norman had six. The Patriots’ total was slightly inflated due to having to foul late to stay in the game.

Despite the way the game was headed, the Patriots mounted a comeback but Norman always had an answer.

West hit four 3-pointers in the final period in the loss. Freshman Damari Gilstrap has two treys while Coleman and Jordan Kariuki added one each.

Gilstrap’s second 3-pointer cut the Norman lead to 41-40 with 2:07 left in the game. Over the next 22 seconds, Norman went on a 5-0 run, with senior Tony Jefferson completing a 3-point play to give Norman a 46-40 lead.

West pulled within three points (48-45) with :33 left in the game on Coleman’s lone trey, a long 3-pointer from the top of the key.

That was the last Patriot score and Norman hit enough free throws for the win after West was forced to foul.

Coleman led the Patriots with 11 points. Kariuki added nine. Both Gilstrap and senior Jordan Warrior finished with seven each. Wilson had five points.

Booker remembers last year’s team losing in the Area Consolation final and he thinks the memory of this year’s loss could help his squad in the future.

“We’ve got a lot of kids coming back. Work hard. I mean, they gotta have this in their mind,” Booker said. “So, hey, hopefully next year we don’t even play in this game (by winning the regional). Hopefully we take care of business.”

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
Norman	12	8	14	17	51
Putnam City West	13	10	6	16	45