MUSTANG — Putnam City North avenged a loss to Mustang in last year’s Bank 7 Mustang Holiday Classic title game with a 61-35 rout of the host Broncos Friday (Dec. 27) to reach this year’s championship game.
The Panthers (9-4) meet 6A-2 rival Choctaw Saturday (Dec. 28) at 8:30 p.m.
After Mustang (3-6) took an early 4-point lead in the first quarter, it was all Putnam City North.
The Panthers expanded their lead in the second quarter. Junior Avery Lehman hit a 3-pointer with 6:46 left before halftime. Up to that point, Mustang had cut the lead to 14-12. Senior Khai Brown followed with another trey and North was on its way.
Putnam City North coach DJ Lemons praised Lehman, who was making his second start.
By halftime, the lead was double-digits fueled by freshman Keaton Murry and junior Nate Muriithi.
Lemons said he liked how his team dealt with Choctaw’s box-and-one defense after preparing for it.
“I’m just proud of our guys being locked in on theout report and just going out there and executing the game plan,” Lemons said.
Muriithi scored 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting. He also hit all six of his free throws and brought down seven rebounds. Sophomore Mekhi Thomas had 10 points, hitting 4-of-7 from the field (2-of-5 from the beyond the arc).
Murry added nine points on 4-of-6 from the field.
Seniors Khai Brown and Anthony Leonard each had eight points and four steals.
North forced 17 Bronco turnovers in the win and made every possession a battle for Mustang.
“We’re gonna have to cause a lot of turnovers as much as we can to make the easy to make the game easy for us as for easy transition buckets,” Lemons said. “But also just to just to get us going in our playing, our type of tempo and our type of game.”
The Panthers shot 50 percent from the field (10-of-20) in the first half before finishing at 46.8 percent for the game. North also hit 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
Lemons has likened the tournament as good way to prepare for a state tournament run.
“Everybody is is slowly going in the right direction and starting to buy into the system,” Lemons said. “(They’re) starting to trust the coaches a little bit more, buying and it’s starting to be a little bit better for us.”
UP NEXT
The Panthers will play Choctaw (6-2) for the second time in eight days. North beat Choctaw, 59-50, last Friday (Dec. 20) in a 6A-2 matchup. Choctaw downed Jenks, 80-64, to advance to the final.
Since it’s a tournament game, it won’t count in the district standings.
“It’s just gonna be about execution at the end of the day, cause both teams are gonna continue to figure each other out,” Lemons said of the matchup with the Yellowjackets.
The title game appearance marks North’s fourth in the title game of the tournament. The Panthers won their lone championship in 2022.
Photographs courtesy of Richard T. Clifton
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mustang (3-6) | 9 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 35 |
| Putnam City North (9-4) | 14 | 15 | 21 | 11 | 61 |
MUSTANG – Jaden Johson 17, Michael Vincent 10, Garrett Smith 5, Riley Sneller 3.
BANK 7 MUSTANG HOLIDAY CLASSIC (BOYS BRACKET)
AT MUSTANG HIGH SCHOOL EVENT CENTER
(WATCH: Mustang Broncos Athletics)
THURSDAY, Dec. 26, 2024
Choctaw 65, Marlow 45
Jenks 50, Carl Albert 45
Putnam City North 69, Holland Hall 44
Mustang 59, Hooker 52 (OT)
FRIDAY, Dec. 27, 2024
Carl Albert 76, Marlow 37 (Consolation Bracket)
Hooker 52, Holland Hall 51 (Consolation Bracket)
Choctaw 80, Jenks 64 (Semifinal)
Putnam City North 61, Mustang 35 (Semifinal)
SATURDAY, Dec. 28, 2024
Marlow vs. Holland Hall, 10:30 a.m. (Seventh Place Game)
Carl Albert vs. Hooker, 1:30 p.m. (Consolation Game)
Jenks vs. Mustang, 5:30 p.m. (Third Place Game)
Choctaw vs. Putnam City North, 8:30 p.m. (Championship)
West Metro Sports 