OKLAHOMA CITY — After trailing nearly the entire game to Norman Tuesday (Feb. 4), Putnam City North junior Kiana Gray knew she had to try something different with six seconds left for the two free throws to take the lead.

“I usually be thinking about it, really nervous,” Gray said. “But for the last two free throws to win the game, I knew I had to get out of my head, clear my mind to shoot them.”

Gray’s sank both shots and highlighted a wild finish between 6A’s top two teams in North’s 44-42 win. It solidified the Lady Panthers’ hold on District 6A-2 at 19-1 and 10-0 in district play.

Up to that point, North had struggled at the free throw line. The Lady Panthers were 2-for-14 at the line until Gray’s two shots.

Norman (16-2, 8-2) looked like it would run away with the win, extending a 21-20 halftime lead with a 15-4 run in the third quarter to lead 36-24.

“Everybody was pretty much in their head the whole game because we’re down 14 and then 12,” Gray said. “But I pretty much told everybody to keep their head in the game because so much can change in a little amount of time.

“That’s what we did we need get in our heads, we played through it.”

The tide turned in the fourth quarter.

Seniors Nykaiya Dillard and Brandie Harrod had buckets and Gray drained a 3-pointer with 5:36 left. Another bucket by Harrod made it 36-33.

As one might expect, Norman star senior Keeley Parks hit a trey to extend lead to 39-33. The Kansas commit finished with a game-high 24 points.

Dillard hit a free throw and Norman senior Destinee Deer scored a bucket and Norman led 41-34.

Gray hit a contested 3-pointer from way beyond the arc to make it 41-37 with 1:19 left.

Norman got a free throw from senior Halyn Browning to make it 42-37.

Lady Panther sophomore Demy Howard drilled a corner 3-pointer to make it a 2-point game, 42-40.

After the Lady Tigers inbounded the ball, North senior Nini Geretta came up with a steal and put up a shot. Harrod got the put back to go in with :37 left to tie the game (42-42) for the first time since it was 0-0.

North was forced to foul but Norman junior Avery Ragland missed both free throws facing the raucous student section known as “The Zoo.” The Lady Panthers gathered the rebound and called timeout.

North set up for the last shot and Gray was fouled, setting up the winning points from her signature high-arcing shots.

After a Norman timeout, Lady Tiger senior Blythe Crawley turned the ball over by stepping over the line on the inbounds. Parks bailed her out by stealing North’s inbound pass and sprinting down the floor.

Parks lost the ball out of bounds as she was trying to put up a shot as the buzzer sounded.

With the win, North swept Norman in district play. The Lady Tigers beat North in the finals of the Joe Lawson Memorial Invitational Tournament Dec. 15.

“It’s always been a battle (with Norman), but those are some of the toughest games we’ve been in,” North coach Logain Martin said. “I don’t know that we’ve been down like that. So, I was just really proud of how they stayed locked in. They didn’t quit. 
We knew that we were capable of going on runs as well.”

Gray finished with 14 points with four treys and those big free throws. Harrod added 13 points, including six points in the fourth quarter rally.

“She’s fearless and obviously she won state last year with West. So, she kind of has that mentality of nothing shakes her.”

Harrod, the Auburn signee, also had seven rebounds and four steals.

Howard followed with seven points and three rebounds.

Dillard had six points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

UP NEXT

Putnam City North travels to Choctaw Friday (Feb. 7) at 6 p.m.

The Lady Yellowjackets (10-7, 8-2) beat Lawton Eisenhower, 61-48, Tuesday.

“This is a tough week for us,” Martin said. “They’ll be really good at home and they’re they’re patient and they’re gonna make a play smart and they’re gonna try to slow the game down. So we’ve gotta be ready for that.”

Choctaw sits in third place in 6A-2 behind North and Norman.

Photographs courtesy of Richard T. Clifton

	1	2	3	4	F
Norman (16-2, 8-2)	17	4	15	6	42
Putnam City North (19-1, 10-0)	11	9	4	20	44