MIDWEST CITY — Putnam City North rallied in the fourth quarter but Moore earned a Class 6A state tournament berth with a 59-51 win Friday (March 7) in the West Area 2 Championship at Carl Albert.

North will have one more in Saturday’s consolation final against Choctaw.

The Panthers dug a big hole against Moore and were down 13-4 after one quarter and 28-10 after two quarters. The Lions led by 22 points at one point. North came back in the second half as seniors Anthony Leonard and Khai Brown came alive.

Leonard scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half and Brown had 13 of his 15 points after halftime.

After three quarters, North trailed, 43-32.

Brown scored a bucket and drew a foul from Moore senior Roman Miller. Brown’s foul shot was ruled to no-good due to Brown committing a lane violation and North trailed, 49-42 with 3:24 left.

The Lions stretched the lead back to double digits, 53-42. Leonard sank two free throws with 1:49 left to make it a 9-point game, 53-44.

The teams traded baskets and then Moore sank free throws to the game out of reach.

Sophomore Mekhi Thomas added eight points, with two 3-pointers. Brown also had two treys in the loss.

Miller scored a game-high 19 points for Moore. Fellow senior Tristan Hankins added 16 points.

UP NEXT

Putnam City North meets another District 6A-2 foe in Choctaw in the consolation final Saturday (March 8) at 7 p.m.

The Yellow Jackets beat Putnam City, 49-44, Friday.

The two teams played three times in the regular season. North beat Choctaw, 57-44, on Dec. 20. The two met Dec. 28 in the Bank 7 Mustang Holiday Classic and North won, 67-64. On Feb. 8, the Yellow Jackets scored a 77-58 win.

	1	2	3	4	F
Moore (20-7)	13	15	15	16	59
Putnam City North (18-9)	4	6	22	19	51