EDMOND — Putnam City North senior Nate Muriithi’s alley oop shot with 1.6 seconds left gave the Panthers a 71-69 win over Edmond Santa Fe Tuesday (Dec. 2) in the 6A-3 opener for both schools.

The frantic finish came after a North turnover on a inbounds play with 16 seconds left and the Panthers clinging to a 69-67 lead. Both teams scrambled for the loose ball and Santa Fe junior DeWayne McKinney scored a with 10 seconds left to the game at 69-69.

Facing a full court press, Panther sophomore Devion Gillispie and junior Mekhi Thomas navigated across midcourt. With 3.2 seconds left, Thomas leapt in the air and lofted the ball up from just inside the arc to the right of the free throw line. Muriithi cut down the right baseline, snagged the basketball and scored for the win.

“Haha that’s exactly how I drew it up haha,” Putnam City North coach DJ Lemons said via text. “But, seriously that was a great game from start to finish – a lot of lead changes, crazy runs from both teams, (I’m) just proud of my players how they kept their composure the whole game, whether we were up or down, they stayed level headed and pushed through.”

The final play capped off a comeback for North, who trailed by 11 points late in the third quarter. Junior Miles Jackson and Thomas hit back-to-back treys to end the quarter and the cut deficit to five points (55-50).

“Every player that played for us tonight, contributed in some type of way,” Lemons said. “Keaton Murry, Nate Muriithi, Mehki Thomas, Devion Gillispie and Miles Jackson all had great individual performances.”

Thomas finished with 15 on five 3-pointers. He also had four rebounds and two assists.

Jackson also had 15 points. His trey just before the end of the third quarter was his first score since the first quarter. Jackson scored eight points on two treys in the final period. He also had three steals for the game.

Sophomore Keaton Murry scored 13 points, had six boards and three steals.

Muriithi finished with 12 points. Before his buzzer-beater, he was held scoreless the entire second half. Muriithi also had five rebounds.

UP NEXT

North travels to Columbia, Missouri for the Norm Stewart Classic at Mizzou Arena, on the University of Missouri campus.

The Panthers meets Chaminade College Prep (0-1), a Class 6 school from the St. Louis area Friday (Dec. 5) at 9:30 p.m.

On Saturday, North meets Cardinal Ritter (0-3), another Class 6 school in St. Louis. Tip-off is at 10 p.m .

“No time celebrate,” Lemons said. “We have to get ready to go perform in Missouri this weekend.”

	1	2	3	4	F
Putnam City North (3-0)	20	17	13	14	71
Edmond Santa Fe (0-1)	21	8	26	14	69