COLUMBIA, Mo. — Putnam City North rebounded from tough loss Friday with a 71-45 rout of Cardinal Ritter (Mo.) Saturday (Dec. 6) in the final game of the Norm Stewart Classic at Mizzou Arena.

“I’m really proud of how we shared the ball tonight,” Putnam City North coach DJ Lemons said via text. “We’ve talked a lot about the process of the season, how, no matter if you win or lose, it’s important how you respond, how you come back the next game. I think sharing the ball is a great sign of our guys responding to last night.”

The Panthers had three players score in double figures. Senior Nate Muriithi scored 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Sophomore CJ Heskett added 13 points. Heskett drilled 3 of 6 shots from the 3-point line and 5 of 9 overall.

Sophomore Devion Gillispie followed with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Five other Panthers scored in the win.

North shot 60 percent from the field for the game and hit 11 of 14 shots in the fourth quarter (78.6 percent) to swell a 11-point lead to a 26-point win.

Senior Gabe Wilson scored eight points on 3-of-3 shooting. Fellow senior Malakye Schoats followed with seven points. Junior Miles Jackson also scored seven points with a block.

Sophomore Keaton Murry scored five points and led the team with seven rebounds. He also had seven assists, five steals and a block.

Sophomore Zak Pettie scored five points off the bench.

Senior TJ McNeely was the only Panther who didn’t score but he added six rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

North found the bucket often. That wasn’t the case for Cardinal Ritter, a Class 6 school (like 6A) in the St. Louis area. The Lions shot 28 percent for the game. Their best showing was in the first quarter when they hit 4 of 10 shots and trailed the Panthers 18-12 at the end of the quarter.

Cardinal Ritter got to the free throw line often, hitting 15-of-19 from the stripe. North shot only four free throws, hitting two of them.

MURIITHI EARNS GAME MVP

Muriithi’s performance earned him game most valuable player honors. His teammates gave him the “Thunder postgame treatment,” piling shirts on shoulders as he was receiving his hardware.

“I’m happy for Nate getting the game MVP, that’s just a testament of all the hard work he has put in this summer, preseason till now,” Lemons said.

MO EXPERIENCE

“I’m glad all of my players got to experience this and play at the University of Missouri,” Lemons said. “Short time to celebrate then back to business on Tuesday.”

UP NEXT

North (4-1, 1-0) will host Stillwater (2-1, 1-0) in another 6A-3 test Tuesday (Dec. 9). Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

The Pioneers fell to Moore, 56-48, Friday.

Photographs courtesy of Norm Stewart Classic.

	1	2	3	4	F
Putnam City North (4-1)	18	10	16	27	71
Cardinal Ritter (1-2)	12	7	14	12	45