WARR ACRES — After building a first half lead, the Putnam City offense stalled and Westmoore freshman Mason Wallace heated up from beyond the arc Thursday (Dec. 18).

The Pirates mounted a comeback but fell to the Jaguars, 58-48, in a 6A-1 contest.

The Pirates held a 4-point lead after the first quarter with junior Myron Cooper leading the way with nine points, including a 3-pointer.

At halftime as each team scored seven points in the second quarter. PC led again by four points, 24-20, at halftime.

Enter Wallace, who had a lone 3-pointer in the first half.

The 5-foot-10 guard connected on four treys in the third quarter and the roles reversed with Westmoore holding 35-30 lead going in the fourth quarter.

The Jaguar lead ballooned to 42-32 in the final period but the Pirates stayed close until the 2:39 when the Westmoore free throws started.

The Jaguars hit 10-of-16 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, primarily in the final two minutes of the game as Original was forced to foul.

Putnam City coach Brian Booker was highly critical of his team after the loss.

“We’ve got kids who think they’re better than what they are,” Booker said. “We’ve got a lot of kids that haven’t played varsity basketball, so they’re not locked in like they should. So that means we as a coaching staff need to go get some freshmen then, some other guys to do the job.

“We got guys who don’t want it bad enough. They don’t have a chip on their shoulder like they should, especially not mentally focused, not focused at all.”

Booker praised seniors Mitchell Taylor and Nasir Nelson, who he inserted into the game for some energy. Both have been working into getting to basketball shape after playing football during the Pirates’ run to the state semifinals.

“So that means that means that we’re relying on kids who don’t want it too much if we’ve got to bring two football kids off the bench to give us energy.”

Taylor and Nelson each scored two points.

Booker also praised senior ZaMarion Frost who scored seven points, all in the fourth quarter. ZaMarion Frost had two 3-pointers.

Cooper finished with 20 points and two 3-pointers. Senior Joseph Fokum added six points.

UP NEXT

Putnam City (1-6, 0-4) has time off with Christmas break and returns to action Jan. 6 at Mustang in another 6A-1 game. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.

	1	2	3	4	F
Westmoore (3-4, 2-2)	13	7	15	23	58
Putnam City (1-6, 0-4)	17	7	6	18	48