MUSKOGEE — Putnam City North coach DJ Lemons was concerned about his team being rusty after a 2-week break for the holidays.

Instead, the Panthers were a well-oiled machine, routing the Roughers, 68-28, Saturday (Jan. 3) in a 6A-3 matchup.

“I thought we did some really good things. I thought it was a great step forward,” Lemons said via text.

Lemons said he expected Muskogee, coached by former Putnam City West coach Lenny Bert, to be a tough matchup.

“They’re going to make you really guard. You’re going to face great physicality on defense, and I thought we just did a great job of consistently trying to wear them down, even though they’re deep,” Lemons said.

The Panther defense held the Roughers to single digits in all four quarters. North sprinted off to a 22-7 lead and the rout was on.

“I thought we had some good sequences of going defense-to-offense that helped us. And we have a lot to improve on, a lot to do, but it’s great to take this first step forward, coming back from break,” Lemons said.

North had five players score in double figures and eight players scored in the win.

North’s Mekhi Thomas scored a team-high 15 points. The junior drilled three 3-pointers. He had four rebounds and an assist.

Sophomore Keaton Murry added 12 points, two rebounds, an assist and two blocked shots.

Junior Miles Jackson and senior Nate Muriithi each scored 11 points. Jackson had two rebounds, a steal and two blocks. Muriithi grabbed eight boards, had an assist and two blocks.

Sophomore CJ Heskett followed with 10 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter. Heskett had six rebounds, an assist and a steal. He also took a charge for North.

Senior TJ McNeely had five points, five rebounds, an assist and two steals.

Senior Malakye Schoats and sophomore Devion Gillispie each scored two points. Schoats had three rebounds, a steal and block. Gillispie added two rebounds, three assists and a steal.

UP NEXT

North (12-1, 3-0) returns home for the first time since Dec.9 when they meet Bartlesville in another 6A-3 contest.

Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.

The Bruins (3-4, 0-4) fell to Edmond Santa Fe, 84-47 on Dec. 19.

	1	2	3	4	F
Putnam City North (12-1, 4-0)	22	10	13	23	68
Muskogee (2-7, 1-3)	7	8	9	4	28