OKLAHOMA CITY — Putnam City North returned home Tuesday (Jan. 6) to play Bartlesville after nearly a month-long road trip across the country.

The Panthers (14-1, 5-0) shrugged off some rust early and possibly some tired legs with a 77-57 win over the Bruins in a 6A-3 contest.

It was only North’s second home game this season and their first one in front of their home crowd since Dec. 9.

Bartlesville (5-4, 1-4) stayed close to North in the first quarter. The Panthers saw an early 9-2 lead shrink to a single point (9-8) with 4:09 left as North struggled to contain Bruin guard Sami Sheaffer. The junior scored 14 of her 19 points in the first half.

The Panthers scored the first seven points of the second quarter to increase the led to double figures. Senior Kiana Gray sank a 3-pointer to cap off the run and North led 29-15 with 5:49 left before halftime. The 7-point lead ballooned to 22 points (47-25) by the intermission.

Putnam City North coach Logan Martin admitted the 11-game stretch in December might have taken a toll on her team and showed up with defensive lapses.

“I thought we allowed a little more and we shouldn’t have, so that’s gonna be our focus moving forward,” Martin said. “The important games are district games, and so we’re just challenging them to stay focused on that.”

The Panthers had three players score in double figures. Senior Jayla Constant scored 19 points with four 3-pointers. Constant had five rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.

Gray also scored 19 points, hitting 5 of 9 shots from the beyond the arc. She also had three rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Martin was pleased with her sharpshooter’s performance.

“That’s kind of her game. 
So, it’s good to see her hitting shots again.”

Senior Da’Nae Jefferson scored 10 points, including six points early in the third quarter as North kept increasing the lead. Jefferson grabbed five boards. She had two assists and two steals.

Senior Makiya Moore led the team in rebounding with six boards.

In all, 11 Panthers scored in the win.

“It’s really nice is that I have about three or four other players that average five to nine points,” Martin said. “That’s very big for us, just that you can’t really key in on one player (defensively).”

North shot 48 percent from the field and was 12-of-27 (44 percent) from the 3-point line in the win.

UP NEXT

The Panthers (14-1, 5-0) have a week off before hosting Jenks next Tuesday (Jan. 13) at 6 p.m. in another 6A-3 game.

The Trojans (6-2, 4-1) beat Edmond Santa Fe on Tuesday, 65-39. Jenks will play in the Lincoln Christian Winter Classic Thursday through Saturday (Jan. 8-10).

Martin has seen Jenks on film quite a bit.

“They’re solid. They can shoot it,” Martin said. “They’ve got inside presence. 
They run a lot of stuff and they run it well.”

	1	2	3	4	F
Bartlesville (5-4, 1-4)	15	10	13	19	57
Putnam City North (14-1, 5-0)	22	25	23	7	77