OKLAHOMA CITY — Putnam City North overcame a third-quarter surge from Broken Arrow for a 53-37 win in 6A-3 action Friday (Jan. 30).

The win widened the Panthers’ lead over the Tigers in the district standings. North is 9-0 while Broken Arrow dropped to 7-2 in 6A-3.

District standings aside, North coach DJ Lemons said his team was out to make a statement.

“The guys want to prove to themselves and more importantly the state that we are the team that we are. 
Our record is proof of that. We gonna continue to show you.”

Early on, it appeared North would cruise to a rout. Broken Arrow was held to single digit scoring in both the first two quarters and the Panthers had a 33-14 lead at halftime.

The Tigers outscored North 13-3 to start the third quarter. With 2:27 left in the quarter, Lemons called a timeout to regroup.

“We told our guys to be be aggressive, but be smart,” Lemons said. “Sometimes that in the younger kids’ head (that) means slow all the way down. But we wanted them to stay aggressive.”

After the pep talk, things nearly got worse for North. Senior TJ McNeely had the ball stolen from behind by Broken Arrow senior Corban Dow at the top of the key.

Dow sprinted the other way but lost control of the the ball. Dow saved the ball from going out of bounds by flipping it behind his back. North sophomore Keaton Murry leaped in the air to snag the ball. Murry sprinted to the free throw line and kicked the ball out to junior Miles Jackson, who drained a 3-pointer.

“That was a good momentum swing for us,” Lemons said. “That stopped the bleeding a little bit and got us back on our run to end that third quarter.”

From that point, the Tigers were still within striking distance for the rest of the contest but North was able to keep them at arm’s length with stops and surges.

Murry finished with a game-high 12 points (six points in each half). He had an assist and a steal.

Senior Mekhi Thomas started hot with seven first-quarter points. Thomas finished with 11 points, five rebounds an assist and a steal.

Senior Nate Muriithi scored six of his nine points in the first half. Muriithi had two rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Junior Miles Jackson scored eight points with two 3-pointers. Jackson had two rebounds and a steal.

Sophomore CJ Heskett was a spark off the bench with five points (all in the second quarter).

Senior Malakye Schoats didn’t start because he was recovering from illness earlier in the week. Schoats had four points, two rebounds and three steals.

“He still played his game,” Lemons said of Schoats. “He still played his defense. 
He still contribute what he needed to do on offense. What he does, it carries over to everybody else and you need a guy like that, between him and TJ (McNeely).

“Their energy, their effort, how hard they play, how they get out their own defense.”

Sophomore Devion Gillispie scored all four of his points in the fourth quarter as North pulled away with the win. Gillispie had had four rebounds, two assists and two steals.”

North played a game for the first time since Jan. 20, when they beat Edmond Santa Fe in overtime. Tuesday’s game with Stillwater was postponed as heavy snow, bitterly cold temperatures and poor road conditions cancelled school and all activties.

“I just approached it as we were in the offseason and we was trying to, just get ready for the beginning of the season again,” Lemons said.

After two days of “hard” practices, the team went into gameplan mode for the last two practices.

“Everything worked out the way it was supposed to work out. 
But yeah, we’re still a little bit rusty.”

UP NEXT

North (17-1, 9-0) travels to Stillwater (6-9, 4-5) Saturday (Jan. 30) for a 6A-3 game.

The Panthers’ game with the Pioneers Tuesdaywas postponed due to the weather.

The Pioneers dropped a 64-46 contest to Muskogee Friday.

“They’re a young team, a team that you can’t take for granted or sleep on,” Lemons said.

Lemons said Stillwater’s zone defense might North some problems.

“I told our guys, if we play hard like we do, we play together, like we’re easily one of the better teams to state.”

	1	2	3	4	F
Broken Arrow (14-3, 7-2)	5	8	15	9	37
Putnam City North (17-1, 9-0)	14	19	8	12	53