MIDWEST CITY — Putnam City North surged in the fourth quarter against Mustang Thursday (March 12) but the Broncos dominated the overtime period of 51-44 6A semifinal loss at Carl Albert.
After North’s comeback, a buzzer-beater 3-pointer from Mustang senior Andrew Reynold sent the game into the extra period. North struggled in overtime of the loss.
Putnam City North coach DJ Lemons reflected on the tough defeat and the end of a 27-2 season.
“I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids, but more, I couldn’t ask for a better connected group of kids,” Lemons said outside of a somber Panther locker room. “It sucks how the game ended and we fell short of making it to the state championship game.”
The Panthers clawed back from a 11-4 first-quarter deficit. North trailed 7-2 at one point in the opening period. Mustang widened a 20-15 halftime lead in the third quarter and North trailed 30-21 with 2:08 left when things started to turn.
Panther senior Nate Muriithi hit two free throws and fellow senior Malakye Schoats added a bucket Mustang had a 32-25 lead.
Schoats would play a part in fourth quarter revival.
Trailing 33-25, Schoats scored four straight points, including a putback of CJ Heskett’s miss and a bucket off of a steal from sophomore Devion Gillispie.
The Panthers had the momentum and a jump ball that went to North led to Gillispie sinking a trey with 4:56 left to make it 33-32.
The Broncos added a bucket from junior Gabriel Osborne, Jr. and a free throw from fellow junior Mar’Quell Robinson, both former Putnam City players.
Sophomore Keaton Murry answered with a 3-pointer.
Murry scored again with 2:47 left in the fourth quarter, giving the Panthers a 37-36 lead, their first lead of the game.
The North crowd was raucous but the Broncos answered on sophomore Garrett Smith’s putback slam.
Murry scored again and Smith followed with a traveling turnover.
Mustang had fouls to give and when Heskett finally got to the line with 16 seconds left, he hit both free throws to make it 41-38.
“We kind of found our rhythm,” Lemons said of the fourth-quarter comeback. “We start pressing again, like, we should have probably been doing early our game, but that’s on me. They did what they were supposed to do to get back in the game.”
Disaster struck in the final possession of regulation.
Reynolds had missed all four of his 3-pointers to that point but sank a long top-of-the-key trey just before the buzzer to go to overtime, deflating the Panther crowd.
The Broncos controlled the tip and the overtime. Mustang went on a 6-0 run to start the extra period.
Heskett scored North’s only points, a highly-contested 3-pointer.
North pressed and was forced to foul. Mustang shooters hit 4 of 6 shots from the line to seal the win.
Lemons praised his team, which suffered only one loss to an Oklahoma team.
“I’m just proud of the group that I got to coach and be a head coach of a special group, and so hopefully we’ll learn from this and be an even more special group next year.”
Murry finished with 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting. He hit all four free throws and had one 3-pointer.
Muriithi and Heskett each added eight points. Muriithi hit 3 of 6 shots. He was 2-of-2 from the line and had five rebounds. Heskett was 2-of-9 from the field and had one trey. He hit all three free throws and had a rebound.
Schoats scored six points and brought down eight rebounds. He also had three assists.
TIP-INS
- North struggled, shooting-wise, going 15-of-48 (31.2 percent). They hit only three of 21 shots from beyond the arc (14.3 percent)
- Mustang outrebounded the Panthers, 32-22.
- The Panthers hit all 11 foul shots.
- The loss snapped North’s 24-game winning streak.
- Mustang’s Smith was 7-of-7 from the field. He scored a game-high 17 points. He also had 12 rebounds.
- Osborne added nine points. Robinson scored eight points and had seven boards.
- Mustang hit 46.5 percent from the field. However, the Broncos went 8-of-12 from the free throw line (66.7 percent).
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Putnam City North (27-2) | 4 | 11 | 10 | 16 | 3 | 44 |
| Mustang (26-4) | 11 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 51 |
MUSTANG – Smith 17, Osborne 9, Robinson 8, Reynolds 7, Milligan 6, Wilborn 4.
CLASS 6A BOYS OKLAHOMA STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
WEDNESDAY, March 11, 2026 (At Lloyd Noble Center)
Norman 59, Tulsa Union 50
Owasso 63, Southmoore 48
Putnam City North 42, Piedmont 34
Mustang 76, Edmond Santa Fe 68
THURSDAY, March 12, 2026 (At Carl Albert High School)
Norman 50, Owasso 47
Mustang 51, Putnam City North 44 (OT)
FRIDAY, March 13, 2026 (At OG&E Coliseum)
Norman vs. Mustang, 6 p.m. (Championship Game)
West Metro Sports 