Putnam West routs Lawton Ike in battle of No. 1s
Lawton Eisenhower was helpless.
Each inbound pass was trouble. Even if that succeeded, Putnam West still stole the ball and scored on a layup.
Over and over and over for just more than 4 minutes as Putnam West’s two-point deficit turned into a 19-point lead.
“The defense was good,” Putnam West senior Ce’Nara
Skanes said. “I feel like we pushed the tempo, wasn’t letting them get past half court for a few minutes.”
That first-quarter spurt created an avalanche of turnovers and turned a battle of No. 1s into a 69-44 Putnam West rout Friday night.
Putnam West, Class 6A’s top-ranked team, forced Class 5A’s top-ranked team into 33 turnovers.
“That’s our bread and butter,” Putnam West coach
Carlos Adamson said. Lawton Eisenhower led for nearly the first 2 minutes. But then Putnam West’s 21-0 run in which it forced the majority of 14 first-quarter turnovers started the blowout.
Skanes scored eight of her team-high 16 points in that span.
The win capped a huge week for the Patriots. They were ranked No. 3 regionally by USA Today and remained undefeated against in-state opponents.
“It was unexpected,” Skanes said. “We didn’t let it boost our confidence too much, but everybody gets a confidence boost when you get something like that.”
EDMOND SANTA FE RALLIES PAST NORTH
For almost three quarters, RaVon Nero could feel something was off.
No. 4 Edmond Santa Fe was struggling with turnovers, it was cold from 3-point range and it was trailing rival No. 16 Edmond North by as many as 12 with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.
“We just weren’t communicating well,” Nero said. “We went to timeout and I knew I just needed to talk to my teammates to get us back on track.”
Whatever Nero said it worked.
Santa Fe blitzed North in the final 90 seconds of the quarter, hitting three 3-pointers and closing the quarter on an 11-2 run.
From there Santa Fe (175) handled their business in the fourth, finishing off its rival 63-57.
Nero finished with a team high 18 points while
Makayla Foy and Keira Neal each finished with 12.
MOORE WINS SIXTH STRAIGHT
Moore is officially red-hot. The 17th-ranked Lions won their sixth straight game and fifth against a higher-ranked team with a 38-35 upset of No. 8 Norman.
Moore (13-8) used a huge fourth quarter to rally. It held Norman to just two points while scoring 12.
Freshman Aaliyah Moore led the way with 18 points.
TIP-INS
Chr. Heritage’s trio of Lexie Davis, Olivia Curtis and Rylee Langerman combined for 45 points in a 54-31 rout of OCS to remain undefeated . ... Harrah’s Kendra Lovings scored 17 while Ali Brzozowski and Katie King scored 15 points apiece in a 51-27 win over Ada . ... Putnam City’s Lauryn Reither scored 29 in a 62-48 win over rival Putnam North.