By Jeff Johncox
MIDWEST CITY — Do the Norman North girls belong near the top of the Class 6A rankings?
Tuesday night, at least until the last six minutes, the Timberwolves certainly made their case.
Then it all fell apart.
Top-ranked Midwest City put together a late run, pulling away from the sixth-ranked T-Wolves for a 55-42 victory at the J.E. Sutton Field House.
But the game was much closer most of the way.
“We played hard enough,” North coach Jeff Blough said. “We played smart enough. It was a great team effort. They just have a lot of great athletes, and when they play well, it makes things very difficult.”
Richa Jackson, Midwest City’s top player and one of the best in the state, took over, nabbing seven steals and scoring nine of her 19 points from the free-throw line. Jackson worked inside and outside, and it seemed every time North was fighting back, she would come away with a big steal and score going the other way.
The key point in the game came with 72 seconds left in the third quarter. The T-Wolves trailed 35-33, but two straight steals by the Bombers led to quick and easy points, and Midwest City was up 39-33.
North turned it over again to start the fourth quarter, and the Bombers were on a roll.
“We had three straight turnovers there, and they all led to points,” Blough said. “Then they started attacking us on the baseline with Kaylon (Williams).”
The 6-foot-3 Williams scored 10 points (six in the final period) and grabbed 10 rebounds.
What really hurt North was its inability, for the fourth straight game, to hit free throws. The T-Wolves were just 17-for-33 from the charity stripe. Worse, they hit just eight of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter.
“If we hit our free throws, we win that game,” Blough said. “Or it’s at least a lot closer, you know? We needed to hit our free throws and get some defensive rebounds when they missed some of theirs.”
Twice in the fourth quarter Williams rebounded a missed Midwest City free throw. Both times it led to two Bomber points.
“We started losing it a little, but I didn’t think we were ever out of the game,” North guard Tori Thomas said. “I thought we were always in it.”
Thomas came off the bench and scored nine points and nabbed a team-high three steals. She was also the only North guard to try and penetrate into Midwest City’s tough, full-court pressure defense.
When she did, she found her way to the free-throw line more often than not.
“I thought Tori Thomas, being a sophomore in a big game, did a great job coming in,” Blough said. “She played really tough defensively and took the ball at them.”
Hayley Scott hit one 3-pointer and scored all of her seven points in the second half. Payge Wilson came off the bench and scored five points with two rebounds.
Mariah Turner had a nice night in the post against one of the few teams in the area with as much size as the T-Wolves down low. Turner scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed six boards.
Things don’t get any easier for North. The T-Wolves are at No. 2 Norman High Friday at 6:15 p.m. for the season’s first Crosstown Clash.
Jeff Johncox
366-3535
jjohncox@normantranscript.com
