MIDWEST CITY — For a while Monday night, Norman North showed it could run with Midwest City. But in a decisive third quarter the Bombers showed why they advanced to the state tournament a year ago, using a decisive 14-0 run to take control of the game on their way to a 70-52 victory.
After falling to second-ranked Edmond Memorial on Friday, things didn’t get any easier for the T-Wolves with the trip to top-ranked Midwest City for a game that was originally scheduled for November.
But for a while it looked like the Timberwolves could pull off the upset that eluded them against Memorial. They started slow but quickly stormed their way back in the second quarter, pulling the deficit down to 37-29 at halftime.
And things got even tighter after the break. North came out firing and came within a shot after Marcus Dickinson’s short jumper made it 41-38.
“We played with them in spurts, but their big spurts were based on the offensive rebounds,” coach Butch Roberts said. “We played all right tonight, but we can’t have as many breakdowns as we did.”
But after a Midwest City timeout, the Bombers took over for good. A 14-0 run spurred by several North turnovers extended the lead to 55-38 and put the game away.
Payton Prince led North with 18 points, while Marcus Dickinson added 11. But that was more than matched the combination of Cornell Neal and Daryck Jones for Midwest City, who finished with 22 and 20 points, respectively.
The Timberwolves will next take the floor at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday at the McGuinness tournament.
Corbin HoslerFollow me @Chosler88chosler@normantranscript.com
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