NORMAN — Playing without its leading scorer, Norman High proved it had more than enough depth to defeat Class 5A’s sixth-ranked Del City 55-48.
Taylor Ely sat out the game with a sprained ankle, but between sisters Bethany and Channah Cox and the surging Albany Anderson, the Tigers still cruised to victory. A strong start put NHS in front 12-3 after the first quarter, and the Tigers were able to extend the lead to 14 points before Del City closed the gap some in the final minute.
Bethany Cox led the Tigers with 20 points, while Channah Cox added 15 and Anderson chipped in 11.
“Albany was really dialed in tonight,” coach Nichole Copeland said. “We drew our toughness from her. I was proud of the way our kids fought through some adversity today. You can see that they’re starting to grow.”
NHS will next take the floor at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against Booker T. Washington in the first round of the Westmoore tournament.
Edmond Memorial 75, Norman North 58: A slow start doomed Norman North in its upset bid against Class 6A’s second-ranked Edmond Memorial, and the Timberwolves weren’t able to catch up in a 75-58 loss.
North came out flat and fell behind early, with the Bulldogs jumping out a 10-0 lead that eventually ballooned to 26-11 before North began to fight back.
Once the Timberwolves began to wake up, they made a game of it. North pushed Memorial into bad shots and twice the T-Wolves cut the lead down to seven. But they gave up too many easy baskets in transition, allowing Memorial to extend the lead and keep it from coming too close.
Del City 55, Norman High 42: NHS fell to its fourth straight loss on Friday, with Del City topping the Tigers for the second time in that span.
NHS kept within striking distance throughout the game but was unable to catch Del City and Stephen Edwards, who led the Eagles with 22 points. It was the Tigers’ fourth game without the injured Jay Finley. Sam Blodgett led NHS with 15 points.
NHS will next play on Thursday at the McGuinness tournament.
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