By Jeff Johncox
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Norman High's run through the Lady Jaguar Classic ended with a thud Saturday at the Westmoore Gym.
The Tigers, who dominated their first two opponents, Lawton Eisenhower and Sapulpa, fell 36-26 to Carl Albert in the tournament's championship game.
And they didn't look anything like the team that had outscored opponents 178-80 in its previous three games.
"We were 10-of-49 from the floor, that explains everything," NHS coach Matilda Mossman said. "When the ball goes in the basket, it's an easy game. When it doesn't, it's a tough night. Kids are kids. They want to score points. When they're not shooting well, the rest of their game falls apart."
The Tigers (10-2) struggled finding their rhythm on offense from the start. After missing some early buckets, NHS lost some concentration on defense, too, and Titan forwards Cherrell Price and Kylie Mayes hit almost everything they put up inside in the first half as Carl Albert took an 18-13 lead into the locker room.
The Tigers came out with more intensity after the break, though, and kept things interesting.
But they still weren't hitting shots.
"We're not really used to teams playing a match-up zone, and it's harder to shoot and we couldn't get it inside," NHS guard Kamra King said. "At halftime we knew we needed to bring our energy back up, but that didn't work out too well."
The Titans outscored NHS 18-13 in the second half.
Price led all scorers with 11 points and was named to the all-tournament team. Fellow Titan Desiree Bradley scored seven points, grabbed six boards, had three steals and a blocked shot and was named the tournament's most valuable player.
For NHS, Jeannie Ramon finished with six points, eight rebounds and three steals. It was a far cry from the dominant performances she and the rest of the Tigers put on inside earlier in the tournament, but that was mainly due to the size of Carl Albert, which played three forwards down low and double-teamed Ramon most of the night.
She was named to the all-tournament team along with teammate Kamra King, who scored five points.
Chelsea Key had six points and Olivia Meek had five with five boards.
Along with Jordan Franks, who had four points, only the five NHS starters scored.
"We started out taking good shots, but we missed some of those early and started taking bad shots and forcing things," Mossman said. "I mean, we played pretty good defense. We held them to 36 points. The problem is, we scored only 26 points."
The Tigers now get five days to prepare for a visit from top-ranked Midwest City, which rolls into the NHS Gym Friday at 6:15 p.m.
It's the first meeting between the two teams this year, and going into the weekend, the Tigers were ranked No.2.
"At least we don't have to prepare for a game on Tuesday," Mossman said. "We have some time to get ready for Midwest City. They're a tough team and we're going to have to come ready to play."
Jeff Johncox 366-3535 jjohncox@normantranscript.com
