By Jeff Johncox
Third verse, same as the first ... and second.
For the third straight day the Norman North girls struggled to hit shots, but played well enough defensively to remain unbeaten, this time in the championship game of the inaugural T-Wolf Winter Classic.
The Timberwolves held off Shawnee Saturday afternoon on their home court, 34-27, to win their tournament and improve to 5-0.
"It feels really good," tournament most valuable player Madison Marquardt said. "We haven't been 5-0 to start a season in a long time."
The T-Wolves had problems getting going in the first two rounds, victories over Guthrie and Springfield (Mo.). So coach Jeff Blough put his team in a full-court press in the first quarter, hoping to create a spark.
For the first few minutes of the game, it worked. Shawnee had four turnovers before it got a shot off and North quickly led 7-1. Then the shots stopped falling ... again.
The T-Wolves took 16 more shots than the Wolves in the first half, but led only 16-12 thanks to 7-of-26 accuracy.
"It was the same thing, the same problem," Blough said. "They just didn't fall. You can't explain it. We were getting good looks again. Sometimes those things just happen."
The T-Wolves know they can't win next week at Midwest City and Norman High if they continue missing good shots.
"We need to get it into the post more," Marquardt said. "And Hayley Scott, she hit some shots but struggled a little bit. She's the best 3-point shooter I've ever played with, and I know she'll come around and be just fine."
Scott hit three 3-pointers and scored all 11 of her points in the third quarter Friday night to help North pull away from Springfield. Saturday, she got the T-Wolves started again after the half.
Scott hit a 3 and put in a layup in the third quarter as North pulled out to a nine-point lead. She led the T-Wolves with nine points.
North led by double digits in the fourth quarter, but missed free throws allowed the Wolves to hang around. Shawnee did itself no favors though, continuing to run a very deliberate offense even down double digits in the fourth quarter. By the time the Wolves sped up, there wasn't enough time.
"We played really well defensively again," Marquardt said. "Coach Blough is always telling us to keep teams below 35 points."
The only opponent to reach 35 points against North in the tournament was Guthrie in the first round. North outscored its three opponents 133-88 during its championship run.
"It's great to come out and defend our home court, win this tournament," Marquardt said.
Marquardt finished the tournament averaging six points, 4.3 assists and two steals. Blough said her defensive performance is what really stood out.
"She's our lockdown," Blough said. "She was on the other team's toughest player every game."
North post Mariah Turner was named to the all-tournament team and scored six points with eight rebounds and a blocked shot Saturday. She averaged 11 points and seven rebounds for the tournament.
Payge Wilson added seven points, two blocked shots and six boards Saturday and Andee Wayne finished with five points and three rebounds.
The Wolves were led by Kelsey Grovey's 17 points and seven rebounds.
