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BASKETBALL
Putnam City sends Mustang to the losers' bracket
With the first round of the Regional tourney completed, the burden of win or go home was not hanging over the Regional finalists, Mustang and Putnam City. But they both wanted to stay out of the losers' bracket.
The Pirates dominated the play of the game early as the Broncos seemed intimidated playing the top ranked Putnam City boys at Putnam City.
PC led 13-4 with 30 second remaining in the first quarter. And, as usual, it was the duo of Garen Wright and Xavier Henry that was leading the Pirates.
The Pirates continued to pull away - and at halftime, they led 32-16.
Starting the second half, the Pirates opened with an ally oop pass to Henry for a slam dunk, but the Broncs finally fought back.
Mustang's star player, Shane Carrol, had been limited to just four points in the first half. With 4:21 remaining in the third period, he went on a scoring rampage - tallying 13 of Mustang's next 16 points. The lead had shrunk from 16 points to eight.
After a PC time out with seven minutes remaining in the game, PC held Carroll to just a single basket and claimed a 61-51 Regional finals win.
Putnam City will face Westmoore on Thursday at a site to be determined by the OSSAA.
Putnam City's top scorers were Henry with 21, Wright with 14 and Tyler Earls' 13 points.
Carroll led Mustang with 19 points.