OKCPrepSports
BASKETBALL
Midwest City tops Putnam City, qualifies for State
For the second game in a row, Putnam City's Lady Pirates have faced a taller team.
Last Saturday it was No. 20 Lawton - and the PC girls managed a come-from-behind win at home, 49-47, despite a less than stellar effort from the charity stripe.
This time, playing at Santa Fe, No. 8 Putnam City met a more talented team, the No. 2 Midwest City Lady Bombers.
Again the Putnam City Lady Pirates fell behind in the first half. PC trailed by as many as 12 points, 21-9.
PC's shots were way off the mark as they were easily intimidated by the twin towers from Midwest City, 6-foot-2 junior Diamond Ashmore and 6-foot sophomore Richa Jackson.
But the third period was redemption time for PC. The Lady Pirates played with discipline. Their shots began to fall - and Midwest City's lead eight-point halftime lead was gone.
The Lady Bombers, with only three players on their bench and their star point guard sidelined for the remainder of the with a torn ACL, regained their dominance in the final seven minutes.
PC led by four, 36-32, when the MWC comeback began. It was a combination of taking the ball inside to Ashmore and a sticky defense that held PC scoreless for two and a half minutes.
The Lady Pirates contributed to their downfall with poor free throw shooting again. This time they were only eight of 15 - 53%.
Another factor that hurt PC was a lack of fouls being called on themselves. With a little over a minute to play and Midwest City holding the basketball, the Lady Pirates needed to put the Lady Bombers on the free throw line, but MWC was not in the bonus yet as PC only had five second half team fouls. So it was foul and foul again - taking precious time off the clock.
In the end the more talented team won, 51-43. But the score was not indicative of the play of the game.
By winning the Area championship, Midwest advances to the 6A State tournament.
The Lady Pirates will need a victory in Harrah against No. 12 Choctaw to qualify for next week's State tournament in Oklahoma City. The teams will meet on Saturday at 3:00 PM.
Richa Jackson led the Lady Bombers in scoring with 24 points. Lillian Prince tallied 13 for Putnam City.