6A State Championship Recap: Norman vs Norman North

In an all Norman showdown for the State Title, both Norman and Norman North's fans came out Tulsa to fill the ORU Maybee Center to support their teams. &nbsp; 1st quarter The Norman lady Tigers took an early lead in the first quarter thanks to an inside some sharp shooting from Sophomore <strong>Myka Perry</strong>. But the Norman North Timberwolves would not go away easily and battled back to take the lead 9-11 after a hard drive resulting in a pair of free throws from Junior<strong> Olivia Paris</strong>. The Tigers responded by a drive and layup of their own from Sophomor<strong>e Kelbie Washington</strong> to end the first quarter in an 11-11 tie. 2nd quarter The second quarter was more of the same in a back and forth battle between the two Norman teams. Norman North took first blood by breaking the tie on a layup from Junior <strong>Jessica Evans</strong>. Sophomore <strong>Shanice Smith</strong> then responded on a slashing drive to the bucket of her own to tie the game once more. There was a defensive battle that ensued for a couple of minutes after that which finally ended when the long range shooting of Myka Perry came in to play breaking the drought and giving North a 13-16 lead. Norman was then fouled and split free throws on two occasions which brought the deficit to one point. Then <strong>Kamiyah Lyons</strong> of Norman was fouled and made the bucket which gave the Tigers a 17-16 lead. The scoring for the half ended when Senior <strong>Jackie Evans</strong> was fouled and split her free throws resulting in a tie score of 17-17 going in to the half. 3rd quarter Norman North came out in the third quarter with a bucket to start the final half of play to take an early lead breaking the halftime tie. Their energy was quickly matched by Senior <strong>Turner Mattingly</strong> to knot the score back up at 19 a piece. Freshman Kendra Gillespie sank two free throws to give Norman a 21-19 lead. Turner Mattingly crashed the offensive boards and went back up to increase the lead 23-19, but on the other end Jessica Evans had an offensive rebound and put back of her own to bring the score to 23-21. Norman went on a slight run that resulted in them being up 28-23 with about 3:00 to go in the game. Thats when Freshman Kamiyah Lyons turned up her defense and got a steal and assist to Kelbie Washington. Then with 2:10 Lyons applied pressure to on the North's point guard resulting in a 5 second call and momentum for the Tigers. Turner Mattingly hit a jumper giving North a 32-23 lead. Kendra Gillespie had a great bucket off a high low action assisted by Kelbie Washington bringing the score to 34-25. But the final play of the third quarter was a great one from Senior Jackie Evans. On an out of bounds play her defender turned her back on her as she took the ball out, so she used an old playground trick and threw it off of her back, stepped in bounds, and scored a layup as time expired bringing the score to 34-27. 4th quarter The Timberwolves would not go away without a fight. After the Timberwolves came out and scored a layup, Senior <strong>Emma Base</strong> hit a jumper giving them momentum and hope bringing the score to a narrow 34-31 deficit for Norman North. After a back and forth the Tigers Kelbie Washington scored giving a 36-31 advantage. Then with 2:06 left the sharp shooter Kennedy Cummings fouled out for the Timberwolves. The Tigers took full advantage of that and ended the game on an 8-0 run securing the state title.