Jeff Johncox
OKLAHOMA CITY — It took 12 days, but the Norman North boys were finally back on the court Tuesday, visiting Westmoore.
The Timberwolves, as is their style this season, fell behind early, but controlled the game the rest of the way en route to a 58-47 victory.
Neither team had been able to get more than one day’s practice in since the ice storm that hit central Oklahoma a week and a half ago had both schools canceled until Monday.
North coach Butch Roberts said the T-Wolves had only hit the practice court for two hours Monday afternoon, but they were able to shake the rust off early enough to put a buffer between them and the pesky Jaguars.
“I really thought we’d come out a little more slowly,” North guard Justin Schaefer. “I can’t tell you how good it felt to play out there. It was tough during the break. We couldn’t even practice, so it was just really nice to be out there playing a game again.”
Westmoore got things going early, pulling out to an 11-5 lead thanks to the play of 6-foot-8 center Louis Marshall, who scored six of the Jags’ first 11 points.
He also grabbed four rebounds during the run, establishing his presence in the paint.
But North got things together in a hurry, shutting down Marshall and going on a 10-2 run to finish out the period.
The T-Wolves never relinquished the lead.
“We came out in a man defense, and switched over to a 21, but (Marshall) was getting good looks at the basket,” Schaefer said. “We had to start paying more attention to him.”
Once Westmoore’s big man was shut down — Marshall finished with 11 points and seven rebounds after his quick start — the T-Wolves went to work.
They came out of the locker room on a 7-4 run to go up 11 points in the third quarter and Austin Messerli got involved offensively with Marshall on the bench due to foul trouble.
Messerli and Schaefer each scored six points in the third period as the T-Wolves pulled away to a nine-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“I was happy with our effort tonight and the way we kept battling all game,” Roberts said. “What I wasn’t happy with were some of the mistakes we made, people not knowing where to be.
“After all that time off, I thought we’d struggle physically and with our stamina. But I think being unable to practice for so long hurt us more in our minds than anything else.”
Westmoore’s Matthew Mobley made things interesting, scoring all 13 of his points in the second half. He also led the Jags with five assists.
Schaefer led the way for North with 15 points and three assists. Messerli finished with nine points and four rebounds.
Matt Beal led the T-Wolves with nine rebounds and he added eight points, as did Emmanuel Wilson.
Travis Johnson was deadly from the point for North, dishing off seven assists and nabbing three steals.
The T-Wolves are off again until next Tuesday when they visit Putnam City North.
“At least we get to practice,” Roberts said.
Girls
If having 14 days without practice or games wasn’t strange enough for the Norman North girls, Tuesday’s trip to Westmoore provided another weird twist to their season.
The Timberwolves struggled from the field and the Jaguars hit from the free-throw line when it mattered most in Westmoore’s 51-37 victory.
But the most interesting part of the game was how it all started.
The two teams, each of which had significant time off due to winter weather, came out of the locker room shooting ice cold.
After North’s Somer Forbes shot a 3-pointer that was well short and barely scratched rim, she went up to the referee to point something out.
Both teams combined for 0-for-9 shooting in the first three minutes of action. Forbes was the first to figure out exactly why that happened: The teams were playing with the boys ball from the junior varsity game that ended 15 minutes earlier.
Someone gave the refs the wrong game ball.
It didn’t matter what ball they were shooting with, though, the T-Wolves struggled with both.
“It’s pretty much exactly what I expected after us having 14 days off,” North coach Don VanPool said.
It was one of those nights for North.
Forbes led the way with nine points for the T-Wolves. Sydney Mann added eight off the bench and Melody Mattox finished with five.
The big story was the shooting, though.
North was 5-for-18 in the first half and 9-for-42 for the game.
“We just couldn’t get anything to fall,” VanPool said. “Open shots, even. We just couldn’t hit anything.”
Westmoore got some help in the second half from guard Michelle Hardimon. Hardimon was 0-for-6 shooting in the first half, but hit 10-of-14 free throws in the second half and both her shots from the field to finish with a game-high 15 points. Kirstin Baker added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Jags.
Both teams start the Carl Albert Tournament Thursday.
