Huskies Hold On

In a wild and crazy, wire-to-wire, upset win, the Edmond North boys basketball team handed 6A No. 4 Edmond Santa Fe their second loss in six days after the Huskies were able to hang on to their lead late in the fourth quarter. “I’ve told our kids that Santa Fe’s never beaten us since I’ve been here, and we’re going to continue that,” head coach Terry Evans said through a laugh after the game. With the pep talk fresh in their mind, the North boys came out like their house was ablaze. Using a balanced scoring attack, they shot 57 percent in the first quarter and took a 20-8 edge. Santa Fe has had slow starts before — namely once in the the Bishop McGuinness Classic. After scoring a then-season low 10 first-quarter points, the Wolves rattled off 76 tallies in 3 quarters to put up 86 on Choctaw. And, on Friday, it felt like the Wolves’ offensive outburst was inevitable. But it never happened. Before, Santa Fe often fell back on their vaunted, physical pressing defense. But on Friday night in Siberian Gymnasium, the steals never came. “We tried to put as many ball handlers as we could out there,” Evans explained. “Our freshman really helped us. They got in there and did a great job of handling the basketball.” Those freshman were just following the lead of their go-to guys. Seniors Sean Tate and Damion Thorton led the balanced Husky attack on Friday. Thorton, who was crowned Homecoming King at halftime alongside Homecoming Queen Veronica Harjo, finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Tate totaled another 14 tallies. Despite the early lead, Santa Fe had a look. Riding the wave of Tauriawn Knight’s 29 points, the Santa Fe boys battled back and even threatened to hit a game winner of their own. Unfortunately, they didn’t have Knight on the floor for the shot. With just over a minute remaining, Knight was called for his fourth foul. By all measurements, it was a great foul. Knight had a look at the ball and his dive-style defense in the press had worked many times before. Even after being whistled for the infraction, the foul still stopped an odd-man Husky break and forced Thorton to get his points at the line. Moments later, though, the value of the foul worsened. Knight was forced to intentionally foul Kameron Cramer, grabbing his fifth and fouling out. Cramer only made one of his two shots, but Santa Fe was unable to answer with their hottest hand out of the game. North’s win was the Huskies eighth victory and only the fourth Santa Fe loss of the season. Coincidentally, of the four Wolves’ losses, two have finished within a single-score with Knight sidelined after fouling out. “To beat Santa Fe, it’s great; It’s a rivalry game …,” Evans said after the upset win. “Our kids did it. You know, they wanted it, they came out ready to play in the first half, and we built up enough cushion to hang on and survive at the end. I’m really proud of the guys, they’ve just improved from week-to-week-to-week.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Edmond North High School Athletics

HUSKIES HOLD ON

AARON ALBERTSON

Edmond Sun | 1/26/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Edmond North Athletics