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Putnam City Invitational: Edmond North's Steele, Westmoore's Barber lead teams to titles

james d. jackson, oklahoman
·4 min read

The Putnam City Invitational concluded on Saturday. Here's a recap of the games.

Putnam City Invitational girls championship: Edmond North 60, Putnam City West 50

Laci Steele didn’t waste any time.

As soon as the senior forward from Edmond North received the ball, she made a move. With her back to the basket at the free-throw line, Steele quickly spun to her right and drove to the lane with the Putnam West defender on her hip.

Jumping off her left foot, Steele finished a left-handed scooping floater with the defense wrapped over her. A few possessions later, Steele fired a 3-pointer that fell through the cylinder. Then, after breaking down Putnam West’s press, Steele received the pass near half-court and drove in for a quick layup.

No matter how Putnam West tried to stop her, Steele dominated in every facet of the game and it helped lift Edmond North to a Putnam City Invitational Championship title on Saturday evening. Steele finished with a game-high 26 points against a talented Putnam West (11-3) team.

“This was a tough game,” Steele said. “Very loud, very fun atmosphere, really competitive. I think the main key for us was just keeping our composure and breaking the press, they’re very good at the press. Just sticking to what we do and playing our game.”

More:Oklahoma high school basketball: PCI, McGuinness Classic quarterfinal roundup

Steele, the NC State commit, wasn’t the only Edmond North star with a big game. After a slow first half scoring just one point, Elle Papahronis turned it on and helped Edmond North grow its lead to 10 points late in the fourth quarter. Papahronis, the San Francisco commit, finished with 17 points.

It was enough to overcome Putnam West’s Caya Smith, who had 13 and Jayla Constant and Jazmin Adams, who both finished with 11.

In the Tournament Steele scored 27 points in the quarterfinal, 31 in the semifinal and 26 in the championship game to earn the PCI Most Valuable Player award.

“My last tournament, I didn’t perform as well as I usually do,” Steele said. “So, I prepared, I worked hard, shooting a lot those five days we had between tournaments. I was really just working on my mental and just getting back to what I do and I think I did that.”

Putnam City Invitational boys championship: Westmoore 55 Norman 47

Evan Barber saw an opening and cut to the lane.

With a step on his defender, Barber received the pass and ignored the defensive pressure. The 6-foot-2 guard tossed a left-handed layup over the outstretched arm of the defense for another.

The score gave Westmoore a multiple-possession lead with just over a minute left to play that Norman was unable to come back from. Barber then drained four free throws to ice the game. The senior turned in 20 points to lead Westmoore over Norman for the Putnam City Invitational championship title on Saturday night.

It was a revenge game for the Jaguars (9-2) who lost to Norman (7-3) in the Joe Lawson Tournament in December.

“We just pushed up the pace because (Norman) wanted to play slow and we started hitting shots,” Barber said. “Last game we played at their tempo, this game we controlled the game.”

Barber received scoring help from Gavin Loper (9) and Ethan Wohletz and Zach Hays who both turned in eight points. Only six players scored for Westmoore and so it was the Jaguars' defense that earned them the win.

After holding Norman to six points in the first quarter, Norman was able to score 35 points in the second and third with the help of Trashaun Combs-Pierce who finished with 16 points. But Westmoore found its composure and held Norman to six in the fourth as Barber turned it on offensively.

“We didn’t really change much,” Westmoore coach Todd Millwee said. “We were just playing a lot harder and the lineup we had in the fourth quarter, I thought they played great.”

Barber earned honors for the Most Valuable Player for his performance in the tournament.

“Heck of a tournament, he just whatever the defense was throwing at him,” Millwee said. “He was really reading it well, deciding to be a dime dropper getting some other guys going or taking some big shots when it’s there. He’s making some great reads being a complete player.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma HS basketball: Edmond North, Westmoore win Putnam City titles