Southmoore downs Huskies

Jeff Harrison
The Edmond Sun

December 13, 2008 01:06 am

— Edmond North boy’s head coach Jeff Tompkins believes his team is on the verge of becoming something special. But on Friday afternoon the Huskies show that that next step may take a little more time.
North showed flashes of brilliance against Southmoore, but they were unable to sustain that momentum and lost 64-56 in the consolation bracket of the Edmond Open Tournament at Santa Fe High School.
“We’re close to being a pretty good team,” Tompkins said. “The hardest part is that last little bit to become a good team and we’re close to it, but we make too many mistakes. And we’re a team that can’t make as many mistakes, because we’re not as athletic as the good ones.”
Mike Menzel hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter, helping the Huskies stay even after one. But the Sabercats responded with a strong second quarter, which they nearly outscored North 2-1, to grab a 29-22 halftime lead.
After the sluggish first half, the Huskies came out firing in the third quarter. They had no trouble working the ball inside to senior Eric Randall, who scored eight points in the quarter, and helped North rip off a 12-0 run.
Kris Sponsler capped the rally with a bucket at the 3:20 mark that put the Huskies up 36-33.
Southmoore answered from long-range. The Sabercats pulled back in front, 42-20, at the end of the period with a 3-pointer by Kale Holman and a buzzer-beater from Tilford Thornton.
Sponsler again pulled North within four-points with 1:10 left in the fourth quarter, but the Huskies could not regain control.
Randall led all scorers with 22 points, and hit 8-of-10 from the foul line. Sponsler finished with 14 points and Menzel added 12 for the Huskies.
North wraps up tournament play today when they take on Chickasha in the seventh-place game. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. at Santa Fe.