Jeff Harrison
The Edmond Sun
TULSA — The Edmond North girl’s basketball fought feverishly to keep their season alive, but an early 17-point hole proved too much to overcome in Friday night’s Class 6A State Semifinal contest. Norman put the Lady Huskies in an early 12-0 hole and rolled behind the spectacular play of Kamra King in the 69-50 win at the Mabee Center.
King finished with a career-high 33 points and was picture perfect for the Tigers. The junior put pressure on North all night with her speed and ability to drive the lane.
While King stole the show at the Mabee Center, Elizabeth Donohoe was nearly as impressive for the Lady Huskies. The junior finished with a team-high 28 points and fueled North’s second half surge.
After the disastrous start, the Lady Huskies slowly gained ground on the Tigers. North trialed by 12 at halftime and cut the gap to nine on a conventional three-point play by Donohoe early in the fourth quarter. King quickly put an end to their comeback hopes as she poured in 14 points in the final period to send Norman to the championship game.
Norman did not waste anytime building a lead. The Tigers scored the first 12 points of the game and led by as many as 17 points on a pair of free throws from Jordan Franks at the 3:45 mark in the first. Donohoe added a conventional three-point play but the Tigers still led 25-6 after one.
The Lady Huskies picked it up the second quarter with the help of six points from Emily Davis. North continued to roll closing out the first half with a 9-0 run to make it a 33-21 halftime score.
Things continued to go the Lady Huskies way in the second half with Donohoe lighting up the scoreboard. The junior scored eight points in the period including a pair of three-point plays, but Norman still led 45-33.
Donohoe added another basket and a free throw to cut the Tigers’ lead to nine just 54 seconds into the fourth. But that’s all the closer they’d get to the finals as King went off for 14 points in the fourth.
Davis finished with nine points off the bench and TaNita Dewberry added six in the loss.
Norman will take on top-ranked Midwest City in the 6A finals today at 2:45 p.m.
