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  • KYLE PHILLIPS | CNHI NEWS SERVICE Edmond Memorial's Terrell Savala drives toward the basket as the Bulldogs take on Norman High Friday night at Norman High School.

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  • KYLE PHILLIPS | CNHI NEWS SERVICE Edmond Memorial's James Woodard tries to regain his step as he picks up a loose ball Friday night during the Bulldogs' game against Norman High School.

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  • KYLE PHILLIPS | CNHI NEWS SERVICE Edmond Memorial's Terrell Savala takes a shot at the basket Friday night during the Buldogs' game against Norman High School.

    021012 mem@nmn b1.jpg

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February 11, 2012

Bulldogs, Lady 'Dogs win in Norman

Corbin Hosler CNHI News Service

NORMAN — Faced with its last opportunity of the regular season to pull off an upset, Norman High came up just short against Class 6A’s second-ranked Edmond Memorial on Friday. The Bulldogs used a second-half Tiger scoring drought to pull away and then hold on for the 59-54 victory.

NHS was able to cut a 13-point Memorial lead to four with 24 seconds left, but that was as close as the Tigers would get, and the Bulldogs hit enough free throws down the stretch to eke out the victory.

“They’ve only lost two games in the last two years for a reason,” coach Jeff McCullough said of Memorial. “They know how to win games. They know how to step it up on defense and how to get a basket when they need one.”

With Connor Madole spending most of the second half on the bench after picking up his fourth foul early in the third quarter, the Tigers had trouble putting up points. They were unable to penetrate the paint and the post game was nonexistent. The result was that when the outside shots stopped falling, the Tigers went scoreless for more than three minutes through the third and fourth quarters.

Memorial took advantage, going on a 9-2 run to push the lead to 48-35. Madole returned shortly thereafter and, along with Rico Hogan, hit back-to-back 3s to get NHS back into the game, but the Tigers were unable the complete the comeback.

Hogan was the major reason the Tigers were still in a position to make a fourth-quarter run. He finished with 21 points, 13 of those in the second half, and was the only Tiger to have it going on offense in the third quarter. Madole finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists in limited minutes, and George Kittle added 10 points and eight boards.

James Woodard led Memorial with 16 points and seven rebounds.

The Tigers entered the game looking to score a momentum-building upset as they head into the last week of the regular season, but it was the Bulldogs who controlled the pace of the game, especially as the Tigers dealt with foul trouble.

“ ... Until we start doing the little things right all the time we aren’t going to beat the elite teams like Edmond Memorial,” McCullough said.

The Tigers might get another shot at revenge against the Bulldogs. The two teams are positioned to meet again in the second round of the playoffs if NHS defeats Putnam City West and Memorial beats Yukon.



Lady Bulldogs win easily over Norman

Edmond Memorial, the fourth-ranked team in Class 6A, jumped out on Norman High early and cruised to a 59-21 victory over the Tigers Friday night.

The Tigers were unable to knock down shots throughout the game, and Memorial’s Alie Decker and Sydney Hill combined to do most of the damage for the Bulldogs. Decker finished with 15 points for Bulldogs and Hill put in 13. On the offensive end, the Tigers were led by Mackenna Perkins, who led NHS with eight points.

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