Win Sends P.C. West to First State Tourney in 33 Years

Originally Published: Mar 6, 2010 8:46 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

CHOCTAW, Oklahoma – Putnam City West earned its first trip to the state tournament since 1977 with a 68-54 victory over Lawton Saturday.

The two teams played evenly for the majority of the game, but the Patriots dominated the second quarter and never allowed the Wolverines to claw back within striking distance.

After finishing the first quarter up 15-14, P.C. West outscored Lawton 14-6 in the second quarter to take a nine-point lead into halftime. The Patriots led by 10 going into the fourth quarter, then made use of clutch free-throw shooting to put the game away.

Of the 24 points Putnam City West scored in the fourth quarter, 19 came from the free-throw line. The Wolverines scored 20 points in the fourth quarter – their most productive period of the game – but the Patriots’ success from the charity stripe kept Lawton at bay.

Tyler Neal led all scorers with 25 for P.C. West, and teammate Amric Fields added 22. Craig Porter led Lawton with 20.

The significance of leading P.C. West to its first state tournament appearance in 33 years was not lost on head coach Tim Stogsdill.

“I’m probably more excited than anyone on the team,” Stogsdill said. “We have unfinished business; let’s go see what happens.”