Doolittle's 27 lift Memorial in Edlam battle
Edmond Memorial senior Kristian Doolittle says he wasn't always a good free throw shooter. It might be hard to convince Edmond Santa Fe of that after Doolittle scored nearly half of his 27 points at the free throw line in a 63-53 win over the Wolves in the semifinals of the 56th annual McGuinness Classic on Friday night. “Practice makes perfect,” the 6-foot-7 Doolittle said with a smile. “I just work on my free throw shooting every day, and it's paid off.”
The OU signee was 13-of-14 at the line and had 11 rebounds to send the 10th-ranked Bulldogs to the finals, where they'll face No. 5 Norman North for the second time this week. Norman North won Tuesday's meeting 71-65.
Payton Moore had 14 points, and Marlik Depp had 10 for Edmond Memorial. Kristoff Hayden led Santa Fe with 16 points, all in the second half.
NORMAN NORTH ROLLS PAST DEER CREEK
Norman North's big three did what they've been doing most of the season, and the Timberwolves cruised past Deer Creek 101-59 in the McGuinness Classic semifinals. Trae Young had 25 points, while Marcus Dickinson added 20 and Cameron Martin had 19. After battling some early season injuries, the Timberwolves are beginning to click.
“Cameron and Marcus had been injured. We got five guys from football, and four of them were injured when they got to us,” coach Bryan Merritt said. “We just hadn't practiced together much until recently.” With his team getting healthy, Merritt has been able to use a four-guard lineup this week, which has helped the offense increase its tempo. “When we go with four guards, we can put a lot of pressure on the other team,” Young said. “The speed of our game is a lot higher. We can get out and run more, and that's what we did tonight.”
