Henry and Putnam City: Bad news for Class 6A

By Ray Martin
rmartin@oklahoman.com

I watched Putnam City take care of previously undefeated Edmond Santa Fe 67-50 tonight.

PC guard Xavier Henry had a quiet night (by his standards). The 6 foot 6 junior scored 26 points on 9 of 17 shooting from the field, and 2 of 9 from behind the three-point arc.

Henry was not overly impressive statistically, but I felt like he could have scored as many points as he wanted to. He made sure each of the other four playeres were involved, and played defense better than any other player I have seen this year. He rejected two of Santa Fe guard Nic Comb’s shots in the first half. One of the blocks was a rocket off of the backboard that landed near halfcourt and resulted in two quick points on the other end.

Henry had a monster dunk with just more than three minutes remaining in that put PC up by 31.

After watching tonight’s game, I am sure of this: PC is the state’s best team, hands down. I watched the tournament of champions last week, and none of the eight teams in the field would beat PC nine times out of ten. Santa Fe had an off night, and could have made it closer than 17 points, but the Wolves would have to play their best game, and then some, to upset PC.

There is no doubt Henry has much to do with this. He is the best player in the state for sure; however, PC has five other guys who can shoot, rebound, block shots and play defense. It’s the total package.

After PC won the Bay Ball Invitational Classic last week by knocking off the top team in Delaware, as well as the top team in Pennsyvania, the Oklahoma 6A state tournament should be a walk in the park for the Pirates.