Boys basketball: Xavier Henry scores 40 as Putnam City rolls

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BY RYAN ABER

Published: January 10, 2009

Xavier Henry said he’s still not back to 100 percent after playing his first few games of the boys basketball season this week.

After Friday night’s 40-point performance in a 95-58 win over Putnam City North at the Putnam City Invitational, that’s a scary proposition for the rest of Class 6A.

After a quiet first quarter, the Memphis signee exploded for 21 second-quarter points to bury the Panthers.

Putnam City will face Putnam City West at 6 p.m. today for the championship. Putnam North will play John Marshall at 4:30 p.m. for third place.

Not that Henry, widely regarded as one of the top players in the country in the class of 2009, needs much motivation. But facing a pair of players who played for Putnam City last season seemed to add a bit of an edge.

"I took it personally,” Henry said. "When people start talking, I like to find a way to keep them quiet.”

Henry did that with an 11-point burst in the first four minutes of the second quarter. He hit three 3-pointers in the span and finished with six 3s overall. He was 11-of-17 from the floor with four rebounds and three blocked shots.

The Pirates led by as many as 10 in the opening quarter and were up 17 at half.

"We just came out fired up,” Henry said. "We wanted to keep that intensity throughout, and we’re going to keep it going against West.”

It wasn’t just Henry who played with emotion against the Panthers. Garen Wright had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Pirates. Oklahoma signee Kyle Hardrick had six points, 14 rebounds and three blocks for PC.

Earlier in the week, after a win over Yukon, Putnam City coach A.D. Burtschi said he wasn’t happy with his team’s rebounding.

Friday, that wasn’t a problem.

"I wasn’t even worried about offense tonight,” Hardrick said. "It was just defense and rebounding.”

Antonio Johnson led PC North with 11 points but struggled from the free-throw line. The Pirates took advantage by fouling him repeatedly in the second quarter. Johnson finished 4-of-12 from the line.

Both teams played tight, physical defense. They combined to shoot 64 free throws.

"It was a very physical, fast-paced game,” Henry said. "We both like to run up and down the floor.”

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