High school basketball: Big second half carries Putnam City boys

Ronnie Boyce made three 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 25 points, while David Bush added 10 points.

“At halftime, we had a talk with the coaches that we just had to pick it up,” Boyce said. “We couldn't let the offense impact our defense. So we played harder defensively and the shots started falling.”

PC North got 14 points from T.J. Jones and 11 from John Robert Simon. The Panthers' halftime lead disappeared with an 11-3 PC run to open the second half.

PC North fought back again, cutting the lead to 37-36. But the Pirates answered with an 11-2 run, then put it away in the fourth quarter.

Putnam City, ranked third, improved to 19-1, while No. 19 PC North fell to 9-11.

BRONCHOS PULL AWAY TO BEAT PIEDMONT

Bethany took control in the second half to beat Piedmont 59-41 on the road.

The Bronchos pulled away in the third, scoring the final nine points of the quarter to take a 12-point lead into the fourth.

All of Bethany's scoring came from its starting five, with Kyle Bottger leading the Bronchos with 17. Josh Lout added 15 and Luke McGrath and Tanner Stiles had 10 each.

Bottger also had 12 rebounds as Bethany won for the second time in three meetings with Piedmont. The Wildcats won the first matchup by 21.

While all of Bethany's points were scored by its starters, Piedmont got 27 points from its bench, with Adrion Williams scoring 11 and Cameron Peters adding 10.