With No. 3 Edmond Santa Fe flexing its muscles, the Norman North boys, headed to a photo finish, were supposed to flinch.

They had risen from No. 11 to No. 6, but their resume was somewhat lacking without a win over another top 10 team. When Santa Fe senior Kamden Gipson was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer while his team trailed by as many with just three seconds left, it seemed the more polished team, the one led by battle-tested seniors was about to pull away.

Instead, after North coach Bryan Merritt called a timeout to ice him, Gipson missed the third free throw. The Timberwolves (6-1) couldn't inbound the ball, but it didn't matter. As Santa Fe senior forward Tyus Jeffries' last-ditch buzzer-beating fadeaway hit nothing but air, North celebrated a 73-72 victory Friday, its 22nd straight at North Gym.

“That's a three-year home winning streak,” Merritt said. “They believe they're not supposed to lose here. I'm just really proud of those guys, how they played and how tough we are in winning those games. Man, that was a good win for us.”

A winning culture is the only explanation. The T-Wolves had to overhaul Merritt's fast-paced offense after last season. The nation's current leading scorer in Division I, Trae Young, did everything for North, averaging 42.6 points and 4.1 assists per game.

Without him, the T-Wolves weren't as clean at the end the of the game, but they did enough to get the job done.

North had just 10 turnovers against a physically demanding matchup with opponents averaging just 57.2 points against the Wolves (5-2) coming into Friday's game.

“We just had to forget about that,” Forward Shemar Smith said. “They might be more athletic, but all we had to do was play harder than them.”

Smith was a big reason, North's offense came to life in the second half. He finished with another double-double, 15 points and 12 rebounds, and with his help the T-Wolves went on a 10-4 run to grab a 55-47 lead near the end of the third quarter.

From there the only question was could this team, made mostly of players who didn't have much game experience, finish?

Even Merritt, in his fifth season, was surprised by the result.

“I've seen 6-1 teams fall off quick, but at this point, this is great,” Merritt said. “If you asked me before the season. I didn't think we would have been 6-1. I don't think people figured we would beat Edmond Santa Fe here.”

It's the best record North's had at this point in the season over the last three years. Much of the credit goes to the team's leadership. Without Young, the T-Wolves have relied on returning starters Drake Stoops, Jalen Crutchfield and Juwan White to do the heavy lifting. Crutchfield led North with 22 points. White shot 5 for 9 for 17 points, five assists and four rebounds and while Stoops didn't have his best game shooting, finishing with just 11 points, he led North with eight assists.

North isn't done, but its no secret what this fast start has done. The T-Wolves believe in themselves, when their initial ranking and losing the state's best player might have put some doubt there before. They're a scary team to face on their home floor, and touting a win over a top 5 foe, there's no telling how far this momentum could take them.
