EDMOND — A three-week hiatus between games seemed to be the reset Norman High needed following a rocky start to its season.

The Tigers earned a 47-41 road win over 6A’s No. 13 Edmond Santa Fe Friday night. The victory comes nearly a month after NHS’ last outing — a 10-point loss at Norman North to lose for the fourth time in its first six games.

“We came in [to the season] a little relaxed,” Ben Emmert said, “We thought we were the team.”

Emmert says the Tigers needed a mentality shift and achieved that during the holiday break. So, perhaps NHS (3-4) can still be “the team” it thought it was at the beginning of the season.

Defeating Edmond Santa Fe on its homecourt was a promising start, especially with the early defensive challenge the Wolves posed.

Edmond Santa Fe led 15-12 after one quarter and limited NHS to 2 of 10 made field goals.

NHS senior Trentez Scales scored nine of his team’s opening-period points, primarily attacking the lane and drawing contact.

“Usually my mindset going into the game is we are the team that nobody expects to win,” Scales said. “So after the team got a jump on us, I thought I had to be a spark.”

NHS’ points were more evenly distributed after the first quarter. And it was partially due to better ball movement, which was emphasized during the holiday break, Scales says.

Connor Goodson made the most of his touches, scoring eight points, and Jonah Paden knocked down two triples.

Emmert needed two quarters to get acclimated. But once he did, the senior bullied Edmond Santa Fe inside, scoring 11 points in the win.

“With Ben going inside, we’re unstoppable,” Scales said. “Ben’s our go-to man. If Ben’s off, the whole team’s off.”

Both Emmert and Paden agreed the team's win was one of its most cohesive efforts all season.

The holiday break helped the team bond with only themselves to face in the gym for three weeks.

“A few players came from football, a few players came from different schools, so we needed a lot of chemistry building,” Paden said. “And now that’s everybody here, we got that over the break.”

Scales is one of those players from a different school.

The senior transferred from Putnam City West over the offseason and has only played seven games as a Tiger.

The NHS point guard has grown close to his teammates, who all share the same goal.

“They’re brothers now,” Scales said. “I’m in there, they in here, we all want the same thing — win a state championship.”

Next on its schedule, NHS returns home Tuesday when it hosts No. 3 Edmond Memorial (7-1).
