Elgin can’t spoil KHS homecoming

If there was any letdown in the Kingfisher girls basketball team Tuesday night, it certainly didn’t show.

The Lady Jackets had six points and two steals in less than 30 seconds, scored the first 12 points of the game and absolutely dominated the first half en route to a 77-28 victory against Elgin on homecoming night at the APB.

KHS was coming off an eight-point loss to No. 1 Anadarko on the road just a few days earlier in a game it led at halftime.

Elgin entered this game with just four wins, but KHS coach Gerrett Spears wasn’t sure what he was going to get out of his team.

“We didn’t have a great practice Monday,” Spears noted. “It could have been easy to be upset still about Anadarko and overlook Elgin.

“So we challenged the girls to look at the big picture and bring championship effort Tuesday.”

The Lady Jackets obliged.

Elgin seemingly controlled the tip, but Ally Stephenson took it right away and scored just a couple seconds into the contest.

Kingfisher’s pressure forced two more quick turnovers and easy baskets.

KHS was up 9-0 just 50 seconds into the game - and before Elgin ever crossed half-court.

By the end of the first quarter, KHS had five 3-pointers and a 29-5 lead.

Allison Green made two of those treys while Makina Frost, Melody Wilfong and Stephenson added their own.

Kingfisher’s scoring pace slowed in the second quarter, but Elgin’s didn’t increase. The lead was 44-9 at the half.

After the Lady Owls had a 14-point “outburst” in the third quarter, KHS closed the game on a 19-2 run.

The Lady Jackets made 11 treys and shot 52 percent overall while holding Elgin to 37 percent shooting.

The Lady Owls had 29 turnovers, which led to 40 KHS points.

That included 18 Kingfisher steals, four each by Stephenson and Rayland Garner.

Garner led the team with 16 points and added three rebounds.

Green and Wilfong scored 11 apiece as both made a trio of 3-pointers. Wilfong, who was crowned homecoming queen before the game, also had three steals.

Frost scored eight points while Stephenson and Mya Dewberry scored seven apiece.

KHS was 13-7 after the win and has two regular-season games remaining.

Most Kingfisher High School boys basketball games this year see a large exodus of fans at halftime due to the lopsided score.

Elgin hardly provided that opportunity on Tuesday night and those fans who stuck around were treated to a couple of high lights rarely seen inside the APB.

After leading by “just” nine points at halftime, KHS steadily pulled away from Elgin for a 60-35 victory.

During a second half in which Kingfisher surrendered only 14 points, Bijan Cortes grabbed a defensive rebound, spun through a defender, crossed half court and lobbed a perfect pass to Matthew Stone, who threw down a two-handed alley-oop slam.

Then, in the fourth, Stone reciprocated.

The junior, standing a few feet outside the 3-point line, pushed a pass toward the goal and Cortes, who slashed down the baseline and soared to the bucket for his own dunk via the alley-oop.

“Those were some impressive plays,” said coach Jared Reese while watching them on the team’s game film after the game.

The Jackets had several of them despite Elgin being able to periodically slow them down with its zone defense.

And the Owls also hit some timely shots in the first half to keep within striking distance.

After Kingfisher briefly took a 13-point lead near the end of the first quarter, the Owls’ Bowin Hargis beat the buzzer with a long 3-pointer to make it a 10-point contest.

Elgin then started the second quarter on a 10-4 run to cut its deficit to just four points.

Cortes answered that with a 3-pointer.

The Owls never got closer than seven points the rest of the night, but Kingfisher didn’t put the Owls away until late in the third.

As is usually the case, Stone and Cortes played a big role.

Fellow junior Jarret Birdwell did as well as he scored a team-high 18 points on 8 of 9 shooting.

He scored 10 of his points in the fourth quarter as KHS outscored Elgin 18-7.

Cortes also scored 18 to go along with seven assists, seven rebounds and five steals.

Stone scored 14 and grabbed 10 boards. He also had four assists.

The Jackets again shot better than 50 percent overall (23 of 45) and dominated the paint (32 points in the paint to 12 for Elgin).

The win pushed KHS to 20-0 on the season, leaving them two wins shy of a second perfect regular season in three years.

It had never been accomplished here prior to the 2017-18 season.

Prior to the girls game, senior Aryan Haro was named homecoming king for KHS.