Home sweet finally home again
KHS plays first games at APB since December in Buckle openers
KHS FRESHMAN Peyton Walker is sandwiched between a pair of Storm players during the quarterfinals Thursday of the Buckle of the Wheatbelt Invitational being held at the APB. [Photo by Chris Simon/www.simon-sports-photos.smugmug.com]
COVID-19 affected the Buckle of Wheatbelt Invitational before it began and even after the fact, but it couldn’t stop it.
Yukon’s girls dropped out of the event on Tuesday due to quarantine protocols, forcing the addition of a JV team and some bracket shuffling.
Then just before tipoff Thursday of the second game of the day between Oklahoma Christian Academy and Guthrie boys, the Bluejays were pulled off the court as someone they had competed against Tuesday had since tested positive.
Guthrie had to forfeit the game and is sending its own JV for the rest of the tournament.
Outside of that, there were no real surprises as both top-seeded Kingfisher teams advanced easily into the semifinal round.
Lady Jackets beat losing skid
Neither KHS team had played at home since the season opener on Dec. 1.
Since then, both had played 12 consecutive road games and the Lady Jackets were feeling the effects.
They came into the tournament having lost four in a row and struggling offensively.
Oklahoma City Storm’s JV helped remedy that.
After a slow start, the Lady Jackets heated up and eventually found their way to a 54-20 victory.
After not scoring for nearly half the first quarter, the Lady Jackets got a two-point bucket from Ally Stephenson, who followed with a 3-pointer.
That opened the flood gates as KHS made nine 3-pointers by the end of the first half and led 34-10.
The Lady Jackets made 12 for the game.
Allison Green buried three of them and scored a game-high 15 points.
Stephenson finished with 12 points and four assists. Emily Myers scored six points to go with eight rebounds.
The Lady Jackets were 10-4 after the win and played Guthrie in Friday night’s semifinal (after press time).
Guthrie defeated Harrah 47-43 in the quarterfinals.
The other semifinal pitted Guymon against OCA.
Guymon beat Chisholm 48-43 while OCA defeated the OKC Storm 56-32.
Guymon no match for Jackets
Kingfisher’s quest for a fifth straight Buckle of the Wheatbelt title got off to an expected start with a 78-51 victory against Guymon.
The Jackets dominated the first half before being outscored by the Tigers in both the third and fourth quarters.
However, there was no hope for a Guymon comeback as Kingfisher was up 51-16 at halftime and led by as many as 38 points.
Two days after firing up 53 3-pointers at Blanchard, the Jackets “only” shot 27 of them against the Tigers.
Bijan Cortes and Maverick Ridenour made three apiece while Mason Snider added a pair.
Cortes scored 22 points and also had six assists.
Matthew Stone scored 18 points to go with nine rebounds.
Ridenour scored 11.
KHS played OCA in the semifinals (after press time).
The other semifinal saw Weatherford battle the OKC Storm.
Weatherford defeated Chisholm 51-27 while the Storm knocked off Harrah 65-42.