Inola ends KHS season in area

Kingfisher’s road to Oklahoma City was derailed in Stroud.

Inola played its way to a lead early, then pulled away late to earn a 57-43 victory Thursday over the Yellowjackets in a Class 4A boys area consolation quarterfinal.

The loss ended Kingfi sher’s season with a 16-11 record. The Jackets won just seven games last year and didn’t advance past the second day of regionals.

“I’m proud of the improvement we showed in some areas this season,” said second-year coach Colby Connel. “But I also think there are areas we know we need to get better.”

Inola won three elimination games in its regional after losing a district championship to Fort Gibson.

The Longhorns came out like their season was on the line as they got out to an 11-4 lead, prompting a KHS timeout at 2:04 of the first.

The lead grew to 10 points before Jhett Birdwell’s 3-pointer settled the Jacket offense.

Down seven after a quarter, the Jackets outscored Inola in the second to trail by three at halftime. One aspect aiding the comeback was Kingfisher slowing down Caleb Helling.

The junior forward had 15 of Inola’s first 21 points, but his production slowed the latter part of the second quarter.

Hayes White’s picked up for Kingfisher as he scored six points in the quarter and Paytun Burnham came off the bench to provide some defensive punch and four points.

But Helling resumed his early pace in the third quarter and scored 10 points. That coupled with a pair of 3-pointers from Caden Thompson saw the Longhorns extend their lead to 12.

The Jackets stayed within striking distance, but never could fully strike.

Three players did the bulk of Inola’s damage.

Helling scored 25, Thompson added 19 and Travis West chipped in 10.

The Longhorns made nine 3-pointers as a team.

KHS made three. Two were by Birdwell, who scored seven.

White led the team with 16 while Cash Laird contributed nine points.