Jackets overcome slow pace to beat 'Darko

You’ve reached a certain celebrity status when fans from the opposing team want their picture taken with you after the game.

Bijan Cortes has apparently reached that status.

Cortes led Kingfisher to its 41st straight win last Friday as the Jackets toppled Anadarko 48-29 on the road.

“That was exactly how I thought the game would go,” said KHS coach Jared Reese, whose group moved to 19-0 on the season. “We knew they’d try to really slow things down against us to try to stay in the game.

“They did a pretty good job, but we were really good in the first and fourth quarters and they weren’t going to be able to catch up.”

The Jackets led 18-9 after a quarter as Cortes and Matthew Stone combined for 15 points.

Although Anadarko slowed Kingfisher’s scoring pace in the second quarter, the lead grew to 11 points.

It was as many as 17 points in the third quarter, before the Warriors cut it to 11 points early in the fourth.

That’s when Cortes took over.

The junior point guard had six points, two steals, three assists and a number of highlights over the final eight minutes as the Jackets put the game away.

On his first assist of the quarter, he drove to the lane, drew four Warriors to him and dished to Ian Daugherty for an easy bucket.

The next saw him grab a steal on one end, start a fast break and drop off a no-look bounce pass to a slashing Jarret Birdwell for a layup.

On Kingfisher’s next possession, Cortes pulled it out near half court, waited for Anadarko to begin to attack and then rifled a bullet to Birdwell underneath the basket.

To cap the night, Cortes again waited near halfcourt, then blew past his defender, dribbled to the lane and threw down a thunderous dunk for the final margin.

In all, Cortes had 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and four more deflections.

After the teams shook hands, several Anadarko fans asked Cortes to pose for pictures. He obliged - quickly - before heading to the locker room. “It was something different for sure,” Cortes said of the experience. “But it showed me there are so many people who are looking up to me.”

Stone, who was a big part of that first-quarter surge with eight points, finished his night with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

KHS out-rebounded the Warriors 31-17.

The Jackets had 13 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points (to two for the Warriors).

Kingfisher shot 45 percent overall (59.3 percent from two-point range) and held Anadarko to 32.4 percent.

Birdwell added eight points for KHS, all in the second half. Daugherty scored five and Maverick Ridenour three.