Jackets take down ‘Darko
Defense, quick start boosts KHS to 29-point victory
IAN DAUGHERTY goes up for two of his six points in Kingfisher’s win over Anadarko. The senior also had five rebounds and three assists. [Photo by Chris Simon/www.simon-sports-photos.smugmug.cond
The battle of contrasting styles went Kingfisher’s way.
Class 4A’s No. 1-ranked Yellowjackets jumped on Anadarko early and largely kept the pace in a 64-35 home win last Friday.
Kingfisher upped its season record to 18-1 with its 13th straight win.
Anadarko, with its deliberate offense and disciplined defense, held KHS to a regular-season low 48 points in their 2020 matchup.
This time around, however, Kingfisher used its defense to help produce offense in getting out to an early 12-3 lead, one it stretched to 21-6 by the end of the first quarter.
The Jackets rotated between their customary man-to-man, a 1-3-1 zone and even employed a halfcourt trap at times, all while pressing the Warriors.
KHS scored 10 points off nine Anadarko turnovers in the first quarter alone. The Warriors ended the night with 21 turnovers, which led to 24 KHS points.
That helped Kingfisher to a 36-11 halftime lead and they were never threatened in the second half.
KHS outscored Anadarko 46-8 in the paint and also had 19 second-chance points.
Despite making just 4 of 19 3-point attempts (21.1 percent), KHS was 23 of 34 (67.6 percent) inside the arc.
The team was led by Bijan Cortes’ 24 points, which came on 11 of 16 shooting. He also had four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Matthew Stone did everything but score in the first half, but that came around in the final two quarters.
He ended his night with 14 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and a pair of steals.
Mason Snider came off the bench to make 3 of 4 3-point attempts for his nine points. Jarret Birdwell also scored nine.
Ian Daugherty, who scored four of the team’s first seven points, ended his night with six points, five rebounds and three assists.