Jenni Beebe on target in home opener

It was a night of milestones for the Kingfisher High School girls basketball team last Tuesday.

The Lady Jackets nabbed their first win of the season as they held off Chisholm 52-47 at the APB.

The home opener was three days ahead of schedule. The game was originally slated to be played at Chisholm, but major plumbing issues in Paul Outhier Fieldhouse caused the game to be moved to Kingfi sher.

The win was the fi rst for KHS girls head coach Gerrett Spears as the Lady Jackets improved to 1-1.

The team was led by newcomer Jenni Beebe, who poured in a game-high 24 points, grabbed nine rebounds and made several clutch plays down the stretch.

Her point total on the night helped her surpass 1,000 career points, most of which were scored in a Garber uniform.

In other words, a lot was squeezed into 32 minutes of game action.

“I felt we came out of the gates ready to play,” Spears said of his team, which started with a 7-0 run.

“Our tempo and pressure caused Chisholm a lot of trouble.”

Indeed they did as KHS forced 19 turnovers and scored 15 points off of them. The Lady Jackets also outscored Chisholm 10-0 in transition points.

After giving up all of the initial lead, Kingfisher was able to take a 27-20 advantage into halftime.

Beebe spurred the solid second quarter as she scored 12 of the team’s 18 points, including banking in a 3-pointer near the buzzer.

She went scoreless in the third quarter, but Kingfisher was able to grow its lead to double digits.

Spears said it was a combination of things throughout the game that helped.

“We really took care of the little things,” he said. “We forced them into more turnovers than we had, we out-rebounded them, had more assists and shot it better.”

One of the steadying forces was sophomore Rae Garner, who scored 11 points on 5 of 9 shooting and pulled down 10 rebounds.

“She was a factor on both sides of the ball,” Spears said.

Still, Chisholm was able to mount a comeback.

Tatum Long and Gracie Holder both made 3-pointers as Chisholm closed its defi cit.

Holder’s came with 17 seconds remaining and brought Chisholm within three at 50-47.

However, KHS eventually got Beebe the ball and, after being fouled, she made a pair of clinching free throws with 10 seconds to play.

She made all six of her free throw attempts, all of which came in the fi nal quarter.

Beebe added three steals, including one with under a minute to play that denied a Chisholm possession.

“She obviously stood out, but she was able to do that with our young guards taking care of the ball and their decision making,” Spears said.

Sophomore Ally Stephenson got her first start and Kina Frost also saw ample playing time.

Allison Green, another underclassman, scored eight points for KHS.

“The biggest take away for me was we, at times, had four sophomores on the fl oor and found a way to win,” Spears said.

“We grew up in front of a home crowdTuesday night. Winning against a quality team and having to execute on both sides of the floor late in the game will give our kids the confidence they need moving forward.”