White lights up Cyclones

On a night when James Elder and Davis Currie thrilled the home crowd, Hayes White made sure Cyclones fans went home disappointed.

White piled one big play on top of another Friday, brought Kingfisher from the brink of defeat against a two-win team and helped deliver a 55-52 victory at Casady.

The Kingfisher High School junior put up dagger after dagger as he poured in 36 points while grabbing seven rebounds for the Jackets. But perhaps his two biggest plays were on defense.

White grabbed two steals in the game’s final 30 seconds.

The first came with the game tied at 52-52 and the Cyclones trying to work the clock for a final shot.

With White and Cash Laird pressuring the perimeter, Currie lost the ball as he was trying to pass it off.

White scooped it up and gave the Jackets a 54-52 lead with his layup with 24.6 seconds left.

As Casady tried to answer, White picked off a pass with 10 seconds left and was able to dribble the clock down to 3.7 seconds before he was fouled.

It was just the second team foul for Casady, which managed to pull off three more fouls in a span of just 1.5 seconds.

The fifth one of the quarter sent Laird to the line with a chance to seal the game.

Laird was 0 for 3 on his previous trips to the charity stripe and made it 0 for 4 by missing the first.

However, the junior made his second, giving the Jackets a three-point lead.

Elder’s wo u l d - b e game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer missed long.

Elder and Currie kept the Cyclones in it - and more - as both scored 22 points on the night.

The former did it largely in the paint while Currie made a trio of 3-pointers and was 5 for 5 at the free throw line, including one to cap a three-point play in the fourth quarter.

But, seemingly everything they threw at Kingfisher was answered by White.

He had nine of Kingfisher’s 11 points in the first quarter and added seven more in the second. That proved to be his “worst” quarter of the game.

The Jackets were bolstered that frame by Kasen Blair, who scored eight of his critical 12 points in those eight minutes.

The Jackets led 26-24 at the break, but found themselves down by as many as six in the third quarter as Currie made two 3-pointers and all four of his foul shots.

But Kingfisher had White, who clawed the Jackets back into it.

They used a 7-0 run to take a temporary lead in the third, but trailed by two going into the final frame.

The deficit was as many as four in the fourth, but White’s 3-pointer at the 4:00 mark put the Jackets up 50-48.

Again, it was temporary.

The Cyclones scored four straight to regain the lead there were 10 lead changes in the game - before White’s bucket with 2:25 left knotted the game up at 52-52.

The team’s traded missed shots and miscues until White’s steal and layup in the final minute.

The late steals were half of White’s four in the game.

Blair had five rebounds to go with his point total and also four deflections on defense.

Laird finished with five points and four assists.

White got his points on 14 of 22 shooting. He was 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

The win pushed the Jackets to 12-7 on the season.