Staying put at the right time

Defense leads KHS boys to 15th victory

Jared Reese felt his team was in control.

The scoreboard just didn’t show it.

The top-ranked Jackets’ defense dominated for most of four quarters and the offense eventually did its part Friday in a 47-34 victory at No. 17 Anadarko.

“I really felt we were dominating them and I look at the scoreboard and see we’re down 6-5,” Reese said.

Indeed, the Jackets held Anadarko to just two field goals in the first quarter, but only had one of their own.

The offensive fortunes began to reverse.

Xavier Ridenour notched a pair of 3-pointers and scored nine points as Kingfisher led by as many as eight in the second quarter.

It was a six-point halftime advantage before the Jackets had another third-quarter burst.

Jud Birdwell’s steal and layup at 4:10 of the quarter put KHS up 31-19. The Jackets were up 35-25 after the quarter thanks to seven points from Caden Kitchens.

Three-pointers by Maddox Mecklenburg and Drake Friesen in the fourth continued to stymie any kind of Anadarko comeback attempt.

So did Kingfisher’s defense.

The Warriors shot just 39 percent for the game and committed 17 turnovers.

Kingfisher scored 14 points off of those miscues.

The Jackets also outscored Anadarko 20-6 in the paint as double teams thwarted any efforts of the Warriors’ Rayden Churchill once he was able to get the ball in the post.

Churchill scored 11 points, but it took him eight shots.

Kitchens led KHS with 13 points and four steals.

Ridenour scored 11 points and Mecklenburg seven.

Davis added six points and led the team with seven rebounds and three assists.

The Jackets, who were coming off a two-point loss the previous Tuesday at El Reno, moved to 15-1.

They remained No. 1 in the rankings this week.