Third quarter run lifts Longhorns past KHS
COLEMAN GILLES puts up a shot attempt in the lane in Kingfisher’s season opener. Gilles scored 17 points. [Photo by Chris Simon.www.simon-sports-photos.smugmug.com]
A big third-quarter outburst by the home team spoiled Colby Connel’s debut as the Kingfisher boys basketball coach.
Chisholm outscored KHS 21-5 in that period to break open a close game in what turned into a 68-56 victory for the Longhorns.
“We killed ourselves with turnovers,” said Connel, Kingfisher’s new coach for a team that features an all-new cast of starters and role players.
“The turnovers caused us to start every defensive possession in a scramble.”
That scrambling benefitted Chisholm, which nailed five 3-pointers in the quarter - three by Cooper Westfahl and two by Langley Aman.
That turned a 30-28 halftime lead for the home team into an 18-point advantage by the end of the quarter.
“We didn’t contain their dribble and that led to open shots,” Connel said. “Every time we’d close out in the third quarter, we’d give up right-hand drives. We’d help, they’d kick it out and there would be an open 3-pointer.”
Chisholm was 11 of 26 from 3-point range overall. Westfahl, a sophomore, made five of them as part of his 27 points.
Aman added four of them and scored 14 while Aiden Burd scored 16 for the Longhorns.
The other setback for KHS, Connel said, was turnovers.
The Jackets committed 20 in the game, including four straight to start the second half.
Connel said the Jackets will improve on those areas and there were plenty of positives to build upon.
Senior Jake Reagan scored 18 points, including 11 in the second quarter as the Jackets and Longhorns traded leads.
Coleman Gilles scored Kingfisher’s first seven points and finished with 17 points. He also had a teamhigh seven rebounds.
The post is where Kingfi sher had its advantage, outscoring Chisholm 34-18 in the paint and out-rebounding the Longhorns 30-18.
“When we got to the rim, I felt like we really put pressure on them, whether it was scoring baskets or drawing fouls,” Connel said.
Maddox Jarvis came off the bench to net 10 points for the Jackets. He got all of his points in the fourth quarter.
Matthew Mecklenburg added nine points and four assists.