TUTTLE TAMED

Ellie Dombeck grabbed an offensive rebound and powered in a putback to tie the game at 12-all at the 5:40 mark of the second quarter.

“That’s the type of game I wanted it to be,” said Tuttle coach Jamie Combs, whose ninth-ranked Lady Tigers hosted No. 4 Kingfisher Tuesday in a big Class 4A showdown.

The two teams had slogged their way through the first quarter and the early portions of the second playing just the type of game Tuttle wanted to dictate.

But that soon changed… and in a big way.

Dombeck’s field goal proved to be the last one for Tuttle until the fourth period.

KHS closed the first half on a massive run, dominated the third period and beat Tuttle for the first time in five years, 56-28.

“I thought we were really good defensively, but I’m mostly happy with how we responded after last Saturday’s loss,” said KHS head coach Taylor Young.

The Lady Jackets let a late lead slip away in the finals of the Alva Shootout against Deer Creek and lost a two-point heartbreaker.

That set up the West-ern Athletic Conference matchup at Tuttle, a team that KHS has not only struggled to beat, but also to manufacture any kind of offense.

In Kingfisher’s last three meetings with the Lady Tigers - two last season and one the season before - the Lady Jackets scored 26, 37 and 29 points.

This one appeared headed that same direction as KHS had just two points midway through the first quarter and Tuttle built leads of 6-2 and 8-4 by feeding it inside to Marissa Sandlin.

KHS fought back to tie it at 10 by the end of the first, but after Dombeck’s putback, the tide turned in the visitors’ favor for good.

Reese Roof immediately answered with a 3-pointer, then Adlee Friesen’s threepoint play with 4:55 to go in the half made it 18-12.

The made buckets allowed Kingfisher to set up the press and pick up the pace of the game.

The result was a 16-1 run to end the half, giving the Lady Jackets a 28-13 lead.

Mattie Slezickey and Friesen each scored five points during that stretch while Raegan Snider started to take over inside.

The senior post also scored five in the quarter and had nine at half.

The only thing that slowed her in the second half was a brief stretch she missed after rolling her ankle.

Despite that, Snider poured in eight more points in the third quarter as Kingfisher held Tuttle to free throws only as part of a 17-3 run.

At one point in the third, Snider had outscored Tuttle 15-14.

By the time Tuttle did manage another field goal at 7:20 of the fourth quarter, Kingfisher had stretched its lead to 31 points.

The Lady Tigers went 14:20 with no field goals and only four free throws.

One area that bothered Kingfisher against Deer Creek was turnovers (25).

“We did a much better job valuing the basketball,” said Young, noting her team had just seven against Tuttle.

The Lady Jackets also dominated the paint.

After Sandlin’s eight points inside in the first quarter, she didn’t score down low again until the fourth and finished with 17. Seven came in the fourth after the game was decided. Snider, meanwhile, poured in 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

KHS out-rebounded Tuttle 29-19.

Roof scored nine points while Slezickey and Friesen finished with eight apiece.

Friesen added three rebounds and two steals while Slezickey chipped in four boards and four assists.

Kingfisher enters the holiday break with a 6-1 record. The Lady Jackets return to action Jan. 3 at home against Anadarko, which is currently ranked No. 2 in Class 3A.