Threes before Ds
KHS starts win over Tuttle with treys, seals it with dunks
MATTHEW STONE soars through the air before delivering thunderous dunk in Kingfisher’s win over Tuttle. [Photo by Russell Stitt/www.stitt.smugmug.com ]
Maverick Ridenour caught fire for the fi rst time this season and it helped the Yellowjackets play one of their most complete games this season.
Ridenour made 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions during the game’s decisive stretch as KHS thumped Class 4A’s 10th-ranked Tuttle 78-52 at the APB.
Tuttle went up 9-7 midway through the fi rst quarter, but the Jackets dominated the rest of the half.
It started with a 12-0 run to end the quarter, which included a Ridenour trey at the buzzer.
The junior then opened the second quarter with consecutive 3-pointers for KHS as the lead swelled to 28-12.
“That’s the best stretch he’s had for us this year,” coach Jared Reese said. “And I thought overall we looked really good against a pretty good team.”
Tuttle entered the game having won eight of nine with its only loss coming to 6A’s 17th-ranked Yukon.
But the Tigers had no answer once Kingfi sher’s offense got rolling.
On top of Ridenour’s shooting, Bijan Cortes added a pair of treys and scored 12 in the fi rst quarter.
Jarret Birdwell also had eight in the first half as Kingfisher went on top 41-19.
The third quarter and initial part of the fourth belonged to Matthew Stone.
After being held to two points in the first half, Stone poured in 10 in the third quarter.
“He was playing really well in the first half, but he just wasn’t getting any shots,” Reese said.
Stone then capped his night when a defensive rebound that he took to the other end, leapt from the third mark of the lane and threw down a thunderous dunk to ignite the crowd.
The bucket gave him 16 for the night and KHS a 71-33 advantage.
Cortes, who had his own driving dunk in the third quarter, led the team with 23 points, seven assists and four steals.
Ridenour, who wound up 5 of 6 from 3-point range, scored 17.
Stone had six assists to go with his 16 points and Birdwell scored 17 points on 4 of 5 shooting.
KHS shot 59 percent overall, including 53 percent (10 of 19) from 3-point range.
Tuttle, meanwhile was held to 37 percent shooting. Kaden Vande led the team with 19 points. He was 5 of 12 from 3-point range.
Kingfisher was 11-0 after the win, which was the 33rd straight overall.
The Jackets have won 73 of their last 75 and 95 of their last 100 games.