Unexpected Clash of the Titans
Cancellation sets up top-ranked 4A Jackets vs. No.1 5A Carl Albert; KHS wins
KHS SENIORS Ian Daugherty (12), Bijan Cortes and Matthew Stone(23) celebrate after the final buzzer sounded on their 56-47 win at 5A #1 Carl Albert last Friday. The trio combined for 39 points and 27 rebounds in the victory. [Photo by Kaillin St. Cyrikoww
CARL ALBERT defenders can’t close in fast enough on Kingfisher’s Matthew Stone during the Jackets’ 5647 win last Friday. Stone scored 13 points and had eight rebounds against Class 5A’s #1 team. [Photo by Kaillin St Cyrikoww.icaillinstcylphotograp
A cancellation by its original opponent helped lead to one of Kingfisher’s signature wins of the season.
In a tantalizing matchup last Friday night, Class 4A’s top-ranked Yellowjackets defeated Class 5A #1 Carl Albert 56-47 in Oklahoma City.
KHS was originally scheduled to visit Cache on that date, but the hosts had to pull out earlier in the week due to COVID-19 protocols.
That left Kingfisher searching for an opponent. Enter the Titans.
“They had hit me up earlier this year when they were looking for a game, and we didn’t have an opening then, but I kept that in the back of my mind,” KHS coach Jared Reese said. “So when our situation came up and they had an opening, too, it worked.
“That’s how you get #1 in 4A vs. #1 in 5A when it wasn’t even on the radar the week before.”
What worked for Kingfisher in the game was its 1-3-1 zone. Occasionally used by Reese to mix things up defensively, the Jackets went to the zone late in the first quarter.
“We were just going to use it for a little bit to change things up,” Reese said. “But it just kept working.”
Carl Albert not only failed to score the final two minutes of the first quarter, but also in the entirety of the second and then another three minutes into the third.
“A stretch of 13 game minutes,” Reese noted. “That’s almost unheard of, especially against a team like that.”
For the largest portion of that, Kingfisher wasn’t lighting it up either.
The Jackets trailed 14-6 when Carl Albert’s drought began. KHS ended the first on a 5-0 run and then only scored six points itself in the second.
But they heated up in the third quarter and when Maverick Ridenour drained his only 3-pointer of the game, the Jackets were dominating 34-17 with 3:00 left in the frame.
It capped a 28-3 run by the Jackets over nearly two full quarters.
They took a 36-20 lead into the fourth.
Carl Albert never went away and finally started to find some scoring success, but the Titans never threatened to make the comeback.
They were aided by Antonio Watson heating up late from deep range.
He scored 21 points on 7 of 8 3-point shooting.
The Titans also got 13 points from James Locke, but were held to 33 percent shooting for the night.
One of Reese’s biggest concerns entering the night was rebounding.
“I didn’t know how we’d be able to handle them inside,” he said.
Quite well, it turned out, as KHS won the rebounding battle 35-18.
Bijan Cortes led the Jackets with 10 rebounds, but they also got nine from Ian Daugherty and eight from Matthew Stone.
Cortes led all scorers with 23.
Stone scored 13 points while Jarret Birdwell added 10.
The win was the 12th straight for KHS, which improved to 17-1. Carl Albert dropped to 14-3.