Hall decked; ticket punched
Jackets punish Dutch for area title, qualify for 5th straight trip to state
HUG IT OUT — Kingfisher players gather to celebrate their area championship win last Friday against Holland Hall. The win puts KHS back into the state tournament for a fifth straight year. The Jackets play Blanchard Wednesday in the quarterfinal round.
FLYING HIGH -KHS senior Jarret Birdwell shoots over a trio of Holland Hall players during the Jackets’ area championship win last week. Birdwell scored 11 points and had five rebounds for the Jackets. [Photo by Kaitlin St. Cyr]
With the memory of a year ago still fresh on their minds, the Kingfisher Yellowjackets made sure history didn’t repeat itself.
KHS is headed to the Class 4A boys basketball state tournament for a fifth consecutive year after dismantling No. 8 Holland Hall 71-40 last Friday at Enid High School.
The fourth consecutive trip earned in 2020 had to be completed in a Saturday consolation game after KHS was upset by Bethany the night before.
The Jackets eliminated Holland Hall’s hopes early as they scored five points before the Dutch crossed half court, jumped on top 21-2 and were up 25-4 after a quarter.
“They didn’t like that loss last year in the area finals and they came out ready tonight,” said KHS head coach Jared Reese.
His team enters the state tournament as the top seed, ranked No. 1 and with a 22-1 record.
The area win displayed one of Kingfisher’s best perimeter shooting performances of the season.
Six differentJackets combined to make 11 3-pointers for the Jackets.
KHS was 8 of 12 from long range in the first half and led 43-16 at the half.
That included Matthew Stone knocking down an early trey as he scored the game’s first five points.
It also included Ian Daugherty making his first 3-pointer of the year and Jarret Birdwell, who popped out and drained his sixth trey of the season.
“If Ian and Jarret are going to hit 3-pointers in the first half, we’re probably going to have a good chance to win,” Reese said.
The Dutch settled down after the disastrous first quarter, but never made a true dent in Kingfisher’s lead.
They shot a respectable 43 percent overall for the game, but only 4 of 15 from long range.
The Jackets turned 16 Holland Hall turnovers into 19 points, including a two-handed slam by Bijan Cortes midway through the fourth quarter.
That bucket put an end to the starters’ nights.
“The only thing we mixed up was whether we pressed or not,” Reese said of the defensive performance. “Other than that, we just guarded them like we do everyone else.”
Reese said the early pressure and turnovers were key to sparking the run.
“Holland Hall knew coming in they were going to have to play really well to win and you don’t want to give a team confidence,” he said. “So to get up 5-0 on them before they got it across half-court had to be mentally tough on them.”
No Holland Hall player scored in double digits. The Dutch were led by Nate Mullendore and Jadon Cool, who scored nine apiece.
Cortes scored 21 and dished out eight assists for the Jackets.
Stone nailed four 3-pointers overall and scored 18 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Birdwell chipped in 11 points and five rebounds while Maverick Ridenour scored eight points on just two field goal attempts.
Kingfisher returns to state looking for its third state title in five years.
“That hasn’t happened very often in 4A,” Reese said. “Usually it’s either private schools or (Tulsa or Oklahoma City) city schools.”
Only KHS, Idabel and Anadarko have been the exceptions since 1998.
Kingfisher’s 2017 title made it the first non-public or non-urban school to win 4A boys since Idabel in 2005.
Kingfisher also won the championship in 2019 and was runner-up to Heritage Hall in 2018.
The Jackets were ranked No. 1 a year ago, but the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19 on the day it was set to begin.
The Jackets have now qualified for state 14 times. Eight of their 11 state tournament wins have come since 2017.
State Brackets
Class 4A Boys at State Fair Arena
Tuesday
Game 1: Holland Hall vs. Heritage Hall, 6:30 p.m.
Game 2: Victory Christian vs. Tulsa Webster, 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Game 3: Mount St. Mary vs. Classen SAS, 9:30 a.m.
Game 4: Kingfisher vs. Blanchard, 11:30 a.m.
Friday
Winner 3 vs. Winner 4, 9:30 a.m.
Winner 1 vs. Winner 2, 11:30 a.m.
Saturday
Championship, 6 p.m.
Class 2A Boys
Thursday at State Fair Arena
Game 1: Dale vs. Morrison, 9:30 a.m.
Game 2: Howe vs. Cashion, 11:30 a.m.
Game 3: Pawnee vs. Oklahoma Union, 2 p.m.
Game 4: Wewoka vs. Hooker, 4 p.m.
Friday at Yukon
Winner 3 vs. Winner 4, 6 p.m.
Winner 1 vs. Winner 2, 8 p.m.
Saturday at State Fair Arena
Championship, 4 p.m.