KHS sweeps Cleveland Invitational titles
Not even a heavy dose of foul trouble could keep the Kingfisher Lady Jackets from winning their first tournament of the season.
KHS knocked off the host squad 47-32 in Saturday’s title game to win the Cleveland Invitational championship.
It was Kingfisher’s second straight win over a ranked 4A foe.
Cleveland entered the night undefeated and ranked 11th.
The night before, it was No. 14 Muldrow being handed its first loss, 52-36.
In both cases, coach Taylor Young had to go to her bench sooner and more often than she originally planned.
In Saturday’s finale, Allison Green and Rayland Garner picked up two fouls by the mid-point of the first quarter and spent the rest of the half on the bench.
Peyton Walker joined them in having two fouls by halftime only to be outdone by Emily Myers and Addy Matthews, who had three fouls apiece.
That meant the likes of Kina Frost, Raegan Snider and Mya Dewberry had to provide valuable minutes… and they did.
“I was happy to see our bench players be able to come in and contribute big minutes for us in big games,” Young said.
Frost scored seven points in the tournament final.
She helped the Lady Jackets stake a 28-20 half time lead.
Starters helped push it to 40-25 by the end of the third quarter as defense sealed the win.
Cleveland shot just 27.5 percent from the field, a clip that included going 3 of 17 (17.6 percent) from 3-point range.
Kingfisher forced the Lady Tigers into 13 turnovers and scored 10 points off of them.
It was a theme throughout the tournament.
In three games, KHS opponents had 66 turnovers which led to 60 points for the Lady Jackets.
Before foul trouble struck in the finals, Walker and Garner had big first quarters.
Walker scored eight of her team-high 12 points.
Garner scored five of her seven.
Myers and Green ended their nights with eight points apiece.
Bailey Layman led all scorers with 22 points, but only one other Lady Tiger scored as many as five points.
KHS, seeded second, opened the tournament with a 71-21 victory against Cascia Hall.
Green led the way with 17 points, five steals and four assists.
Garner scored 14 and Frost chipped in 10 points.
Against Muldrow, the Lady Jackets were up eight entering the fourth quarter and closed with an 11-3 run.
Garner had 20 points and six steals.
Matthews made three 3-pointers and scored 15 points.
Walker had six points, four steals and four assists.
The three-day run was a solid bounce back from the team’s home loss to No. 1 Tuttle last Tuesday.
“It’s pleasing anytime you can pick up two double-digit wins against ranked teams over a three-game stretch,” Young said.
KHS ended the tournament with a 4-1 overall record.
The Lady Jackets were No. 14 in Class 4A last week, but bumped up to No. 10 this week.
Jackets Flex Muscle Against Tourney Foes
There are teams that start fast and others that finish strong.
The Kingfisher High School boys basketball squad – at least for a threeday stretch in Cleveland – can be classified as a second-quarter team.
The Yellowjackets dominated three foes en route to the Cleveland Invitational title.
It was capped late Saturday night when KHS thumped the host Tigers 63- 32 in the championship tilt.
The Jackets outscored Cleveland 21-0 in the second quarter to turn a seven-point lead after a quarter into a blowout by halftime.
That came after wins of 64-19 over Skiatook on Thursday and then 52-29 against Muldrow in the semifinals.
Over the three days, the Jackets outscored foes 64-6 in the second quarter.
“It was a combination of playing good defense and shooting the ball well,” said coach Jared Reese after his team moved to 5-0 on the season.
The Jackets shot 56 percent overall for the tournament while holding opponents to 22.1 percent.
The title game epitomized those numbers.
Kingfisher held the Tigers to 21.1 percent shooting while making 52.4 percent of their own.
After Cleveland pulled within 17-12 late in the first quarter, the Jackets rolled off 23 consecutive points and held the Tigers scoreless for more than 10 game minutes.
The Tigers were just 1 of 21 from 3-point range.
They also had no answer for Caden Kitchens, who scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds as well as three assists.
He was one of three Jackets in double figures.
Xavier Ridenour added 15 points and three assists.
The junior guard reached double figures all three days as he scored 17 against Skiatook and 13 against Muldrow.
Maddox Mecklenburg knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored 12 in the championship.
Chase Davis also made two treys to score his eight points. He was 5 of 8 from 3-point range the final two days and scored 13 in the semifinals.