Garner-ing lots of attention
Senior forward helps lead Lady Jackets to 2nd straight Buckle title
RAYLAND GARNER goes up for a shot against Guymon in the semifinals of the Buckle of the Wheatbelt Invitational. Garner scored 22 in that win and then 25 in the championship game on Saturday. [Photo by Chris Simon/www.simon-sports-photos.smugmug.com]
Guymon and Yukon were able to hang tough.
They just couldn’t hang with Rayland Garner.
The Kingfisher High School senior scored 47 points over the final two days to lead the Lady Jackets to their second consecutive Buckle of the Wheatbelt Invitational championship.
The title was delivered Saturday night at the APB when Garner scored 25 points in the Lady Jackets’ 45-31 victory over Yukon.
“She played well,” coach Taylor Young said. “She was aggressive and played with a lot more confidence.”
Garner missed her junior season with a torn ACL, but showed no signs of that during the tournament.
Yukon got out to a 5-0 lead, but the Lady Jackets closed the first quarter with a 12-2 run.
Garner had 10 of those points.
She had all but four of Kingfisher’s points at the half when it led 21-10.
Then, when Yukon made its biggest charge after its initial surge, Garner delivered again.
The Millerettes pulled within 35-29 on Caid Jefferson’s layup in the fourth quarter.
Garner answered with two consecutive three-point plays to push Kingfisher’s lead back to 12 points.
“I thought we did a really good job of staying patient on offense and getting the shots/looks we wanted over the course of three days,” said Young.
“We took what the defense was giving us which was a combination of both inside and outside play.”
The Lady Jackets complemented Garner’s inside dominance with seven 3-pointers over the final two days.
Two of those came Saturday as Emily Myers and Makina Frost hit 3-pointers in the third to help the Lady Jackets maintain their lead.
Peyton Walker and Addy Matthews notched two apiece in Friday’s 54-43 win over Guymon.
That win also saw Garner prove too much to handle, especially in the first half.
She scored 15 points as KHS built up a 30-14 lead.
This time, though, she got more help.
Matthews scored seven of her 11 points in the first half.
As Guymon tried to make a comeback, Walker helped subdue the Lady Tigers with nine second-half points.
She finished with 12.
Garner scored seven in the fourth quarter and ended her day with 22.
Guymon, which eventually beat Oklahoma Christian Academy to finish third, had 13 offensive rebounds and scored 13 second-chance points in the game.
“Defensively I was happy with our effort and energy, but I was not very pleased with our ability to block out and rebound the basketball,” Young said.
“That is something that will need to be cleaned up quickly, but I think part of that is rust from being off since Jan. 4.”
Kingfisher’s opening win over Edmond Santa Fe JV on Thursday was its first game in more than two weeks.
It was also just the team’s third overall home game, meaning the tournament more than doubled its appearances this season at the APB.
“We have only played two home games so far, so it was nice getting to compete on our home court in front of our fans and community,” Young said.
The championship also gives KHS an 8-1 record in three tournaments this season. It won at Cleveland and was the consolation champ at Mustang.“Going 8-1 in the tournaments we played in speaks to our girls’ attention to detail and ability to adjust throughout the course of a game,” Young said.
KHS was 12-2 entering this week.