Jackets get ‘2nd chance’ win

If everyone deserves a second chance, the Kingfisher boys basketball team took full advantage last week.

The Yellowjackets grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 23 second-chance points Friday as they pulled away from No. 19 in an 80-56 road victory.

Jarret Birdwell had fi ve of his team-high nine rebounds on the offensive end and scored eight of those second-chance points.

He was one of four Jackets in double figures as KHS built a big lead early, watched most of it slip away and then pulled away late to improve to 12-0.

“We couldn’t do some of the things we wanted defensively because of certain issues, but I still thought we were aggressive in other areas,” said KHS head coach Jared Reese.

The win was the 200th of Reese’s career. Reese is in his 11th year overall and seventh at KHS. He’s 157-21 (.882) at Kingfi sher.

Kingfisher’s early lead came on the strength of Matthew Stone inside and Maverick Ridenour outside.

Stone scored nine points in the first quarter - some of them quite acrobatic - and Ridenour buried three 3-pointers to pick up where he left off against Tuttle the previous Tuesday.

That helped Kingfi sher grow a lead as big as 26-7 in the first quarter and 28-9 early in the second.

But, by the end of the quarter, Stone and fellow starters Aryan Haro and Bijan Cortes were on the bench with two fouls apiece.

Clinton absorbed Kingfisher’s early barrage and cut the Jackets’ lead to 38-27 by halftime. The Reds got as close as 40-33 early in the third.

That awakened Cortes, who had just two points in the first half. He responded with 13 in the third quarter.

Kingfisher’s lead was 17 by the end of the frame and the Jackets continually built on it in the fourth.

Ridenour added two more treys in the fi nal quarter and was 6 of 11 from long range overall.

He joined Cortes in scoring a team-high 20 points.

Cortes added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. He contributed six second-chance points.

Stone ended his night with 17 points and six rebounds. He and Cortes were a combined 6 of 7 from the free throw line in the fourth.

Birdwell scored 15 points, including four in the fourth.

The Jackets forced 20 turnovers and scored 21 points off of them. KHS also had 42 points in the paint.

Clinton was led by Ca-den Powell’s 21 points. Artel Bryson added 15.

The loss dropped Clinton to 10-3 and snapped an eight-game win streak.

Kingfisher’s win was its 34th straight as a program, which ties a school record. KHS also won 34 in a row to end the 2016-17 season and to start the 2017-18 season.

The Jackets have won 74 of their last 76 games overall.