X-PERT MARKSMANSHIP

Kingfisher’s defense is going to keep it in any game.

If the shots are falling too?

The Jackets can look unbeatable.

They looked the part Saturday as they blistered 5A No. 16 Guthrie 60-40 to win their sixth consecutive Buckle of the Wheatbelt Invitational championship.

KHS was 9 of 14 from 3-point range and shot well over 50 percent overall as it won for the 34th consecutive game.

“Everything looks better when the shots go in,” said coach Jared Reese after his team improved to 14-0 this season.

“We’ve struggled to shoot it for a lot of this season, but they were falling tonight.”

That was especially the case early as the Jackets ran sets for everything the Guthrie defense threw at them.

Those sets resulted in open looks - and makes - as they scored the game’s first 12 points.

Xavier Ridenour had the hottest hand as he nailed three first-quarter treys and scored 11 points in Kingfisher’s 17-3 burst to start the game.

He never cooled off.

Ridenour ultimately went 7 of 9 from 3-point range and scored a gamehigh 26 points.

“He’s got that ability,” Reese said. “He works hard, so it’s good to see it pay off with a game like that.”

Guthrie didn’t score for the first 4:20 of the game. The Bluejays didn’t get their first field goal until 20 seconds remained in the first quarter.

They had just 21 points after three quarters before posting 19 in the fourth once the game had been decided.

The Jackets had a 48-21 lead entering the fourth thanks to a six-point flurry in the final seconds of the third.

They ran a set to Chase Davis who knocked down a corner 3-pointer just as a screening Caden Kitchens was fouled by El Reno’s T.J. Kelly.

That gave the Jackets the ball back with 1.7 seconds left, which led to Ridenour’s final 3-pointer as the bucket sounded.

Jax Sternberger added 10 points, three rebounds and three assists and drew three offensive fouls against the Bluejays.

He also frustrated Oklahoma Christian Academy’s Carter Owens in Friday’s 45-32 semifinal victory.

The Jackets trailed by as many as six in the first half, but got a 3-pointer from Maddox Mecklenburg at the buzzer for a 24-22 halftime lead.

They took command with a 13-2 run in the third quarter that saw Sternberger lock down Owens, the Eagles’ point guard.

Ridenour scored nine of his 12 points in the second half while Kitchens scored six of his nine in the final two quarters.

Mecklenburg left the game in the second half and didn’t return after injuring his right wrist while attempting to draw a charge.

Test results Saturday showed no fractures and he played after having it taped.

Mecklenburg didn’t score in the championship, but was among the team leaders in assists and rebounds.

Kitchens also had nine in the title game.

KHS has now won all three of the tournaments its played in this season.

The Jackets were 14-0 entering the week.