Birdwell trey highlights Jacket comeback

As he caught the pass from his teammate, Jhett Birdwell had someone calmly barking an order at him.

“Knock it down.” Birdwell listened to the words of his coach Colby Connel, made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:12 to play and helped lead Kingfisher to a 55-50 come-from-behind win Saturday night over Clinton in a Class 4A district championship game in the Tornado Dome.

“I was whispering in his ear,” Connel said after the game.

Birdwell’s trey was part of a 9-0 run by the Jackets after they trailed by four with 3:29 to play.

The Jackets - after leading by as many as 10 in the first half - trailed by as many as nine in the third quarter and by five entering the fourth.

However, they found a way to stay in the winner’s bracket entering this week’s regional. The Jackets will host the regional, starting with Cushing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

“Kudos to my guys for their resiliency (tonight),” Connel said. “But we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot next week.”

That’s how he described Kingfisher’s second-quarter disappearance.

After the Jackets put 21 points on the board and led by seven after a quarter, Clinton switched to a zone defense and it switched the Jackets’ fortunes.

They had just two field goals and scored only six points in the second quarter as the Reds closed their deficit to one.

Not aiding Kingfisher was Birdwell, who made two 3-pointers and scored seven points in that first quarter, and Kasen Blair getting into foul trouble.

“Then our lineup shortened up,” Connel noted. “Against a zone, we execute better with a certain lineup and we weren’t able to get that lineup in because of foul trouble, so I was pretty displeased with that.”

The Jackets didn’t fare much better in the third as Clinton made two more 3-pointers - after making three in the second - and took the lead.

The Jackets were able to settle down after falling behind and got their deficit within striking distance entering the final eight minutes.

Behind Cash Laird and Hayes White, Kingfisher stormed back to take the lead in the fourth, but Titan Malone’s three-point play with 3:20 to go put the Reds up two possessions.

White made it a one-possession game with a pair of free throws with 3:07 to go.

The Reds’ Ayden Crumley missed two driving buckets on Clinton’s next possession, but the Jackets couldn’t capitalize as Laird’s 3-pointer rolled in and out.

The Reds then aided Kingfisher on their next three possessions as - with the lead - they shot and missed 3-pointers each time.

In between, Laird made 1 of 2 foul shots with 2:00 to play to get KHS within 50-49.

After the Reds missed another trey, White turned it over trying to launch a long pass to Laird.

But Clinton again missed a trey, giving the Jackets the ball with 1:25 left.

A few seconds later, Birdwell made what proved to be the game winner.

Connel said he was proud of the junior for stepping up and knocking down such a big shot.

“There’s been spurts this year where if he misses one or he gets down, he doesn’t take them,” Connel said. “ I want my guys to shoot with confidence when they’re open.”

Crumley missed a jumper on Clinton’s next possession and White pushed it to 53-50 with a free throw with 27 seconds left. The Reds turned it over and the Jackets broke their press with three quick passes, which led to Paytun Burnham laying one off the glass to seal the win.

It was a fitting end to the game for the senior, who spelled Blair when he got into his foul trouble.

He ended up playing 21 minutes, delivered six points (including a two-handed dunk that Connel described as a power finger roll), had three rebounds and two blocks.

“I thought he was huge defensively for us,” Connel said.

After a quiet first half, White also put together a monster game.

He scored 13 of his gamehigh 16 points in the second half, including seven in the fourth quarter.

White also led the way with eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Laird scored six of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Birdwell finished his night with 12 points.

Crumley paced the Reds with 13 points.

It was Kingfisher’s third time to face Clinton this season. After dropping the first showdown in Alva in December, the Jackets have won the last two.

Cushing defeated Kingfi sher 72-52 in the opening round of the Wheat Capital Tournament in January.

The Tigers are ranked 13th in the class and have a 19-7 record. KHS enters the regional with a 15-9 mark.