Jackets returning to form

Kingfisher had to scrap for a come-from-behind victory on homecoming night, then put on a shooting display on the road the next evening to piece together a couple of wins.

The comeback came against Community Christian as the Jackets survived 55-54.

Despite leading by 13 in the second quarter, Kingfi sher found itself trailing 51-48 with just 2:35 to play.

The deficit came after KHS turned it over on three straight possessions and Lucas Turner scored his only bucket for the three-point Royal lead.

Homecoming king Jackson Willbanks pulled his team within 51-50 with 2:25 remaining and after KHS got a stop, Michael Easley’s bucket gave the home team a one-point lead at the 1:22 mark.

Community Christian worked the clock down to 16 seconds and, after a timeout, Joey Cox sailed a pass out of bounds.

That set up a pair of clutch free throws by Croston Martin with 12.8 seconds to play, giving the Jackets a 54-51 advantage.

History repeated itself with 10 seconds left as the Royals attempted the same type of inbounds play from the sideline and it had the same result - sailing out of bounds on the other side of the court.

That set up an Easley free throw with 9.8 seconds to play for a four-point Kingfi sher advantage.

Greyson Lowrey made a meaningless 3-pointer for the Royals as time expired to make it a one-point game.

The Jackets got a big part of their early lead as Hayes White started returning to his pre-concussion form.

The senior guard scored 15 in the first half and helped the Jackets build a 30-17 lead.

But the Royals made three straight treys and pulled within 32-30 by halftime.

Easley scored 6 in the third as the Jackets slightly extended their lead to four points.

Easley finished with 14 and 4 rebounds.

Cash Laird had 8 first quarter points as KHS posted 22 as a team. He scored 11 overall and added 4 rebounds.

Martin scored all 7 of his points in the second half and Willbanks finished with 6.

White led the way with 17 and contributed 4 assists and 3 steals.

The Jackets knocked down 11 3-pointers - including eight in the first half - in Friday’s 68-49 win in the Tornado Dome.

Laird and Martin made two apiece in the first quarter as the Jackets battled back-and-forth with the feisty Reds, who were on a 15-game losing streak.

Up two after a quarter, the Jackets extended their lead to 32-23 by halftime.

Laird added two more treys and this time Easley chipped in two of his own.

Kingfisher took command with a 25-point third quarter and saw its lead grow to 21.

Once again, Laird played a role.

While he “only” made one 3-pointer in the quarter, he scored 12 to finish with a game-high 24 points.

Easley scored 16 and added 6 rebounds while White scored 9 of his 10 in the second half.

Martin added a third trey of his own in the fourth to score 9 points and help KHS improve to 15-6.