KHS bucks reigning champ Lady Bronchos

Playing the two-time defending state champion on the road, the Kingfisher High School girls basketball team had two starters sit a majority of the first half with two fouls.

One of them - Raegan Snider - would combine with another starter - Reese Roof - to have no field goals and a total of two points at halftime.

And, as it turned out, Snider, the team’s lone senior, wouldn’t score at all against the fifth-ranked team in Class 4A.

And yet… Kingfisher won? Indeed the Lady Jackets did.

KHS got 21 points from Abbie Myers, an inspired effort by a freshman off the bench and Roof eventually found her stroke as the Lady Jackets knocked off Bethany 54-44.

TheLadyBronchosdon’t feature the roster full of Division I talent that’s won the last two state titles, but still feature Kayten Donley, a 6-foot-1 signee with Oral Roberts University, and enough talent around her for coaches to rank them fifth in the class.

Donley lived up to her billing as she poured in 19 points and had nine rebounds.

She had six points in the first quarter as her team built an early lead as Snider and Adlee Friesen picked up two fouls apiece and found their way to the bench.

Enter Ela Hartman, who didn’t shy away from the moment.

She scored five points in the first quarter to go along with Myers’ eight.

KHS closed within a point by the end of the quarter, then outscored Bethany 16-11 in the second quarter.

Myers and Hartman had 21 of Kingfisher’s 29 points.

“Ela came in and was a huge spark for us when our starters got in foul trouble,” said coach Taylor Young. “And Maya Haney also came in and provided some valuable minutes for us defensively.”

Donley scored all nine of her team’s points in the third quarter, but Kingfisher extended its lead by a point.

After struggling early, Roof was able to knock down a 3-pointer in the third.

The junior then hit two more early in the fourth and Myers another one - as part of a Kingfisher run that allowed the Lady Jackets to begin to pull away.

The defense took care of the rest, holding Bethany to nine points in the fourth.

The Lady Jackets forced 20 turnovers in the game and scored 16 points off of them.

Roof, who finished with 12 points, had six steals in the game.

She also had three assists as KHS handed out 15 total assists against eight turnovers.

Mattie Slezickey led the team with four assists to go with her four points.

Hartman ended her night with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

On top of leading the team in scoring, Myers provided seven rebounds and three steals.

Though she didn’t score, Snider still managed seven boards and three assists for the Lady Jackets, who entered the game ranked sixth in 4A.