KHS legends square off
Stone, UNT to take on Cortes, WSU Thursday on ESPN2
KHS STANDOUTS Bijan Cortes (14) and Matthew Stone embrace after winning the 2021 Class 4A state championship. Their respective collegiate teams play each other this Thursday. [Photo by Kaitlin St. Cyr]
Matthew Stone
Bijan Cortes
Bijan Cortes and Matthew Stone [Photo by Russell Stitt]
Two people largely responsible for the best winning percentage in Oklahoma high school boys basketball history will be opponents this week.
The University of North Texas mens basketball program will head north Thursday night to take on the Wichita State Shockers. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. and the game will be aired on ESPN2.
While that game normally wouldn’t move the needle in Kingfisher County, it will garner an especially large interest here, particularly in the county seat.
That’s because North Texas features Matthew Stone while the Shockers’ roster includes Bijan Cortes.
Together, the two led KHS to a 107-4 record while starting all four years of their high school careers.
“It’s crazy it has been this long to finally get a chance to play against each other,” Stone said. “The last time we got to compete against each other between the lines was preseason of our senior year, making each other better.”
The Jackets won state championships in 2019 and 2021 and were state runners- up in 2018. They were denied a shot at the 2020 title when COVID canceled the state tournament.
The .964 win percentage is the best four-year run by any Oklahoma boys basketball program ever.
“It was a special time and they were two special players,” said Jared Reese, their high school coach at Kingfisher who now coaches the Dover boys.
Indeed they were. During his senior campaign, in which KHS went 25-1 and defeated Heritage Hall for the state title, Cortes averaged 21.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.7 steals. Stone averaged 15.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals. They combined for over 3,500 career points and more highlight-reel plays than these pages could hold.
Out of high school, Cortes signed with the University of Oklahoma.
After two seasons with the Sooners, Cortes looked for a change of scenery.
He found it with the Shockers, though it would have to wait longer than he hoped.
Cortes had to sit out WSU’s first 11 games awaiting NCAA clearance.
He finally received it and made his debut Dec. 21 against Kansas State.
Cortes has played in two games, the loss to Kansas State and last Saturday’s defeat to No. 2 Kansas.
The Shockers are currently 8-5 on the season.
“I’m excited for sure,” said Cortes of the matchup with his high school teammate.
“I loved playing with Matt and felt we always pushed each other to make each other better in practice.
“It should be a lot of fun to go up against each other in a real game.”
Stone signed with North Texas the same day Cortes signed with the Sooners.
He played in 13 games as a freshman and all 38 games last season, starting two of them.
North Texas eventually won the NIT Tournament last March.
Through 12 games this season, Stone has played in every contest and averaged 3.0 points and 1.8 rebounds a game.
His team is 7-5 overall. “It’s going to be a fun battle for the both of us,” Stone said.