Reese pieces together solid debut

There were several known pieces of this version of the Kingfisher High School girls basketball team that gave outsiders optimism about the upcoming season.

There are also a couple of unknown pieces, one of them being newcomer Reese Roof.

The daughter of new KHS football coach Reagan Roof, the junior guard is someone Kingfisher was familiar with as an opponent from her playing days at Weatherford.

But how would she fit in with the Lady Jackets.

If the season opener is any indication, the answer is: Quite nicely.

Roof scored a game-high 20 points Tuesday, which was just part of a complete effort in a 56-41 victory at home against Merritt.

“Reese showed a glimpse of what all she can do,” coach Taylor Young said after her squad beat the reigning Class 2A state champion, which opened the season ranked No. 4 in that class.

On top of knocking down four 3-pointers, Roof added five assists, five steals and three rebounds.

As a team, KHS recorded 13 steals and 16 assists, both pleasing to Young.

“This is a very unselfish group of girls who just want to win and compete,” Young said.

Among the known properties entering the season is senior Raegan Snider, who recently signed to play at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

Merritt dedicated a lot of attention to the Lady Jackets’ standout post player, but she still delivered 17 points.

“It was a good game for her even though she saw double teams and triple teams all night,” said Young.

After Merritt took an early 3-0 lead, KHS answered with a 7-0 run that started with a Snider bucket in the paint and ended with Roof’s first trey.

Roof knocked down another 3-pointer at 1:59 of the first quarter to push KHS to a 17-9 lead.

She had 11 points at halftime, when Kingfisher led 28-16, then scored nine more points in the third quarter as Kingfisher extended its lead to 19.

Mattie Slezickey chipped in nine points for KHS while Abbie Myers scored six.

Merritt was led by Marlie Mong’s 17 points while Gracee Carnes scored 15.

One area Young wants to see improved is the 14 turnovers by her team. She noted that improvement was already seen in the second half, when KHS cut down its miscues to five.

An aspect she liked was Kingfisher’s ability to push the ball up the floor.

“I was happy with our ability to get out in transition and run the floor,” she said. “We have been working to play more of an up-tempo style of play offensively and I think that is going to play in our favor as we go throughout the season.”