This was the final game of the Harrah High School tournament. The KHS Redskins were matched against the Pioneers of Stillwater. Yes, that Stillwater, as in Class 6A Stillwater. After being outmanned against Choctaw, and being competitive against Mount St. Mary, Coach Taylor Weibner and his crew were ready to get another win.
The lineup remained the same for the Redskins, Brady Brister, Jase Hayes, Kaden Johnson, Marshall Ludrick and and Jesse Rose. Play was sloppy in the early going. The Redskins came out in a zone defense and were causing turn overs. They were not however turning these into points due to their own miscues. Rose was a beast inside on the boards and his block outs were making it tough on the Pioneers to get a second shot. At the 3:40 mark, Stillwater was leading 6 to 2. At the 1:10 mark, Hayes drove the lane and was fouled. He hit both free throws and the lead was down to 2. Redskins trail, 11 to 9. Hayes again got shots in the lane and this time connected. The game was tied 11 to 11. Pioneers answer with a three to close out the quarter with a 14 to 11 lead.
Second quarter started and the Redskins had cut the lead to 14 to 13. Braden Matchen came off the bench and quickly scored to keep the deficit at 2. Weibner hit two free throws to keep pace. Brister was good from the line for one of two. At the 3:30 mark Stillwater still leading by 2, 20-18. Following a timeout Brister hit a pretty three that cut the lead to 4 with 48 seconds left in the quarter. The Pioneers managed a three pointer at the buzzer to take a lead to the locker room at 30 to 21.
Action in the third had Hayes hitting from underneath. This was followed by what looked to be a clean block by Rose who was whistled. That made his fourth foul . He had to leave the game and was replaced by Matchen. It was barely into the quarter. Brister answered with another three to keep it within 4. The young Redskins refuse to lay down. Hayes again made it to the line and connected for 2. Brister again connects on a pretty three pointer to cut the lead to two at the 3:00 mark. After a defensive stop and good ball movement on the other end, Hayes connected and was fouled. The game was tied at 34 all with 2:00 min. remaining in the quarter. Stillwater quickly scored 5 points and took a 39 to 35 lead to the fourth.
In the final quarter, senior Kaden Johnson had probably his best quarter of his time as a Redskin. Hayes drove inside just to have his bucket waved off after being called for an offensive foul, his fourth. Neither team scored until Johnson broke the ice at the 6:00 mark with a drive, bucket, and a free throw. Redskins down 2, 37-39. Johnson again from inside the paint. Next time down, drives again and fouled. On the next play, he takes the inbounds pass, and dribbles up to the top of the key, and off a pretty Rose screen hits a three. Redskins take the lead at 42 to 41. On the next play the Pioneers answer with two. As calm as can be Johnson drills another two point field goal. The lead in now swapping back and fourth. Back to the Redskins.
The Pioneer coach counters with a zone but man to man on Johnson. Coach Weibner calls his own timeout at the 2:30 mark with a lead at 44 to 43. Redskins come back out on the court with Rose and Matchen in the front court. The Pioneers were pressing to keep the ball out of Johnsons hand. Hayes was fouled and hit both to give the Redskins a three point lead with 1:27 to go.
On one of the strangest plays, Pioneers were inbounding the ball under the Redskins goal. The ball was thrown in just as the receiving player looked up court. The ball went across court and out of bounds not touching anything. Redskins had the ball back with 33 seconds to play. On the inbounds play Matchen came free underneath and put it right in. The lead now was five with 29 seconds left. After missing on a three attempt the Pioneers connect on their next try. On the inbound play Brister was fouled with 5.9 seconds. Brister missed the front end of the one and one and Stillwater rebounds and pushes the ball up court to miss a open three point attempt at the buzzer. Redskins survive with a 48 to 46 win.
After the win Weibner had this to say, “We made enough solid basketball plays to win. We are still trying to figure out who we are as a team and we have a bunch of kinks to work out. But we feel confident we have enough good players and we will get better quickly. We really need practice time”. This of course referencing the deep run into the football playoffs for players like Hayes, Rose, Matchen and Ty Herndon.
When asked to comment on the Harrah tournament, Weibner said, “It was a very tough tournament with all high quality teams. Choctaw was way better than us. But the other two (Mount St. Mary and Stillwater) we competed with.”
Final game stats: Hayes 15 points, Johnson 14 points (10 in the fourth), Brister 13 points, Matchen 4 and Weibner 2.