Kingfisher: PH Circuit Challenges lead to Winter Success

About an hour to the northwest of Oklahoma City, the small town of Kingfisher has played a pivotal role in prep Oklahoma basketball for over the last half decade. In 2017, an underdog Yellowjacket squad led by sophomores Jett Sternberger and Trey Green took the Class 4A State Tournament by storm and won the title. The machine only grew larger when a pair of hyped freshmen, Bijan Cortes and Matthew Stone joined the program the following season. Under the tutelage of head coach Jared Reese and his staff (one of the best tacticians in the state), the Yellowjackets’ run from 2017-2021 netted three Class 4A State Titles and the respect of the whole state as one of the best programs regardless of size in Oklahoma. The ballyhooed core of that group, Jett Sternberger (Rogers State/Southeastern Oklahoma State), Trey Green (Oklahoma Baptist), Bijan Cortes (Oklahoma) and Matthew Stone (North Texas) are all enjoying stellar college careers at high levels. Given the production and talent that left town over the summer, it would be understandable if a step back was taken by the program. In international soccer terms, the last five years would be called a Golden Generation. As it’s rare to see such a talented group emerge and play together for one small town. Even though the Yellowjackets lost on Tuesday, it was their first loss of the year. And it came against a Class 5A squad. Kingfisher still only has four losses against fellow 4A opponents dating back to November of 2016. One reason why Kingfisher is enjoying such success this year during a perceived rebuilding year is the commitment the players of the team made to each other last spring and summer. Modern AAU has an emphasis on exposure and highlighting individual accomplishments. The platform Grassroots Circuits provide to be recruited is a necessity in the current basketball climate. Instead of splitting up, the returning Kingfisher players chose to remain together and play under the watchful eye of Justin Mecklenburg, the father of [player_tooltip player_id="1211251" first="Maddox" last="Mecklenburg"]. “Last spring after KHS won the State Championship and these boys knew that they were "up next" they got together and decided that the best thing they could do to prepare for this season was to play AAU ball together as a team,” said Justin Meckenlberg in a recent interview. The roster for the summer was: Kingfisher Jackets 2023 PrepHoops Circuit Roster [player_tooltip player_id="1211251" first="Maddox" last="Mecklenburg"] [player_tooltip player_id="1211253" first="Xavier" last="Ridenour"] Cash Slezickey Caden Kitchens Drake Friesen Jud Birdwell [player_tooltip player_id="1200313" first="Chase" last="Davis"] (an early injury unfortunately cut his time on the circuit short) Meckenlberg had coached many of the players on the team as far back as the third grade. The chemistry and unselfishness they had developed over years led to success in many local tournaments. Knowing they needed to continue to find new challenges, they applied and were approved to be part of the PrepHoops Grind Region Circuit. On the circuit the young Jackets would face new challenges and experiences they couldn’t receive in local summer league games. “The biggest thing we gained from playing together on the AAU circuit was confidence,” said Mecklenburg. “We are not a physically impressive looking team...our tallest player was 6 foot 3, we only had 7 players and we are from small town, rural Oklahoma. I can’t even count the number of times that coaches from other AAU teams talked with me after our games about how impressed they were with our discipline, efficiency and aggressive play from our boys. Every team we played was bigger, stronger, faster and could jump higher than us...but we had that undeniable team chemistry. As the summer progressed, Mecklenburg relayed with pride that they became known as “the school team from Oklahoma." At one point they were even ranked as high as 7th in the region. A very impressive accomplishment for a team of 7 players from a small town in Oklahoma. AAU circuits for the foreseeable future will remain the primary method of players gaining college exposure. Still, it’s fun to see the other roles they can play in the development of players and teams. Even though they have a balanced and unselfish offense, juniors [player_tooltip player_id="1211253" first="Xavier" last="Ridenour"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1211251" first="Maddox" last="Mecklenburg"] are both enjoying breakout individual seasons. Ridenour particularly has a knack for scoring the basketball. Mecklenburg is a balanced guard that does whatever is required of him for team success. Collegiate basketball likely is in their future for not only their on the court production but the intangibles they bring. In the early half of the 2010s, Union won two Class 6A crowns in 2012 and 2014. A factor to their success was that the bulk of their roster during that time frame also played together for the AAU season coached by parents of the players. The average daily enrollment of Union then was in the 4,200 range, only slightly smaller than the entire town of Kingfisher. It’s remarkable the challenge and desire for competition that the seven young men from Kingfisher took on, and it’s paying off. “Playing on the PH Circuit against those talented teams really gave us the confidence that we could play with anyone...there is never a reason to believe we won’t win when we step onto the court.” The attitude the elder Mecklenburg conveyed is being backed up by on the court success by his son and teammates. They’re currently ranked number one and remain firmly in the mix for the Class 4A State Championship. “Being from a small town these boys not only play basketball together, they simply do life together. They are the best of friends and have been an extremely tight group from a very early age. I have coached and watched a ton of basketball over the years, and I can honestly say that I have never seen a team that is as unselfish as this team. They genuinely don’t care who gets the stats. They just want to win.” Winning, it’s what Kingfisher basketball does.