Game 1 TOC vs The Ville

Well, your Jackets opened up the Tournament of Champions with a victory over the Bartlesville Bruins.

Nothing too surprising to regular Jacket fans. Kitch staying steady, X being X and so on.

One thing to take notice of is the third quarter score. Kingfisher outscored the Bruins 19-9. As a devout follower of Jacket basketball, this is no surprise. The Jackets have a long history of opening the second half on a mission fueled by the adjustments made by the best coaching staff in the state of Oklahoma. Seriously, the entire state. The Thunder would love to have a staff like Reese and Co.

Another point of interest is the production of one Drake Friesen, who happens to be a SofaKing Athlete. The kid stepped up tonight and provided the support the team needed.

This is one of the many strong points of this team in that so many players are capable of doing just what Friesen did, but I for one loved seeing Drake have a good game in a big game atmosphere.

Drake will say that he fouled out and that he could've done more but I say, Nay! Drake was a victim of poor officiating, as was Jax. The Jackets played against 8 or at least 6 tonight. One referee accounted for more than his fair share of calls and most of them, if not all were against the Jackets. But it is what it is.

Drake came out and kept the Jackets in the game and that's what matters. He should be very proud of what he did tonight and build on it from here on out. Which, by the way, is exactly what the coaching staff is hoping to achieve playing in this tournament. Not just for Drake, but for the entire team.

Stay tuned fans for coverage of game 2, which I hope to attend in person.