Bartlesville-area hoops: Season hits in full force this week
Hard to believe but high school basketball has completely swam into action.
Copan has been the busiest team — as of Tuesday night, the Hornets and Lady Hornets each played three games the previous two weeks and should have six under their belt by this weekend.
All other area teams are pretty much sitting at two-to-four games.
But, it’s not all been happy. Wesleyan Christian School has put its girls basketball program on hiatus for the time being after it started the season with a low number of players.
Following is a glance at how area programs had fared through Monday.
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BARTLESVILLE BOYS: The Bruins are off to a 1-1 mark and leading scorer David Castillo is averaging approximately 30 points per game. Next up, the Bruins begin competition in the prestigious Norm Stewart Classic, which begins on Dec. 15, in Columbia, Mo. The classic features 48 hours of consecutive basketball play and raises funds for various causes. Later in December, the Bruins will play in the Tournament of Champions in Tulsa. Castillo threw in 42 points and Mike Smith added 23 in Bartlesville’s 85-65 win last week against Sapulpa.
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BARTLESVILLE GIRLS: The Lady Bruins (0-1) displayed glimpses of streaking athleticism and sharpshooting from the three-point line in a loss to highly favored and state championship contender Sapulpa, 93-43. After Tuesday’s game against Bixby (played after the deadline for today’s paper), The Lady Bruins will then be off until Dec. 27 when they open play in an out-of-town tourney.
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DEWEY TEAMS: The Doggers and Lady Doggers are both 1-0 after competitive losses last weekend against Nowata. They play this week in the Adair tourney. Three Dewey boys scored in double figures against Nowata.
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CANEY VALLEY TEAMS: The Trojans have displayed plenty of promise despite a major rebuilding endeavor by veteran head coach Tug Brinker. They are 1-1, including a competitive 40-31 setback against Oklahoma Union. The Caney Valley girls started out on first, defeating their first two opponents by 38 and 16 points, respectively. Sammi Gilbreath, Jade Upton and Chloe Scherman have been the Lady Trojans’ three leading scorers. After Tuesday’s game against Wyandotte (played after the newspaper deadline), Caney Valley takes on its Kansas namesake Caney Valley (Caney, Kan.) in a showdown on Friday.
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WESLEYAN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL BOYS: The Mustangs have stampeded to a 2-0 start, including Monday’s 71-13 rout of South Coffeyville in the opening round of the Copan Tournament. Tyrel Cloud led WCS’ balanced scoring sheet with 16 points, while Mason Jensen, Kyle Kelley and Kael Siemers each added nine points. “We just wanted to make defense our main priority,” said second-year WCS head coach Steven Cooks. “We started out really well on defense and our offense flowed through it.” The Mustangs play in the tourney semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, against either Prue or Foyil.
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OKLAHOMA UNION BOYS: Prior to several months ago, Brad Hall thought he was done stumbling across his home threshold after late-night games. But, unforeseen circumstances and his own loyal nature put him back in the coaching saddle again for the Cougars. He didn’t leave the Nowata gym until 11 a.m. Monday on the first night of the Ty Hewitt Memorial Tournament. But, at least he walked out a big winner. His Cougars clipped the Oologah Mustangs, 45-42, to advance to Thursday’s semifinal showdown at 8:30 p.m. against a strong Coffeyville (Kan.) team. The Cougars trailed most the way Monday until Tyler Pierce hit the go-ahead bucket in the fourth quarter. Bodee West finished with a flurry of nine points to elevate the Cougars. Seniors Levi Kreider and Kaide Hill added 11 and nine points, respectively. “We played poorly in the first half (6-of-16 free throws, 15 turnovers),” Hall said. “But, (the players) just never gave up.” Oklahoma Union improved to 3-1.
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COPAN TEAMS: The Hornets buzzed to a 2-1 start in their first three games, with two of them decided by a single digit. Kolton Stacy is Copan’s new boys head coach. Freshman Kane Foreman has displayed a hot shooting hand. The Copan girls went 0-3 out of the gate, but never suited up more than six healthy players in any of those games and had just five in uniform for one of them. Coached by Kristy Bryan, the Lady Hornets boast some very strong individual talent and are trying to put it together.
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BARNSDALL TEAMS: the Lady Panthers are sitting at 1-2, including a loss Monday to Quapaw in the opening round of the Copan tourney. Barnsdall boys charge from the starting line to forge a 1-1 record, with a 40-20 win against Bluejacket.
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OKLAHOMA UNION GIRLS: The Lady Cougars are off to an uncharacteristic 0-3 start and play this week in the Nowata tourney.
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NOWATA TEAMS: New head coach Thad Hewitt has guided the Lady Ironmen to a 2-0 record, with wins against rival Dewey and Chelsea. Next up, the Lady Ironmen play at 7 p.m. Thursday night in their home tourney. Coming into this week, the Nowata Ironmen had beaten Dewey in their own only game. They are led by second-year head coach Nate Smith.
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PAWHUSKA TEAMS: The Huskies and Lady Huskies opened their seasons this week.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Update on how Bartlesville-area basketball games have opened season
