Bartlesville teams fall in Tulsa, tourney next

Bartlesville High basketball teams approached their challenges Tuesday night with different styles but still suffered defeat at BT Washington High in their January debuts.

The Bartlesville Lady Bruins made a tremendous fourth quarter rally — which could be labeled as Lunn-derful — but the Washington Lady Hornets still held on to win, 68-57.

In the boys game, Bartlesville trailed by just three points at halftime, 29-26. But, foul woes — and shooting struggles — took their toll on the Bruins in the second half and Washington pulled away to a 77-48 victory.

Next up, Bartlesville squads open up play Thursday night in the ConocoPhillips/Arvest Invitational at the Bruin Fieldhouse. The Bruins will play Ponca City at 8:30 p.m., following the Lady Bruins vs. Tulsa Memorial contest at 7 p.m.

Thursday's first day tournament schedule is:

Boys —

Bartlesville (2-5) vs. Ponca City (2-6), 8:30 p.m.

Hirschi (Texas) (7-8) vs. Carl Albert (6-2), 5:30 p.m.

Southmoore (5-2) vs. Millwood (3-5), 2:30 p.m.

Stillwater (2-4) vs. Bixby (4-2), 11:30 a.m.

Girls —

Bartlesville (2-3) vs. Tulsa Memorial (1-2), 7 p.m.

BT Washington (4-1) vs. Stillwater (2-4), 4 p.m.

Del City (3-3) vs. Southmoore (0-6), 1 p.m.

Broken Arrow (2-4) vs. Millwood (3-2), 10 a.m.

Following are more details from Tuesday's games.

—

BOYS: BTW 77, Bartlesville 48

The contest evolved into a tale of two halves. Even though the Bruin offense never found its full voice, first-half defense kept the Bruins toe-to-toe against the favored Hornets.

Bruin guard David Castillo drilled a three-pointer to open the scoring and he scored Bartlesville's first five points. The Bruins powered to an 8-2 lead on Riley Duong's trey. A couple of minutes later, he nailed another bomb to keep Bartlesville well in front, 11-4.

Washington then caught up, but Bartlesville didn't allow the Hornets to break away. Dayton McCall hit multiple buckets in the second quarter to help the Bruins match Washington's scoring. Aadhi Ayyappan popped in a two-pointer for Bartlesville that tied the score, 26-26. Washington put in a trey to finish off the first half scoring.

But, the keys for Bartlesville's second-half struggles had already been planted, especially with big men Michael Smith III and Caleb Rogers both drawing three fouls in the first half. Their playing time and opportunity to contribute were limited in the second half.

Washington dominated the third quarter, 25-6, to assume a commanding advantage, 54-32. Bartlesville opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 spurt, sparked by Castillo, to get within 17, 54-37.

However, the tide was just too strong for the Bruins to overcome.

Castillo finished with 15 points, followed by Ayyappan also in double figures.

Bartlesville (2-6) is 1-2 in the Frontier Valley Conference. The Bruins will look to push their game to a new level when they play in the COP/Arvest tourney.

—

GIRLS: BTW 68, Bartlesville 57

Through the first three quarters, Bartlesville appeared to be a one-legged duck sucked into a vortex.

But, the Lady Bruins found the strength and character to make one final push for victory — one that smacked of overtones of a miracle.

However, the Washington Lady Hornets recovered in time to hold off Bartlesville (2-5) in the final stretch.

By halftime, Washington seemed well in control with a 47-30 lead. The end of the third period witnessed the Lady Hornets with a 21-point lead, 60-39.

However, the Lady Bruins unleashed surprise weapon Alayah Lunn. The sophomore guard created a one-person offensive wrecking crew to supplement Bartlesville's combustible comeback desires.

The Lady Bruins opened the quarter with a 13-2 run — led by Lunn, who hadn't scored in the first three quarters, and Mikka Chambers — to slice the Lady Hornets' lead to 10 points, 62-52.

Bartlesville continued to assault Washington's lead by pulling within nine, 64-55, on Lunn's three-pointer, which gave her 12 points in the quarter. Shortly after, Kaelynn Duncan netted a bucket to make it a seven-point game, 64-57.

But, the Lady Bruins were then forced to foul and Washington hit just enough free throws (4-of-6) in the final minute to disrupt Bartlesville's uprising.

Duncan and Lunn tallied 19 and 12 points, respectively, to lead Bartlesville in scoring. Chambers, Grace McPhail, Kadance Barnett, Kenzie Denny and Emma Zimmerman also contributed to the point total.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Lady Bruins rally; Bruins start hot in losses at BT Washington