COP/ARVEST ACTION: Balanced BHS Bruins zap Wildcats, 85-48

Balanced scoring, thy name is Bartlesville High boys basketball.

At least is was Thursday night.

Four different Bruins scored in double figures — and a plethora of other Bruins added additional points, to power Bartlesville to an 85-48 dismantling of the Ponca City High Wildcats.

The victory launched the Bruins into Friday's semifinals — against Carl Albert High — in the ConocoPhillips/Arvest Invitational in Bartlesville.

Other first-round scores Thursday included: Bixby 69, Stillwater 64; Carl Albert 65, Hirschi (Wichita Falls, Texas) 50; and Millwood 50, Southmoore 44.

Play wraps up Saturday at the Bruin Fieldhouse. Bartlesville will play for either third or first place.

Saturday's schedule will feature a different format. The boys' seventh-place game will take place at 11:30 a.m. in the Phillips Fieldhouse, while the consolation championship (fifth place) tips off at 11:30 a.m. in the Bruin Fieldhouse.

The third-place showdown is slated for 2:30 p.m. in the Bruin Fieldhouse, with the championship battle set for 5:30 p.m. at the Bruin Fieldhouse.

Bartlesville — which is coached by Clent Stewart — got off to an explosive tourney start Thursday by picking apart Ponca City like a Thanksgiving turkey.

The Bruins — who have suffered some frustrating losses this season — put everything together. It wasn't a perfect effort — but it ranked somewhere one the achievement chart between great and exceptional.

With David Castillo, Dayton McCall, Michael Smith III, Aadhi Ayyappan, Cooper Wood and others sharing the ball with the synchronicity of of a car distributor, the offense purred along.

Reaching double-figures points for Bartlesville were Castillo, 22; Smith, 18; Ayyappan, 17; and McCall, 10.

On one note of interest, the Bruins have won every time Smith has tallied 10-or-more points.

Also harvesting points for Bartlesville were: Riley Duong, six; Grant Clark, three ( a trey); Jack Wahl, three; Caleb Rogers, two (a slam dunk); Chance Sumner, two; and Jacob Veit, two.

Sumner tallied his basket on a back cut after Wood zipped him the ball from outside the arc.

For Ponca City, Tay Moore drilled 22 points.

The Bruins (3-5) were all business from the opening tip — not only in focus but in body language.

McCall opened the scoring off a fast break layup — with Smith making the trigger pass. A layup by Ayyappan — off Castillo's assist pushed the Bruins to a 5-2 lead. Moments later, Smith fed Castillo for the game's first three-pointer as the Bruins increased their lead, 8-4.

Rogers then contributed a momentum builder by blocking an attempted Ponca City lay-up off the backboard.

Bartlesville's stifling full-court pressure also began to take its toll — during one stretch in the first quarter, McCall and Ayyappan converted backcourt steals into back-to-back layups to widen the gap to 16-6 and force Ponca City's first timeout.

But, the Wildcats just had no effective answers to break down the Bruin defense or disrupt the Bruin offense.

Following the time out, Castillo attacked from the left wing, gliding and juking between two defenders and hitting a layup to make it an 18-6 game.

That was part of an 18-0 run by the Bruins to forge a 20-point lead, 26-6.

Ponca City's Luke Hollis finally ended the Wildcats' drought — but couldn't slow down the Bruin attack.

In the last play of the first quarter, Wood came out to the high post, caught a pass from Castillo, made a return pass and set a screen that Castillo shot over for a three-pointer and a 29-10 Bartlesville lead.

The Bruins led by 27 at halftime, 49-22.

The charged up Bruin student section erupted like a waterfall of thunder when Rogers dunked the ball in the third quarter.

Wahl also delivered a couple of belligerent blocks and also rocketed toward the ceiling to make a two-handed steal of a Ponca City lob pass toward the paint.

When the final buzzer sounded, Bartlesville strolled off the court with its second home win in three appearances and infused with new energy.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville High boys basketball team tames Ponca Wildcats