CUE UP THE DEBUT: BHS hoops teams host Sapulpa tonight

Bartlesville High School basketball mentor Clent Stewart is doing an almost-Captain Kirk.

Stewart is close to boldly going where no Bruin head coach has gone before.

Entering his ninth season in charge of the Bruin hoops program, he is now the second-longest tenured Bruin head coach.

He trails only his predecessor Tim Bart (2000-14, 14 seasons) in guiding the Bruins fortunes. Stewart has now surpassed Wes Brown (1992-2000, eight seasons).

Stewart will make his home debut for historic season number nine when the Bruins play host at 8 p.m. tonight against Sapulpa.

The contest will follow the varsity girls game at 6:30 p.m.

This will be the 41st home opener for the Bruins and Lady Bruins since the school opened in 1982.

Fittingly, Bartlesville’s boys’ team features junior point guard David Castillo, one of the elite players in the Bruins’ annals.

Castillo averaged about 25 points per game his freshman and sophomore years and is on track to be Bartlesville’s all-time leading scorer.

He’s a two-time gold medal winner with USA Basketball in international competitions. This past fall Castillo saw more blitzes than Justin Fields when it came to a full-out charge by several Division I basketball coaches to Bartlesville to make recruiting contact with Castillo.

In addition to dropping the peach through the lace, Castillo also is Bartlesville’s returning playmaker and a pretty fair country rebounder.

Complementing him is third-year starting senior Addhi Ayyappan, who has transformed the pass two seasons from mainly a defensive specialist to a scoring mechanic.

Rounding out Stewart’s starting lineup in last Saturday’s season-opener — a 53-39 loss to South Oak Cliff High (Texas) in the Thanksgiving Hoopfest in Duncanville, Texas — included second-year first-string guard Dayton McCall and forwards Caleb Rogers and Michael Smith.

Illness might alter Friday’s starting five, Stewart said.

Some of the first Bruins off the bench could be forward — and defending high jump state champion — Jack Wahl, sharpshooting guard Riley Duong and veteran varsity reserve Chance Sumner.

“I think we played nine or 10 guys last weekend,” Stewart said.

The Bruins saw a couple of flaws exposed during the battle against South Oak Cliff, which is one of the Class 5A state championship contenders in Texas.

“We have to be more aggressive in getting into the paint,” to help set up more penetration-kickout opportunities, Stewart said. “We have to figure out ways to get David open. … We’ve got to guard better and do a better job of talking and communicating on the defensive end. We got some good open shots but we didn’t make some of (them). We’ve got to be more confident in scoring.”

Sapupa, which finished 4-19 last year and lost by nearly 20 points to Bartlesville, returned several players, Stewart said.

“It could be a good test at our place,” he said. “I’m excited for the season. … We’re looking to bounce back (from last Saturday’s setback).”

Expectations for this Bruin group remain high and Stewart praised the turnout at Tuesday’s Hype Night public scrimmage.

While the boys are looking to build on a winning record (12-11) last season, the Lady Bruins are focused on bouncing back from a 4-20 mark.

Second-year head coach Justyn Shaw had a full offseason to work with the girls and install his system and philosophy — versus last year when he didn’t become head coach until after summer ball had ended.

Actually, last year’s record didn’t accurately reflect Bartlesville’s competitive level — which was much higher than four wins.

Some of the scrappy valiant efforts included:

— a 59-51 loss at Broken Arrow. (No. 12, 6A).

— a 50-47 loss at Owasso (No. 19, 6A).

— a 42-36 loss to Del City (No. 6, 5A),

— a 51-49 loss at home to B.T. Washington (No. 18, 6A)

— and late-season 11-point losses to Owasso and Jenks.

Among Shaw’s most-experienced veterans are Mikka Chambers, Kaelynn “K.K.” Duncan and Grace McPhail.

Returning sophomores Alayah Dunn and Kadance Barnett both cut their teeth on varsity minutes and senior forward Karlee Joseph has been a solid program presence should provide strong leadership.

Sapulpa is a rugged crew to start with it.

The Lady Chieftains downed Bartlesville by more than 20 points in last year’s meeting and went on to advance to the Class 5A state semifinals.

Following tonight’s games, Bartlesville will be back home next Tuesday to host Bixby for the last home game of December.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville High hoop teams eye Sapulpa in season opener