HOOPS OPENER DRAWS NEAR: Bruins eye 1st game in two weeks
14 days.
That’s the countdown to Bartlesville High School’s varsity basketball season opener.
Meanwhile, Bruin fans eye the opportunity for a couple of scrimmage previews plus Hype Night prior to then.
Boys basketball head coach Clent Stewart — in his ninth year leading the team — welcomes back several veterans from last year’s squad, including three returning starters and a handful of experienced talent off the bench.
In addition, Booker T. Washington graduate Mike Smith brings fresh talent and athleticism to what could be a special mix.
Leading the main cast of characters for Bartlesville are last year’s top two leading scorers — junior David Castillo and senior Aadhi Ayyappan.
Castillo already has established himself as one of the elite scorers in Bruin history — if not also for the Frontier Valley Conference.
A starter since the first game of his freshman year, Castillo, a six-foot-2 point guard, has averaged approximately 25 points per game the past two seasons and already has surpassed the 1,000-point career mark.
This has been a hectic fall for Castillo, whose ability — and ranking as one of the nation’s premier high school prospects out of the Class of 2024 — has been a magnet for recruiters from some of the nation’s premier college programs.
This past week, University of Kansas had coach Bill Self paid a second visit to Bartlesville to observe and talk to Castillo. Kansas is the defending NCAA national champion.
But, due to the limited portal coaches can personally recruit juniors, the pilgrimage of coaches to and from Bartlesville has slowed up, Stewart said.
Ayyappan, also a back court dynamo, averaged high in double figure scoring last year.
Dayton McCall earned a starting spot last year also in the backcourt and brings multiple skills to the court as well as a cool head and hustle.
Stewart also is waiting on some other athletes, such as veteran power forward Cooper Woods and others, to finish up with football and join the basketball team. Jack Wahl, the defending Class 6A high jump champion, is injured but will be an important asset, Stewart said.
Chance Sumner was part of the varsity rotation last season at forward but saw limited minutes.
Some of the new faces on varsity will include Smith, Caleb Rogers, Eli Robertson, Riley Duong and others.
“We’ve got a lot of guys in the mix,” Stewart said. “We’re excited about this group. We’ll be able to throw some different lineups together. I think it will make us more versatile. We’re excited about those possibilities.”
The Bruins powered to a 12-11 record last season — the team’s first winning mark seven years and just two seasons removed from a 1-22 season.
While its hard to forecast level of success — due to the whacky twists and turns of the Frontier Valley Conference — the Bruins are setting their expectations high, especially two explosive three-year starters back in Castillo and Ayyappan.
Stewart set a challenging November scrimmage schedule to hasten the chemistry building between the veterans and new varsity forces.
Earlier this month, Bartlesville traveled to Coweta to go up against Coweta and another team.
The Bruins then traveled to the Elite 14 preseason tournament in Wichita Falls, Texas, where they took on Mansfield Summit, Richardson and South Grand Prairie.
“We saw a lot of athleticism and a lot of talent,” Stewart said. “We got to see a lot of speed in the games. We got tired early but got better as the day went on. We shot the ball at a high clip.”
Then, last week the Bruins traveled to Tulsa to face Holland Hall and Tulsa Webster.
“I thought we did okay,” Stewart said. “We went through some motions. We’ve got keep our focus on what we’ve got to do.”
Next Tuesday, Bartlesville has planned its first home scrimmage against Collinsville. Starting time is 3:30 p.m.
On the 19th, the Bruins board the bus to bounce down to Edmond to face Edmond North, Westmoore and Edmond Memorial.
The Bruins will be back home to scrimmage on the 22nd against Claremore.
The regular season opener is set for Nov. 26 in a Texas tournament. Hype Night is planned for the following Tuesday and the regular season home opener is slated for Dec. 2.
In revisiting his two most experienced starters, Stewart said he believes Castillo “is doing a better job of finding guys and putting them in the right spots. I think he has extended his range offensively as far as shooting the ball. I can tell he’s locked in and focused and leading guys, talking to them. I’ve seen him take on that role.”
Stewart said he’d like to see Castillo expand his game with more assists and more rebounds.
“We want him to be more active on rebounds on the defensive side,” in order to trigger the transition game more quickly, Stewart added.
Ayyappan “has been shooting the ball really well,” Stewart said. “He may be playing point guard a little more this year. I’m expecting Aadhi to expand that part of the game.”
With Castillo gone during summer ball working out with the USA Basketball U17 national team — which won the World Cup gold medal in Europe — Ayyappan had the opportunity to play a more control role on the floor.
“He was able to get more confidence in ball handling and in handling pressure,” Stewart said.
Just two weeks until the first tip-off.
Each tick of the clock seems to thicken the anticipation.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville High boys basketball closes on on season opener
