SIZZLING SEASON FINALES: Nowata Ironmen clinch district title
Following is how area high school basketball teams started out this week.
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GIRLS: Oologah 49, Caney Valley 45
It wasn’t so much the outcome but the way the Caney Valley Lady Trojans came out and played Monday night that impressed head coach Deric Longan.
In spite of losing, the Caney Valley nearly knocked off a state-ranked team in a class two sizes bigger.
“It was really a good ballgame,” Longan said. “I thought tonight was a fantastic start for the week.”
On Friday, Caney Valley (17-6) will play host to Rejoice Christian in a Class 2A district championship game.
Monday’s contest against Oologah (Class 4A, No. 13) wrapped up the 23-game regular season.
Sammi Gilbreath and Libby Thompson dropped in 16 and 14 points, respectively, for Caney Valley, followed by Jade Upton with nine, Chloe Scherman with four and Kensly Foreman with two.
Caney Valley (Class 2A, No. 17) surged to a double-digit lead in the first half and led by halftime, 22-15. But, Oologah won the third quarter, 20-7, to take over the lead, 35-29.
The fourth quarter proved nip-and-tuck.
“I’m proud of the girls for battling together,” said Longan. “They played tough tonight.”
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BOYS: Nowata 45, Chelsea 39 (ot)
Nowata reeled both the Northeast Valley Conference boys championship and momentum for Saturday’s Class 2A district playoff championship game at Nowata.
The Ironmen also finished 18-5 for the regular season.
Kaleb Bashford drained 21 points to lead Nowata’s effort Monday, followed by Spencer Bullen with seven, Skylar Stevens with seven and Yahmarion Cole with six. Michael Prince added four points.
Nowata trailed a point with 13 seconds left in regulation. Stevens knocked down a free throw to tie the game and send it to overtime, which Nowata dominated, 11-5.
Following the closing buzzer, Nowata players massed in celebration and cut down a net to commemorate the district title.
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GIRLS: Nowata 41, Chelsea 28
There’s few other team accounts this season that match the feel-good vibes of the Nowata Lady Ironmen.
For the past several seasons, Nowata girls basketball had bounced between almost hopeless to mediocre and, in a good year, average. But, the Lady Ironmen broke out of that cycle this year by storming to 11 regular season wins (11-12), capped with Monday’s rout of Chelsea.
Led this year by first-year head coach Thad Hewitt, the Lady Ironmen eye some real playoff promise as they play host Saturday to Wyandotte in the Class 2A postseason district round.
Trailee Watson canned 15 points to lead in the win against Chelsea, followed by Kennedy Nubel and Ty Brown with eight apiece. Maddi Barnes tacked on six points. Jordan Ashley scored four.
“It was Senior Night,” noted Hewitt. “We played pretty well. … He had 17 points in the third quarter to extend the lead and get us over the hump.”
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Teams play Monday to rack up regular season schedules
