VALENTINE'S DAY: Bartlesville senior guard erupts for 18 points to spark signature victory
It might too soon to proclaim a complete turnaround for the Bartlesville High School girls’ basketball team from the challenges of recent seasons.
But, the road signs of a fresh, exciting and more powerful attack are beginning to appear.
In just three days this week, Bartlesville turned a double-digit loss Tuesday night at Jenks into a nine-point victory in a super-quick rematch.
Bartlesville and Jenks locked up Friday morning in the consolation semifinals of the Bishop Kelley tourney, with Bartlesville surging to victory, 43-34. This likely was the Lady Bruins most quality win since the 2018-19 campaign.
Senior guard T’Keitha Valentine poured in 18 points to lead the way Friday morning — a complete reversal from Tuesday night when she hadn’t scored.
First-year Lady Bruin head coach Justyn Shaw knew that when Valentine unlocked her potential the effect would be contagious.
The Lady Bruins entered Friday’s game after having lost Thursday afternoon to a very strong Moore team, 60-39, in the tourney’s opening round.
Between that loss and Friday’s game, Shaw made to Valentine what proved to be a prophetic observation.
“My exact words to her were, ‘If you play well, we’ll win,” Shaw said. “She was just assertive. She was attacking the basket. I told her, ‘You can’t wait, you have to be in on attack mode. That doesn’t mean you score every time but that you’re creating opportunities to score for you and your teammates.’”
Valentine responded with 12 points in the first half help hold Jenks’ lead to one point at halftime, 24-23.
Valentine added six more points in the second half.
But, then again, the Lady Bruins didn’t really have to score a whole lot of second half points — not when their defense held Jenks to a total of just 10 points in the final two quarters.
Kate Gronigan added nine points to the Bartlesville total and Ragen Hodge contributed five hard-earned points.
Gronigan opened Bartlesville’s scoring by dialing in a three-pointer early in the first quarter. Valentine produced Bartlesville’s next five points and Maider Ruiz and Jaiden Stevenson each scored a bucket to keep Bartlesville within a point of Jenks, 14-13.
Both teams scored 10 points in the second quarter, with Valentine racking up seven and Kaelynn Duncan sinking a trey for Bartlesville.
Each squad scored five points in the third period.
Hodge made a two-point deposit to open the fourth quarter and push Bartlesville into the lead, 30-29. The Lady Bruins never trailed again.
Mikka Chambers’ three-pointer made it a two-possession game, 33-29.
The Lady Bruins continued to pile up their lead and sealed the victory on two Gronigan free throws.
Gronigan had the double-duty of guarding Jenks’ muscular forward, Shaw noted.
He also praised the feisty play of Ruiz on defense, the rebounding of Stevenson and Hodge’s gritty effort.
The Lady Bruins exuded a confidence they hadn’t displayed consistently in the last two rebuilding campaigns.
“Our motto for the season has been confidence,” Shaw said. “Our slogan is ‘Preparation Builds Confidence.’”
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Moore 60, Bartlesville 39
Thursday’s game was another learning experience for the Lady Bruins.
Despite not playing well in some areas, they still displayed a fierce competitiveness that resulted in several impressive rallies.
Trailing by 29 points early in the fourth period, Bartlesville put together a lighting-quick 10-0 run — led my Chambers, who finished with 12 points — that convinced the Moore coach to reinsert his starters back in the game.
Moore led by 15 at half, 34-19, despite three-pointers by Gronigan and Valentine late in the second period.
Peyton Pregler’s free throws early in the third quarter prevented Moore from pulling too much further ahead.
Grace McPhail also hit free throws in the third period.
Duncan helped fuel the fourth quarter uprising by hitting a trey.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Hoops: Bartlesville girls beat Jenks
