AREA HOOPS: BHS Bruins win at home; Nowata sweeps
Generally the letter ‘V’’ stands for victory.
But, Bartlesville High School’s version of winning on Thursday night could have been Veit-ory.
Senior Jacob Veit made the nets dance to the tune of 19 points to lead the Bruins past the OKC Storm, 54-51, in varsity boys basketball play at the Bruin Fieldhouse.
The combustible conquest snapped Bartlesville’s seven-game losing skein and nailed down their first home win of the campaign.
The formula for triumph was uncomplicated — three Bruins scored in double-figures.
Veit dialed in eight of Bartlesville’s first 15 points and hit other crucial baskets to help write the winning script. Nash Zervas and Riley Duong added 11 points each. The combined 41 points by Veit, Duong and Zervas provided the Bruins (2-8) a six-fisted scoring punch they have lacked too often the first 10 games.
Whether the performance primed the pump for more prolific scoring in future games will be ascertained in the next few games.
The Storm proved to be a stubborn squall to subdue.
Bartlesville bolted to a 20-14 first-quarter lead, sparked by Duong’s trey late in the period, and appeared ready to break the game open. But, the Storm pulled even in the second quarter, 27-27.
Viet scored seven quick points coming out of halftime, but the Storm also won the third quarter to sneak into the lead, 42-39. But, Bartlesville tore into the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run, including five points by Duong and a three-pointer by Zervas. Eli Robertson netted a key free throw late in the game to help the Bruins maintain control.
Robertson and Trae Collins added seven and five points, respectively.
Bartlesville goes back on the road next week, but will be home for a four-game home stand from Jan. 26 through Feb. 2.
AREA HOOP ROUNDUP
Boys: Nowata 81, South Coffeyville 18 — Obviously not a nail-biter for the Ironmen, who improved to 6-7 while racking up their biggest single-game point total of the season. Ryan Walton and Kaleb Bashford netted 25 and 21 points, respectively, to lead Nowata. Karter Kohen scored eight for South Coffeyville, followed by Brycen Baur with six.
Girls: Nowata 54, South Coffeyville 44 — NaDean Stamps dialed in 21 points and Jordyn Ashley added 18 to spearhead the Lady Ironmen’s winning effort. Nowata (6-7) broke a two-game losing skein and is 3-3 in its last six games. Lydia Phillips poured in 19 points for South Coffeyville, followed by Jo Reeves (nine points) and Lexi Gray (seven).
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: AREA HOOPS: BHS Bruins win at home; Nowata sweeps
