Area hoops: Lady Bruins win 9th; WCS boys rout foe; CV teams sweep
Bartlesville High School’s girls basketball team didn’t putter around Tuesday night against Putnam City High.
The Lady Bruins — burning up the trail toward their first 10-win season in five seasons — prevailed against Putnam City, 50-45, at the Bruin Fieldhouse.
“I was really pleased with our composure tonight, just our ability to fight through and weather the storm,” said veteran Bartlesville head coach Justyn Shaw. “We gave a tremendous effort in the third and fourth quarter where offensively we made some timely baskets and did get some key stops, especially in the fourth quarter.”
Bartlesville (9-8) can secure its 10th win in a home game Friday against Enid.
In Tuesday’s other basketball fare at the fieldhouse, one could settle on two conclusions from the Bruin boys’ game — low voltage offense or high watt defense.
The Bruins didn’t get to 20 points, but limited Putnam City to less than 35 in the 31-18 loss.
How hard were points to come by? By halftime, Putnam City clutch a 10-6 lead.
In other area hoops action, Caney Valley swept Oklahoma Union and Wesleyan Christian split with Foyil.
Following are more details:
GIRLS: Bartlesville 50, Putnam City 45
Senior Mikka Chambers poured in 17 points, while Alayah Lunn, Cassie Snead and Emma Zimmerman combined for 25 points to spearhead the Lady Bruin attack. Grace McPhail and Kennedy Nubel rounded out the scoring list.
As the score suggests, this battle was as fierce as two underfed lions battling over the final croissant on the breakfast tray.
By halftime, the teams were locked up in a 17-17 tie.
The same pattern persisted in the second half. Lunn zipped in a three-pointer early in the third quarter to push Bartlesville in front, 22-19. The Lady Bruins would never trail again, but Putnam City kept scrapping to keep the margin to one-to-two possessions almost the entire final two quarters.
Putnam City clawed back to deadlock the score, 34-34; Lunn came through with an offensive rebound and putback to take Bartlesville to a 36-34 lead at the start of the fourth period.
A mini-run at the start of the final quarter extended Bartlesville’s lead to seven points, 43-36. But, in the last stretch of the game, the margin shrunk to three points, 48-45. McPhail buried two insurance free throws to round out the scoring.
“Mikka and Cassie had some really key possessions,” Shaw said. “In the fourth quarter they attacked the basket and didn’t settle (for tough shots). … Grace is still getting her legs under her. … She has that experience and knows how to command the floor. She does a good job taking care of the basketball and she knocked down free throws that were really important.”
The Lady Bruins buried six free throws in the fourth quarter to seize their sixth victory in their last seven games.
Snead nailed two crucial free throws in crunch time to make it a three-possession lead, 46-39, to pretty much slam the door on Putnam City’s comeback yearnings.
Adrianne Flick “did a great job rebounding and getting her hand on the ball for some timely tips,” Shaw said. “I was very proud of her in doing those little things. … She was aggressive on the offensive glass.”
He also praised Lunn.
“I get on her a lot and she’s one of those girls that allows me to really, really coach her,” he said. “She’s been our best shooter this year and she’s had to handle the ball a lot more. … She has stepped up to the challenge.”
The entire team will look to step up to the challenge on Friday when Enid invades the fieldhouse.
BOYS: Putnam City 31, Bartlesville 18
Offense seemed to be a four-letter word Tuesday: “None.”
The observation applied to both teams. The teams averaged a total of 10 points the first three quarters — or 1.2 points per minute. Putnam City turned up the thermometer from mild to warm in the final six minutes to get the tips of their extended hands barely past the 30-point mark.
Bartlesville squeezed into the lead, 4-3, late in the first quarter on Grant Clark’s steal and layup. But, the Bruins scored only two points in the second quarter, allowing Putnam City to inch ahead, 10-6, by halftime.
Eli Robertson netted a trey in the third period to cut Putnam City’s lead to 12-11. Riley Duong also drained two free throws in the quarter as Bartlesville trimmed Putnam City’s lead to three points, 16-13.
In the opening moments of the fourth period, Bartlesville tied it up, 16-16, on Nash Zervas’ three-pointer. But, the Bruins would score only two more points — charity tosses by Duong — and Putnam City hit 7-of-9 free throws late.
Duong, Clark, Zervas and Robertson were the lone Bruins to score.
Next up, the Bruins (3-14) will look to regain their offensive sync when Enid comes to town Friday.
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BOYS: Wesleyan Christian 79. Foyil 16
Win No. 17 tasted sweet to the WCS Mustangs (17-3) as their week-long countdown to the Class B playoffs began Tuesday night. WCS — which is coached by Steven Cooks — went past 70 points for the third time in their last five games and for the fourth-time this season.
Trey White whittled out a team-high 17 points, followed by Mason Jensen with 12 to lead the WCS scoring production.
The starters saw limited action and a dozen Mustangs contributed points. One of them was Timothy Wisdom, who came off the pine to ring up 10 points. Freshman Owen Hay also played well and added five points.
“We got up pretty good early on,” said Cooks. “Most our starters didn’t get a lot of playing time tonight. It was good for a lot of those guys (reserves) to get some good time.”
WCS teams travel Friday to Bluejacket.
GIRLS: Caney Valley 41, Oklahoma Union 29
In what started out as a bit of a roller-coaster season ride, the CV Lady Trojans are on a prolonged rise.
With this win against on of their fiercest traditional rivals, the Lady Trojans achieved 10 wins (10-7) and racked up their seventh win in their last eight games.
The Lady Trojans charged to a 24-9 halftime lead and kept on pushing.
“Our defense allowed us to get separation,” said CV head coach Deric Longan. “The game was played even in the second half. … A lot of it the first half was our defense.
Chloe Scherman was one of two Lady Trojans to score in double figures. Libby Thompson added nine points. The complete scoring list is planned in the next game article.
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BOYS; Caney Valley 44, Oklahoma Union 39 (ot)
Oklahoma Union played very hard, especially on defense, CV Trojan head coach Tug Brinker said.
“It was close throughout,” he said. “It came down to the wire.”
But, the Trojans took control in overtime, sparked by Rocky Hester’s three-pointer. CV scored its other points in overtime on 11-of-17 free throw shooting.
CV went to battle without one of its hottest scorers, Logan Fowler, due to illness. Mav Condry and Hester accumulated 13 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the Trojans, followed by Logan Horsman with nine, Tate Longan with eight and Cooper Fogle and Ethan Brown added one free throw apiece.
At halftime, CV led, 18-14. Oklahoma Union regained the lead, 22-20, kn the third period. The score was tied by the end of regulation, 30-30.
Brinker praised the rebounding and scoring of Condry in the second half.
CV (11-6) travels Friday to Dewey.
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GIRLS: Foyil 48, Wesleyan Christian 40
The WCS Lady Mustangs displayed their progress in defeat against a team that had thumped them earlier this season by more than 20 points.
“We were definitely a lot better,” said WCS head coach Joni Goscha. “We gave a good effort.”
Lydia Foster drained 20 points, grabbed eight boards and blocked multiple shots to energize the WCS effort. Emily Christenson and Miranda Hadrava added eight and six points, respectively.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Area hoops: Lady Bruins win 9th; WCS boys rout foe; CV teams sweep
