Caney Valley annual basketball tourney features strong field

Five different U.S. presidents have hung up their towels in the White House washroom and the New England Patriots have won six Super Bowl titles since the Caney Valley Basketball Tournament started in 1993.

This weekend will feature the 30th edition of the sizzling event heavily tilted toward a field of area high schools, including Caney Valley, Dewey, Copan, Barnsdall and Caney Valley (Kan.).

Rounding out the field are Liberty, Cleveland and Riverfield.

There will be two concurrent eight-team tournaments, one for the girls, the other for the boys.

Thursday’s schedule is:

Girls: 10 a.m. — Caney Valley (Kan.) (5-2) vs. Riverfield (1-8)

Boys: 11:30 a.m. — Riverfield (11-3) vs. Barnsdall (5-6)

Girls: 1 p.m. — Barnsdall (7-5) vs. Dewey (3-9)

Boys: 2 p.m. — Dewey (7-5) vs. Copan (13-2)

Girls: 4 p.m. — Cleveland (3-9) vs. Liberty (2-12)

Boys: 5; 30 p.m. — Liberty (11-3) vs. Caney Valley (Kan.) (2-3-2)

Girls: 7 p.m. — Caney Valley (5-6) vs. Copan (4-11)

Boys: 8 p.m. — Cleveland (3-9) vs. Caney Valley (8-3)

Friday’s game times are:

Girls: 10 a.m. — Consolation bracket

Boys: 11:30 a.m. — Consolation bracket

Girls: 1 p.m. — Consolation bracket

Boys: 2 p.m. — Consolation bracket

Girls: 4 p.m. — Semifinals

Boys: 5; 30 p.m. — Semifinals

Girls: 7 p.m. — Semifinals

Boys: 8 p.m. — Semifinals

The boys field is pretty salty — five teams with a winning record, six teams with at least five wins. On the girls side, there are three teams with a winning record.

Two teams are ranked in the top 20 in the boys’ group — Liberty (Class A, No. 13) and Caney Valley (2A, No. 19) . None of the girls’ teams are ranked.

Last year, the Caney Valley girls reached the championship final for the 15th time in 29 years — but lost to the Oklahoma Bible Academy, 53-44.

Admission to the tourney is $5 for adults and $3 for seniors.

Possible first-day fierce matchups

BOYS: Copan vs. Dewey: Dewey is the much bigger school (Class 4A) and probably considered the favorite. But, Copan (Class B) comes in with a 12-3 record and six-game winning streak. Copan is 4-1 against schools from higher classes.

GIRLS: Barnsdall vs. Dewey: Dewey is 4A, But Barnsdall (Class A) is on a roll with a 3-1 record in its last four games. However, Dewey also is riding.a gust of momentum with two wins in its last three games.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Caney Valley annual basketball tournament features strong field