area boys basketball summary: wcs, dewey, copan, caney valley, pawhuska, barnsdall, oKU, Caney (Kan.), Nowata
Wesleyan Christian School’s Trey White goes for a steal during earlier season action. The Mustangs are 8-0 going into the Christmas break.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Following are brief summaries looking at the pre-Christmas performance of area high school boys basketball teams and their scenarios moving forward.
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WESLEYAN CHRISTIAN BOYS (8-0)
WCS head coach: Steven Cooks
Last season’s pre-Christmas record: 7-1
Last season overall record: 24-5
No noticeable major flaws in the Mustangs stampede to perfection guided by Cooks in his fourth year leading the program.
The Mustangs never scored fewer than 60 points (in fact they averaged 69.6 ppg) and held all opponents to 43-or-fewer points — six of them to 35 points or less.
That’s just the surface. Looking a little deeper, the Mustangs looked even stronger.
Despite their two leading scorers (Trey White and Kyle Kelley) being held to a total of only 11 points, WCS beat Copan, 60-30.
Foyil also attempted to shut down the Big Two, but James Wisdom and others stepped in to help fill the scoring void in the 66-27 triumph.
Wesleyan Christian 2024-25 boys results
W: WCS 77, Claremore Christian 33 (H)
W: WCS 76, Barnsdall 35 (A)
W: WCS 67, South Coffeyville 35 (A)
W: WCS 71, Dewey jayvee 23 (A)
W: WCS 79, Barnsdall 43 (A)
W: WCS 61, Cedarvale-Dexter (Kan.) 43
W: WCS 60, Copan 30 (H)
W: WCS 66, Foyil 27
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Dewey High School’s Austin Eastman (11) pressures Nowata High School’s Chelo Prince (4) during earlier season action.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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DEWEY BOYS (3-4)
Dewey head coach: Lance Knight
Last season pre-Christmas record: 4-2
Last season overall record: 16-12
Considering the amount of experience they bid good-bye to after the previous season, the 2023-24 Bulldoggers displayed a lot of promise by finishing 3-4 in December, including a milestone win against Adair, 50-44.
No doubt the most disappointing loss came at the hands of fierce rival Nowata, 56-45.
In their first six games the Doggers held each opponent to less than 60 points. But they didn’t exactly light it up on their offensive end, reaching 50 points only twice.
Toward the end of the December schedule head coach Lance Knight said his team needed to focus most on putting together four consistently good quarters per game.
The Doggers have done a lot of good things. In a heartbreaking loss at Caney, Kan. — in which Dewey gave up 50 points in the second half — three Dewey players scored in double-figures (Tra Hicks, Zach Renfroe and Cooper Wood) while Karson Johnson added nine.
In the season-opening win at Sperry, Lathe Griggs dropped in 19 points and Austin Eastman added nine.
With several scoring threats in their quiver of weapons, the Doggers likely will look to focus on ‘D’ as they roll into the January wars.
Dewey 2024-25 boys results
W: Dewey 49, Sperry 42 (A)
L: Nowata 56, Dewey 45 (A)
W: Nowata 50, Adair 44 (A)
L: Wyandotte 54, Dewey 33 (A)
L: Ketchum 58, Dewey 48 (A)
W: Dewey 46, Chelsea 28 (H)
L: Caney Valley (Kan.) 76, Dewey 66 (A)
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NOWATA BOYS (5-2)
Nowata head coach: Derrick Ott
Last season pre-Christmas record: 2-5
Last season overall record: 12-15
The Ironmen flip-flopped their success in a positive way compared to the 2023-24 campaign.
Starting out with a win against Dewey — which had swept the Ironmen last season — Nowata players charged to five December wins before Santa filled their stockings.
Coming out of Christmas the Ironmen hope to continue their momentum of back-to-back wins against Chelsea and Commerce, the latter by 22 points.
In the win against Dewey, four Ironmen piled up double-digit scoring nights — Clint Harrington (20), Chelo Prince (14), Ryan Walton (11) and Talon Thompson (10).
Nowata 2024-25 boys results
W: Nowata 56, Dewey 45 (H)
W: Nowata 68, Afton 43 (A)
L: Mannford 57, Nowata 54 (ot) (H)
W: Nowata 54, Chelsea 49 (H)
L: Coffeyville (Kan.) 56, Nowata 44 (H)
W: Nowata 38, Chelsea 28 (A)
W: Nowata 70, Commerce 48 (A)
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Copan High School’s Jarrett Shambles drives to the basket during earlier season action.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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COPAN BOYS (4-2)
Copan head coach: Kolton Stacy
Last season pre-Christmas record: 9-2
Last season overall record: 16-7
Copan proved it could win the close ones.
The Hornets outlasted Foyil by three points and beat Barnsdall by a point.
Copan’s scoring was all over the board — 27 and 30 points on the low end and 65 and 68 for their most effulgent outputs.
They are 3-1 at home.
Jarrett Shambles has provided multiple big scoring outputs to boost the offense. Shambles buried a key three-pointer in Copan’s one-point win against Barnsdall.
Veterans Karson Woodworth, Shooter Brewington, Kane Foreman and Teegan Caron also have been key contributors along with others, including sophomore Xavier Alston.
Copan 2024-25 boys results
W: Copan 66, South Coffeyville 33 (H)
W: Copan 42, Foyil 39 (H)
L: Cedarvale/Dexter (Kan.) 36, Copan 27 (H)
W: Copan 48, Barnsdall 47 (H)
L: Wesleyan Christian 60, Copan 30 (A)
W: Copan 65, Bluejacket 45 (A)
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BARNSDALL BOYS (2-5)
Barnsdall head coach: Wade Corder
Last season pre-Christmas record: 5-3
Last season overall record: 9-13
Barnsdall displayed solid scoring production but just didn’t turn down the offensive spigot for several opponents.
The Panthers also played a rugged early-season slate, colliding against high-quality foes such as Wesleyan Christian School, Caney Valley, Copan and Woodland. Wesleyan Christian (8-0) handed them two of their losses.
Barnsdall 2024-25 boys results
L: Wesleyan Christian 76, Barnsdall 53 (H)
L: Caney Valley 56, Barnsdall 47 (H)
W: Barnsdall 76, Prue 31 (A)
L: Wesleyan Christian 79, Barnsdall 43 (A)
L: Copan 48, Barnsdall 47 (A)
W: Barnsdall 42, Foyil 27 (H)
L: Woodland 50, Barnsdall 32
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PAWHUSKA BOYS (1-4)
Pawhuska head coach: Jason Snodgrass
Last season pre-Christmas record: 3-2
Last season overall record: 11-12
Two close losses — one in overtime and the other by a single point — demonstrated the Huskies are close to turning a corner.
They held three opponents to 50-or-fewer points.
Pawhuska 2024-25 boys results
L: Metro Christian 54, Pawhuska 47 (ot) (A)
W: Pawhuska 40, Pryor 33 (A)
L: Mingo Valley 50, Pawhuska 41 (A)
L: Frontier 80, Pawhuska 61 (A)
L: Tulsa CHEF 41, Pawhuska 40
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OKLAHOMA UNION BOYS (2-4)
Oklahoma Union head coach: Riley Duncan
Last season pre-Christmas record: 0-7
Last season overall record: 6-20
The Cougars surged to a better start than the previous season and went into their long Christmas snooze with a win — a 40-38 thriller at the Caney Valley Trojans.
They also put up a big competitive effort in a close loss against Coffeyville (Kan.) and lost by only 11 to Chelsea.
Oklahoma Union 2024-25 boys results
L: Chelsea 50, Oklahoma Union 39 (ot) (H)
L: Fairland 55, Oklahoma Union 33 (A)
L: Coffeyville (Kan.) 43, Oklahoma Union 39 (A)
W: Oklahoma Union 59, Chelsea 47 (A)
L: Ketchum 68, Oklahoma Union 46 (A)
W: Oklahoma Union 40, Caney Valley 38 (A)
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CANEY VALLEY (Kan.) BOYS (2-2)
Caney Valley (Kan.) head coach: Matt Washburn
Last season pre-Christmas record: 1-1
Last season overall record: 6-8-3
After starting at 0-2 — with two close losses, one in overtime — the Pups pounced past their next two opponents while scoring a cumulative 151 points.
They recorded their signature victory against a strong Dewey team, 76-66.
Caney Valley (Kan.) 2024-25 boys results
L: Coffeyville 62, Caney Valley 54 (H)
L: Galena 61, Caney Valley 55 (H)
W: Caney Valley 75, Sedan 41 (A)
W: Caney Valley 76, Dewey 66 (H)