area girls basketball summary: dewey, copan, wcs, caney valley, nowata, Pawhuska, OKU, Barnsdall, Caney (Kan.)
Dewey High School’s Mylee Garrison looks to pass the ball during action prior to Christmas. The Lady Doggers are, 3-4.
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 girls basketball teams and their scenarios moving forward.
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DEWEY GIRLS (3-4)
Dewey head coach: Michael Sanders
Last season pre-Christmas record: 1-5
Last season overall record: 10-17
Dewey girls November/December 2024 results
L: Sperry 43, Dewey 36 (ot) (A)
W: Dewey 41, Nowata 16 (A)
L: Adair 46, Dewey 34 (A)
W: Dewey 50, Wyandotte 22 (A)
W: Dewey 49, Adair jayvee 36 (A)
L: Chelsea 29-26 (H)
L: Caney Valley (Kan.) 49, Dewey 46 (A)
DEWEY OVERVIEW: Despite bringing along youth in the mix, Sanders has welded together a competitive unit.
Freshman point guard Presley Smith has helped solidify the Lady Doggers attack.
Signature wins in the first seven games included a 41-16 rout of rival Nowata and 50-22 triumph at the expense of Wyandotte.
Dewey also could have taken heart by a 12-point loss at Adair, 46-34, compared to a 30-point blowout defeat last season.
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Wesleyan Christian High School’s Miranda Hadrava (11) drives the ball against Copan’s Zoey Secondine (3) during action prior to Christmas.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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WESLEYAN CHRISTIAN GIRLS (6-2)
WCS head coach: Kendall Huntington
Last season pre-Christmas record: 0-8
Last season overall record: 6-17
Wesleyan Christian girls November/December 2024 results
W: WCS 58, Claremore Christian 47 (H)
W: WCS 49, Barnsdall 47 (A)
L: South Coffeyville 52, WCS 29 (A)
W: WCS 48, Foyil 27 (A)
W: WCS 39, Cedarvale/Dexter (Kan.) 36 (A)
L: South Coffeyville 52, WCS 29 (A)
W: WCS 58, Copan 28 (H)
W: WCS 42, Foyil 27 (A)
WCS OVERVIEW: The Lady Mustangs are on the verge of their best start for more than a half-decade.
They’re only one win away from surpassing their win total in any of the previous five seasons.
In three of their last five games in December they held three opponents to fewer than 30 points.
Senior forward Lydia Foster has been the big gun on offense, starting with 27 points (15 in the fourth quarter) in the season-opening win against Claremore Christian.
Sophomore point guard Kori White also skinned the inside of the nets with her accuracy. Whitlie Tennison has contributed double-digit scoring in multiple games and Miranda Hadrava and Emily Christenson have both shone like fireflies in the smoke of fierce competition.
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COPAN GIRLS (1-4)
Copan head coach: Kristy Bryan
Last season pre-Christmas record: 3-8
Last season overall record: 8-17
Copan girls November/December 2024 results
L: South Coffeyville 60, Copan 28 (H)
L: Cedarvale-Dexter (Kan.) 46, Copan 22 (H)
L: Foyil 38, Copan 33 (H)
L: Wesleyan Christian 58, Copan 28 (A)
W: Copan 41, Bluejacket 34 (A)
COPAN OVERVIEW: Now in her tenth year, Bryan has been molding a mostly-green team, although seniors Elyzabeth Odum and Kam Vann have contributed both leadership and production.
The Lady Hornets finished December with their only win, 41-34, against Bluejacket. Odum and Van scored 16 points apiece in that victory.
But there were only seven other players on the roster going into the season, with Zoey Secondine as generally a major contributor on offense or on the boards.
They also lost by only five points to Foyil.
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Caney Valley High School’s Jaycee Tant (10) drives the ball against Oklahoma Union’s Kayden Kitterman (15) in action prior to Christmas.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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CANEY VALLEY LADY TROJANS GIRLS (5-3)
Caney Valley head coach: Deric Longan
Last season pre-Christmas record: 2-4
Last season overall record: 16-9
Caney Valley Lady Trojans November/December 2024 results
W: Caney Valley 44, Mounds 19 (H)
W: Caney Valley 34, Barnsdall 27 (A)
L: Fairland 35, Caney Valley 17 (H)
W: Caney Valley 41, Liberty 28 (A)
W: Caney Valley 32, Summit Christian 16 (A)
L: Wilson (Henryetta) 57, Caney Valley 22 (A)
L: Morris 60, Caney Valley 38 (A)
W: Caney Valley 57, Oklahoma Union 25 (H)
CANEY VALLEY LADY TROJANS OVERVIEW: Despite a relative no-name roster — with none of the major guns back from last season — the Lady Trojans crusaded through the first third of the season with a winning record.
Among their achievements have been finishing second in the Wilson (Henryetta) tournament and shutting down six of their opponents to 35-or-fewer points, including two with less than 20 points.
They ended December on an evocative note by pouring in a game-high 57 points against Oklahoma Union.
Adesta Henry, Sydni Brown, Abby Daigle, Roxy Hawkins and Jaycee Tant have been among Longan’s chief producers on offense.
But defense is the fulcrum on which tips the success of the Lady Trojans. In one of their wins they allowed only two points in the fourth quarter — and those scored on a bucket in the final minute.
Caney Valley is 5-0 when holding opponents to 28-or-fewer points.
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BARNSDALL GIRLS (3-4)
Barnsdall head coach: Gary Cunningham
Last season pre-Christmas record: 4-4
Last season overall record: 11-11
Barnsdall girls November/December 2024 results
L: Wesleyan Christian 49, Barnsdall 47 (H)
L: Caney Valley 34, Barnsdall 27 (H)
L: Prue 50, Barnsdall 33 (A)
W: Barnsdall 52, Claremore jayvee 18 (A)
W: Barnsdall 57, Foyil 33 (A)
L: South Coffeyville 68, Barnsdall 21 (A)
W: Barnsdall 39, Foyil 25 (H)
BARNSDALL OVERVIEW: Despite a 0-3 start, the Lady Panthers pawed out a 3-1 record in latter December, including a sweep of Foyil.
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NOWATA GIRLS (0-7)
Nowata head coach: Thad Hewitt
Last season pre-Christmas record: 3-4
Last season overall record: 12-14
Nowata girls November/December 2024 results
L: Dewey 41, Nowata 16 (H)
L: Afton 38, Nowata 33 (ot) (A)
L: Mannford 45, Nowata 11 (H)
L: Coffeyville (Kan.) 45, Nowata 27 (H)
L: Oklahoma Union 35, Nowata 31 (H)
L: Chelsea 53, Nowata 13 (A)
L: Commerce 65, Nowata 19 (A)
NOWATA OVERVIEW: It’s been a rough start for the Lady Ironmen. Oklahoma Union handed Nowata its closest defeat, 35-31.
It could be a bit of a head-scratcher for a team that finished 12-14 last year and advanced to the second round of the Class 2A regionals.
But the 2023-24 team also got off to a bit of a slow start (4-5 and 5-7) before going on a five-game win streak to turn its season around.
Hewitt and Nowata fans are hoping for better times to start on the flip side of the Christmas break.
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PAWHUSKA GIRLS (6-1)
Pawhuska head coach: David Cash
Last season pre-Christmas record: 4-1
Last season overall record: 18-8
Pawhuska girls November/December 2024 results
W: Pawhuska 68, Mingo Valley 19 (A)
W: Pawhuska 52, Metro Christian 19 (A)
W: Pawhuska 43, Skiatook 41 (A)
W: Pawhuska 65, Frontier 37 (A)
W: Pawhuska 58, Tulsa CHEF 52
W: Pawhuska 49, Okay 41 (H)
L: Keys (Parkhill) 53, Pawhuska 51 (A)
PAWHUSKA OVERVIEW: The Lady Huskies are off to an identical start as last season — a season that ended with a three-point loss in the second round of the Class 2A regionals.
This season they have displayed a balance of explosive offense (three games with 58-or-more points) and smothering defense (three games allowing fewer than 40 points).
Keys (Parkhill) spoiled their bid for a perfect December.
Hannah Reynolds and Brooklyn Miles lead the Lady Huskie scoring sheet with 18 and 16.7 points per game.
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OKLAHOMA UNION GIRLS (1-6)
Oklahoma Union head coach: Angie Thomas
Last season pre-Christmas record: (0-7)
Last season overall record: 0-25
Oklahoma Union girls November/December 2024 results
L: Chelsea 54, Oklahoma Union 24 (H)
L: Oologah 78, Oklahoma Union 18 (A)
L: Chelsea 49, Oklahoma Union 8 (A)
W: Oklahoma Union 35, Nowata 31 (A)
L: Ketchum 43, Oklahoma Union 30 (A)
L: South Coffeyville 57, Oklahoma Union 17 (H)
L: Caney Valley 57, Oklahoma Union 27 (A)
OKLAHOMA UNION OVERVIEW: A victory against Nowata snapped a 28-game losing streak dating back to the start of the 2023-24 season,
Oklahoma Union’s closest margin of loss was 13 points against Ketchum.
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CANEY VALLEY (Kan.) GIRLS (4-0)
Caney Valley head coach: Emily Washburn
Last season pre-Christmas record: 3-1
Last season overall record: 10-7
Caney Valley (Kan.) girls November/December 2024 results
W: Caney Valley 58, Coffeyville 54 (H)
W: Caney Valley 49, Galena 39 (H)
W: Caney Valley 58, Sedan 28 (A)
W: Caney Valley 49, Dewey 46 (H)
CANEY VALLEY (Kan.) OVERVIEW: Consistency proved to be the byword the first four games for the Lady Pups.
They scored 49 points twice and 58 points twice while limiting two opponents to fewer than 40 points.
During the next couple of weeks they play back-to-back road games, which could provide a telling indicator about their competitive upside.