AREA HOOPS: Teams stay busy in weekend tourneys; Copan crumples Foyil
Dewey High School’s Kooper Crawford (0) and Karson Johnson (4) double team Cleveland’s Ace Braswell (1) during the Caney Valley Tournament in Ramona on January 23, 2025. The Bulldoggers claimed the consolation championship. Johnson was named to the All-Tournament team.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Dewey High School’s Presley Smith (11) and Caney Valley’s Roxi Hawkins (1) go up for a loose ball in Dewey during earlier season action. Dewey fell just shy of the Caney Valley Tournament championship with a loss to Caney Valley (Kan.), 38-35 on January 25, 2025.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
January 27, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Following are summaries of area high school action the past few days.
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GIRLS: Caney Valley (Kan.) 38, Dewey 35 (Saturday, Jan. 25)
“They’re really a solid team,” Dewey head coach Michael Sanders said about the unbeaten Caney Valley Lady Pups.
But he praised his team’s spit and fire in the Caney Valley (Okla.) Tournament championship game, in which Dewey trailed at one time by as many as 12 points.
“We turned it up defensively toward the end, got a few steals and a few easy baskets, but we kind of ran out of steam,” Sanders said. “We had to crawl our way back. We just couldn’t find the bottom of the net tonight.”
Presley Smith poured in 13 points, followed by Kaci Swan with 11 to pace the Dewey offense. Jaelynn Smith contributed eight points and Shaylyn Ishem added three.
Smith and Ishem are both freshmen.
The loss snapped a five-game victory skein by Dewey, which ended the weekend past the .500 mark (8-7).
“That was a huge step (winning steak),” Sanders said. “We’ve been playing pretty good basketball. We had a big win against Oologah earlier this week. We’re kind of hitting our peak.”
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Dewey High School’s Cooper Wood (2) drives the ball against Cleveland’s Dawson Kelsey (14) during the Caney Valley Tournament in Ramona on January 23, 2025. The Bulldoggers defeated Cleveland, 46-40 and won the tournament’s consolation championship.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BOYS: Dewey
DEWEY 68, CANEY VALLEY 51 (Saturday, Jan. 25): Dewey (8-8) snapped back from a close first round loss to win the consolation championship in the Caney Valley tourney.
Three Doggers scored in double figures — Austin Eastman, 24 points; Zach Renfroe, 10; and Karson Johnson, 10.
Cooper Wood added eight points, followed by Tra Hicks with four, Lathe Griggs, Gage Hopkins, Will Lawrence and Kyler Roach with three apiece.
Dewey sizzled to 42 points in the first half and 61 through three quarters.
“We were just hitting shots,” Dewey head coach Lance Knight said. “Our defense really looked good. We went 10-for-10 on free throws. It was just one of those all-around good games.”
Johnson would be named to the All-Tournament team.
DEWEY 66, PORTER 26 (Friday, Jan. 24)
Cooper Wood dialed in 23 points to pace Dewey.
“We were just firing from all over,” said Dewey head coach Lance Knight.
CLEVELAND 46, DEWEY 40 (Thursday, Jan. 23)
Boy, what a turnaround!
Dewey rolled out to a 10-point lead in the third quarter, 32-22 — and then went colder than a penguin’s kiss.
Cleveland ended the game with a 24-8 run to win by six in the opening round game at the Caney Valley Tournament.
Dewey won the first half decisively, fueled by several Karson Johnson’s three-pointers in the first half, 25-17.
The Doggers continued to widen the gap with a 7-5 spurt to open the third quarter, 32-22.
But then the boomerang began. A 7-0 run by Cleveland trimmed the lead to 32-29. Dewey answered with Lathe Griggs’ trey to extend the margin back to six, 35-29.
Cleveland trailed by one at the end of the third period, 35-34.
Thanks to another Johnson three-pointer, Dewey tied the game, 40-40.
But the Dewey offense then shut down completely, allowing Cleveland to squeeze out the win.
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Caney Valley (Okla.) High School’s Adesta Henry (11) loses the handle on the ball during action against Cleveland at the Caney Valley Tournament in Ramona on January 23, 2025. The Lady Trojans fell to Cleveland, 45-34, but claimed the tournament’s consolation championship. Henry was named to the All-Tournament team.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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GIRLS: Caney Valley
CANEY VALLEY 37, BARNSDALL 33 (Saturday, Jan. 25): Courage was the biggest by-product of character displayed by the Caney Valley Lady Trojans.
CV coach Deric Longan had another word for it.
“Guts”.
“Our girls were not in good health,” he said about a sickness that had romped through his lineup like a lance-wielding jouster. “There were gutting it out as long as they could go and able to find a way to hold on at the end.”
Adesta Henry and Abby Daigle each netted 14 points, followed by Roxy Hawkins with seven and Syndi Brown with two to round out Caney Valley’s scoring in the consolation championship game of the Caney Valley tourney.
Henry would be named to the All-Tournament team.
The triumph pushed Caney Valley to the 10-win mark (10-6) — an accomplishment that might have appeared difficult at season’s start when Longan went to battle with a highly-inexperienced and low-numbered roster.
CANEY VALLEY 36, LIBERTY 15 (Friday, Jan. 24): Rolling to a 22-6 halftime lead, the CV Lady Trojans did what they needed to in the second half to win.
“Defensively, we were really aggressive,” said Longan. “We had a lot of transition baskets.”
Hawkins dropped in 12 points to lead the Lady Trojans, followed by Henry, eight; Daigle, seven; Brown, five; Jaycee Tant, three; and Alayah Harvey, one.
CLEVELAND 45, CANEY VALLEY 34 (Thursday, Jan. 23): Despite a big offensive output by Henry (15 points), the Trojans just didn’t have enough weapons to beat Cleveland in the opening round of the Caney Valley Tournament.
Caney Valley had pulled to within one point, 24-23, on a Henry deuce.
Cleveland surged to a 7-0 run to open the fourth period and the Lady Trojans never recovered.
“They are a very tall team, very athletic,” Longan said about the Class 4A Cleveland squad. (Caney Valley is Class 2A). “My girls really competed. We were just undersized.”
Not to mention the impacts of illness.
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Caney Valley (Kan,) High School’s Elyn Washburn (11) is fouled by a Cleveland player during the Caney Valley Tournament in Ramona on January 24, 2025. The Lady Bullpups won the tournament championship, defeating Dewey in the final.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Barnsdall High School’s Lincoln Gott (14) goes to the basket against Caney Valley’s (Kan,) Ben Matthews (34) during the Caney Valley Tournament in Ramona on January 24, 2025. Caney Kan. won the tournament championship.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BOYS: Oklahoma Union 48, Nowata 45 (Saturday, Jan. 25)
A matchup that usually morphs into a thriller did not disappoint in their showdown in the consolation championship game of the Ketchum Tournament.
Oklahoma Union (9-9) pulled ahead in the fourth quarter and held on.
“I never felt we were going to lose until it was over,” said Nowata head coach Derrick Ott. “We played pretty well. … I don’t know if we trailed until the last minute-and-a-half of the game. … We missed some wide open shots and they converted theirs.”
Talon Thompson skinned the inside of the nets with 13 points to lead Nowata, followed by Ryan Walton, eight; Chelo Prince, seven; Adrian O’Dell, seven; Ty Williams, six; and Clint Harrington, four.
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BOYS: Nowata 51, Salina 47 (Friday, Jan. 24)
Talk about your balanced scoring!
Talon Thompson, Ryan Walton and Adrian O’Dell each scored 11 points and Ty Williams, Clint Harrington and Chelo Prince put in six points apiece to round out Nowata’s points.
“We kind of always had it in hand,” said Nowata head coach Derrick Ott. “They hit some uncharacteristic shots to keep it even. … It’s a good thing we have that kind of balanced scoring.”
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BOYS: Wesleyan Christian 61, Yale 56
Wesleyan Christian improved its area-best record to 14-3 by outlasting Yale in the third-place game of the Yale tourney.
WCS improved to 4-1 in their last five games.
The Mustangs just missed out on playing for the championship by dropping a 51-40 decision Friday to Davenport.
Trey White tallied 12, Zander Week added 11 and Kyle Kelley netted 10 to lead the Mustangs in the valiant effort.
“We were struggling scoring the ball early,” said WCS head coach Steven Cooks. “We scored only 12 points in the first half. … It was just one of those things. We got behind and it was hard to get ourselves out of the hole.”
Next up, the Mustangs will be home Tuesday to take on South Coffeyville.
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GIRLS: Copan 37, Foyil 20 (Thursday, Jan. 23)
Make that two wins in a row for the Copan Lady Hornets.
Elyzabeth Odum poured in 18 points (giving her 34 in Copan’s last two games) to lead the way, followed by Zoey Secondine with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds). Kam Vann added six points and Kaylee Woodworth added three points and 13 rebounds.
Copan head coach Kristy Bryan heaped praise on the Lady Hornets overall effort.
“I think sometimes it’s a matter of mindset,” she said. “I think they felt they could win this one before they stepped on the floor.”
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GIRLS: Wesleyan Christian 50, Olive 29 (Friday, Jan. 24)
After battling through some first quarter doldrums the WCS Lady Mustangs squeezed Olive dry on both sides of the court.
Lydia Foster punished the nets with 21 points, followed by point guard Kori White with 17, to lead the WCS scoring assault. Miranda Hadrava stirred the cords for 12 points, followed by Emily Christenson with six and Whitley Tennison with three.
“It was nice to have Miranda stepping up to get her points,” said WCS head coach Kendall Huntington, adding Miranda filled in admirably at the point when needed.
The Lady Mustangs reached their 10th win — a major milestone compared to some of the victory drought records of recent campaigns.
“This is the best season we’ve had in a while,” Huntington said.
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BOYS: Copan 45, Foyil 29 (Thursday, Jan. 23)
The Copan Hornets soared to their 10th season win while building their point total on balanced scoring.
Kane Foreman led with 10 points, followed by Shooter Brewington, nine; Jarrett Shambles, nine; Teegan Caron, seven; and Karson Woodworth, six.
Copan is now 27-11 since the beginning of last season.
“Our players have something to be proud of,” said coach Kolton Stacy. “They need to keep pushing and setting the tone for the group that is coming behind.”