area basketball: caney valley girls, copan and nowata boys grab district crowns
Wesleyan Christian School’s bench reacts during an earlier season game. The Mustangs defeated Porter, 72-34 in the first round district play last weekend.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Caney Valley’s Adesta Henry looks for room during an earlier season game. The Lady Trojans defeated Nowata, 32-16 in district playoffs on February 14, 2025.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
BY MIKE TUPA
FEBRUARY 19, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Following is a roundup of last week's area high school basketball games.
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BOYS: Wesleyan Christian 72, Porter 34
Following a pokey first six minutes, the WCS Mustangs (21-3) came on like a stampede to win in the first round of the Class A playoffs last week.
“We started off pretty slow,” said Mustangs’ head coach Steven Cooks. “We ended up eventually executing and picked it up.”
Trey White skinned the nets for 17 points, followed by Kyle Kelley with 12 and James Wisdom with 11.
The win guaranteed WCS an appearance in this week’s regionals - weather permitting.
However on Saturday, the Mustangs (21-4) fell to Summit Christian, 60-36, to drop into the losers’ bracket.
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GIRLS: Caney Valley 32, Nowata 16
Caney Valley’s squad has made the extraordinary transformation from a giant question mark at the start of the season to a monolithic explanation point.
Starting out the season with about enough varsity experience to thread through a needle, the Lady Trojans (14-9) roped in a district title by shutting down Nowata’s offense like a condemned taco shop in Tijuana.
“Some nights our offense doesn’t show up, but our defense keeps giving us opportunities to keep winning,” said Caney Valley head coach Deric Longan.
Six Lady Trojans contributed to the point total — Abby Daigle, 11; Roxy Hawkins, seven; Syndi Brown, five; Adesta Henry, four; Faith Davis, three; and Jaycee Tant 2.
Nowata (2-20) scored just eight points in the first half against the penurious Lady Trojan defense. That allowed Caney Valley to pull out to a 20-point lead, 28-8, and close out the win in the second half — and to advance to the Class 2A regionals in the winner’s bracket.
“For this young group this district championship is a big deal and a monumental step for them I think,” Longan said.
Caney Valley will host the regional openers, set for Thursday - weather permitting.
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Caney Valley’s Speck Gann goes to the basket during an earlier season game. The Trojans fell to Nowata, 49-37 in district playoffs on February 14, 2025.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BOYS: Nowata 49, Caney Valley 37
Talon Thompson skinned the nets with 21 points — including three treys — to help power Nowata to a Class 2A district title.
Adrian O’Dell and Ryan Walton added eight points apiece, followed by Chelo Prince, six; and Ty Williams and Clint Harrington, three apiece.
Nowata (15-8) poured in 10-of-14 free throws.
Logan Horsman sprang to life in the fourth quarter with three three-pointers to fuel a late Caney Valley rally.
Zack Longan added eight points in the period and 13 for the game.
In fact, Caney Valley scored 19 points in the period — a valiant effort but not enough to overcome a sluggish first three quarters that netted only 18 points.
Speck Gann added six points, followed by Ethan Brown and Logan Thompson with three each and Zeb Shaw with a free throw.
“We had a really good first quarter and a really good fourth quarter,” said Nowata head coach Derrick Ott. “Our defense was really good. … Our goal was to hold them to 10 points or less a quarter and they scored only 37 for the game.”
He praised his team’s ball movement against Caney Valley’s zone.
“We’ve had a lot of improvement from last year. … I’m definitely proud of the way it’s headed this year,” Ott added.
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Zach Renfroe (1) takes a breather during an earlier season game. The Bulldoggers downed Oologah, 65-64 in overtime on February 14, 2025.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BOYS: Dewey 65, Oologah 64 (ot)
If it weren’t for close games, Dewey head coach Lance Knight probably wouldn’t know where to get his E.Q. (Excitement Quotient).
Of the Bulldoggers’ 22 games, 13 have been decided by 10-or-fewer points. They are 6-7 in those contests — including three decided by one point.
Earlier this season, Oologah dusted off Dewey, 69-54. Dewey wrote a different storyline on Friday in Dewey.
“It was a good game from start to finish,” said Knight. “It was a three or four point game back and forth.”
Dewey barely missed a three-pointer at the end of regulation but outscored the visiting team in overtime, 7-6.
Zach Renfroe netted 21 points to lead a foursome of Dewey double-digit scorers, including Karson Johnson, 15; Lathe Griggs, 13; and Austin Eastman, 11. Tra Hicks added four points and Jaden Gray hit a crucial free throw for the margin of victory.
During the final seconds of overtime, Renfroe hit a close jumper to put Dewey on top. Oologah still had eight seconds to try to take the ball down the floor and score. Oologah got off two shots — one from an offensive rebound — and missed both.
“This is kind of game even if you lost you don’t hang your head,” Knight said. “The crowd got its money’s worth.”
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Copan High School’s Teegan Caron (21) drives the ball against Bluejacket earlier in the season. The Hornets defeated Bluejacket and South Coffeyville in last week’s district playoffs.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BOYS: Copan 67, Bluejacket 45
According to the beautiful old song standard, it’s a long, long time from May to December.
It was even longer between district titles for the Copan Hornets.
Saturday’s 22-point rout of Bluejacket earned Copan its first district crown since 2019.
“I’m super proud of them (players),” said Copan head coach Kolton Stacy.
Energized by Kane Foreman’s double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds), the Hornets dropped Bluejacket like a greased penguin.
Shooter Brewington stuck in a team-high 21 points and Karson Woodworth flirted with a double-double (eight points, 15 rebounds).
Teegan Caron dialed in 10 points despite spending about half the game out of action due to foul woes.
The Hornets turned it on in the fourth quarter to pull away to district supremacy.
Copan (15-8) beat Bluejacket for the third time this season.
Next up, the Hornets are scheduled to travel toward the end of the week to Medford to open play in the regionals - weather permitting.
District opener: Copan 58, South Coffeyville 46
Two-and-a-half months ago Stacy didn’t know exactly how to evaluate the upcoming season.
Twenty games later, the Hornets have met the high end of their coach’s expectations.
And the journey isn’t done yet.
Led by Caron with 22 points the Hornets (14-6) stung South Coffeyville in the opening round of the Class B district tournament. With the win, Copan buzzed into the district championship game.
“This year I told a lot of people I didn’t know who we were going to be,” said Stacy. “We’ve had a lot of guys step in and make their roles maximized. … It’s probably been my funnest year so far coaching because it could have gone either way. … They’ve grown up and turned into good young men and learning the game of basketball.”
Part of the game of basketball — at least the success part — is learning to deal with adversity. Copan had to do that last Friday when the hometown South Coffeyville crew stormed back from a double-digit deficit to pull within two points — on a super-sized three-pointer — with about four minutes remaining.
“Their crowd went crazy,” Stacy said. “Our players didn’t fold. Last year maybe we lose this game.”
Instead of being swept away by the momentum, the Hornets turned it around.
Foreman scored most of his 10 points in the final four minutes and Jarrett Shambles (13 points) dialed in two buckets in the final two minutes to energize Copan down the stretch.
Caron turned in a high-voltage effort, making the right decisions on whether to pass the ball or shoot it, Stacy said.
“They (South Coffeyville defenders) could keep in front of him,” he added.