TOUGH NIGHT: Broken Arrow takes 2 from Bartlesville; Senior Night moved to Monday
Bartlesville High School’s Kenzie Denny (12) drives the ball during earlier season action. The Lady Bruins fell to Broken Arrow, 97-40 on February 14, 2025. BHS holds senior night ceremonies Monday night. The game was scheduled for Tuesday, but changed due to potential winter weather.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesville High School’s Nash Zervas (3) fights for a rebound during an earlier season game. The Bruins fell to Broken Arrow, 68-26 on February 14, 2025. BHS holds senior night ceremonies Monday night. The game was scheduled for Tuesday, but changed due to potential winter weather.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
February 17, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
If adversity is that meat that develops character muscle the Bartlesville High School basketball teams experienced a full-course banquet last Friday night.
Going up against perhaps the best two teams in Oklahoma — in any class — the Bruins and Lady Bruins bravely put everything they had on the table against their Broken Arrow foes.
Broken Arrow was just too good for them.
In the girls game, the Lady Bruins stayed in contention the entire first quarter. But the Broken Arrow Lady Tigers pulled away in the second quarter.
And kept pulling away until they won, 97-40.
The Bruin boys didn’t fare much better — the Broken Arrow Tigers won, 68-26.
Next up, Bartlesville will make its final home appearance Monday when it hosts Jenks’ teams for Senior Night. The girls are set to play at 6:30 p.m., followed by the guys.
This will be a vital game for the Lady Bruins (12-10, 6-7) as they try to wrap up the No. 4 seed in District 6A-4. Bartlesville beat Jenks (10-13, 5-8) earlier this season.
The Bartlesville Bruins (3-18, 0-13) will accept a spirited challenge to knock off Jenks (13-11, 8-5) and record a hard-fought district win.
Following are a few more details on last Friday’s games.
__________
Bartlesville High School’s Adrianna Flick (20) fights for a rebound during an earlier season game. BHS holds senior night ceremonies Monday night. The game was scheduled for Tuesday, but changed due to potential winter weather.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
__________
GIRLS: Broken Arrow 97, Bartlesville 40
Sami Sheaffer and Kennedy Nubel both scored in double figures to account for most of the Lady Bruins’ points.
Bartlesville inched to the early lead on a Nubel deuce.
Sheaffer, Emma Zimmerman and Kenzie Denny also scored in the first quarter to narrow Broken Arrow’s lead to 10 points, 19-9.
But by halftime Broken Arrow had stretched the margin to 27 points, 48-21.
Sheaffer and Nubel did all of Bartlesville’s scoring in the third quarter, with Sheaffer cashing in on a basket-and-one. Broken Arrow ended the quarter with a 39-point bulge, 71-32.
In the fourth quarter, Cadence Gray scored four points for Bartlesville to lift the Lady Bruins — who are coached by Justyn Shaw — to the 40-or-higher point total for the sixth-straight game and the 18th time this season.
_________
BOYS: Broken Arrow 68, Bartlesville 26
The Tigers (21-2, 12-1) charged out to a 17-0 lead, but Bartlesville played Broken Arrow even the rest of the first half, 9-9, thanks to two three-pointers by Nash Zervas (two) and Dennis Duncan.
Down 17 at halftime, 26-9, the Bruins — who are coached by Tommy DeSalme — weren’t in too terrible of shape.
But Broken Arrow shot out like a cannon in the second half, quickly building a 40-12 lead, with Hunter Holmes; trey the only Bruin points during that run.
E.J. Belisle, Trae Collins, Michael Kent and Jordan Turner also each scored in the second half, along with Duncan and Zervas.
Zervas is the Bruins’ lone senior. It’s been a year of growing pains for the freshman-heavy team. During the past two weeks the Bruins have dropped one-possession decisions to Sapulpa and Northwest Classen.