Sapulpa teams spoil Bartlesville basketball road trip
Bartlesville High School’s Emma Zimmerman (5) takes a shot during earlier season action in Bartlesville. The Lady Bruins fell on the road to Sapulpa, 49-36.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesville High School’s Titus Huck (30) passes the ball during earlier season action. The Bruins fell on the road to Sapulpa, 61-22.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
(Note: Be sure and catch the live broadcast of Friday’s home games on KWON (1400 AM), with the opening tip-off set for 6:30 p.m.)
The best news about Tuesday’s (Dec. 17) road doubleheader is that the Bartlesville High School teams will have another shot in February at Sapulpa High School.
Other than that, Tuesday proved to me mostly a rugged challenge for both the Bartlesville Bruins and Lady Bruins.
In the girls game, the Sapulpa Lady Chieftains (3-6) held off a ferocious Lady Bruin rally — all the way from 12 points behind and into the lead — before Sapulpa yanked out a 13-point win, 49-36.
The nightcap saw Sapulpa boys record a 61-22 win as Bartlesville (1-5) never did find its offensive rhythm.
Next up, Bartlesville teams will play host to its December finale Friday (Dec. 20) when Enid comes to town.
Following are more details from Tuesday’s games:
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GIRLS: Sapulpa 49, Bartlesville 36
Bartlesville displayed great heart and spirit followed a laggard start.
By then, however, the hill proved too steep to climb.
Sapulpa surged to a 13-1 lead in the first several minutes before Sami Sheaffer unleashed a scoring spurt to trigger a comeback.
Kenzie Denny contributed to the rally that trimmed the lead to six points, 15-9.
A few minutes later Bartlesville burst in front, 18-16, thanks to a pair of buckets by Kennedy Nubel.
Sapulpa clawed back ahead to lead at halftime, 23-21.
The Lady Bruins (3-2)— who are coached by Justyn Shaw — continued to scrap and exude energy like a quasar of desire.
Early in the third period, Sheaffer dropped in a trey to pull Bartlesville even again, 29-29.
But the tide then slowly rolled the home team’s way. Sapulpa jabbed out an eight-point lead by the end of the third quarter, 39-31.
Sapulpa repelled every Bartlesville run throughout the final quarter.
Sheaffer dropped in 13 points, followed by Alayah Lunn and Nubel with eight.
Bartlesville High School’s Sami Sheaffer (15) tries to get past a defender during earlier season action. The Lady Bruins fell on the road to Sapulpa, 49-36.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BOYS: Sapulpa 61, Bartlesville 22
It just wasn’t the Bartlesville Bruins’ night.
Sapulpa pitched a shutout in the first quarter, 12-0, but Bartlesville made a feisty stand — with points from Hudson Eads, Trae Collins and Jordan Turner — in the second quarter to outscore Sapulpa, 9-7, and whittle the lead to 10 points, 19-9.
Sapulpa came out on fire in the third quarter to build a 22-point lead, 31-9, before Dennis Duncan finally broke the scoring drought for coach Tommy DeSalme’s Bruin team.
But nothing could reverse the trend. Sapulpa continued to add slowly to its advantage.
Eads hit multiple treys to lead the Bruins in scoring.
Bartlesville High School’s Nash Zervas makes a defensive play during earlier season action. The Bruins fell to Sapulpa, 61-22, on the road.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports