Bartlesville girls defeat NW classen; boys fall
Bartlesville High School’s Jordan Turner (22) grabs a rebound during the Bruins home game against Northwest Classen on Jan. 14, 2025. The Bruins fell, 74-45. BHS earned the runner-up spot in the COP/Arvest Invitational last weekend.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesville High School’s Cadence Gray (11) attempts a steal during action against Northwest Classen on Jan. 14, 2025. The Lady Bruins won, 65-8. BHS earned the runner-up spot in the COP/Arvest Invitational last weekend.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Coming off their lowest scoring total just two days earlier, Bartlesville High School girls bounced back Tuesday (Jan. 14) at full tilt.
Paced by three double-digit net-rippers the Lady Bruins blasted past the Northwest Classen High School girls, 65-8, in front of a small crowd at the Bruin Fieldhouse.
In the boys game that followed, Bartlesville — which is coached by Tommy DeSalme — put together its third-highest scoring output of the season — despite the debilitating effects to the lineup of a round of illness.
Northwest Classen literally ran away with the win, however, 74-45, with no notable student section in the stands rooting on the Bruins.
Following are more details for both games.
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Bartlesville High School’s Kennedy Nubel (22) passes the ball during action against Northwest Classen on Jan. 14, 2025 in Bartlesville. The Lady Bruins won, 65-8.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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GIRLS: Bartlesville 65, NW Classen 8
Alayah Dunn (sr., 5-7) set a scorching scoring pace — sticking in seven of Bartlesville’s first 14 points in the District 6A-4 showdown.
Sami Sheaffer (jr., 6-0) added nine points in the first half and seven more after halftime and Kenzie Denny erupted for 13 points — nine in the second half — to help pace the offensive assault.
The Lady Bruins surpassed by one point their previous high-point game against Sand Springs, 64-55, back in early December. To add more context to the victory, the Lady Bruins were coming off a 65-24 loss to Broken Arrow last Saturday.
Bartlesville (7-4, 3-3) — which is coached by Justyn Shaw — came out on fire against Northwest Classen (3-7, 0-6).
By halftime, the Lady Bruins had surged to a 19-point lead, 25-6 — and they were just getting warmed up.
Bartlesville outscored NW Classen by 36 points, 36-0, in the third period.
The fourth period was nearly as one-sided — Bartlesville piled up 29 points to NW Classen’s two free throws.
According to the report’s unofficial statistics, Cadence Gray turned in her top varsity offensive showing (eight points), followed by Emma Zimmerman with seven, Adrianne Flick with four and Kennedy Nubel with three to round out Bartlesville’s scoring sheet.
Bartlesville scored points by the bunches.
During one stretch in the third quarter, Zimmerman caused a turnover that led to transition layup by Lunn, Sheaffer completed a three-point play, Flick hauled down a defensive rebound that led to fast break points, Sheaffer made a backcourt steal and layup, Nubel fired in a swisher from inside the paint and Gray dropped in a 17-footer — all in less than five minutes.
Next up, the Lady Bruins end their four game homestand by traveling Friday to Jenks to take on the Lady Trojans (6-6, 2-4). This is one of those signature opportunities for the Lady Bruins to prove they are an upper division competitor in district.
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Bartlesville High School’s Dennis Duncan (12) catches an inbound pass in action against Northwest Classen on Jan. 14, 2025 in Bartlesville. Despite falling, 74-45, the Bruins extended their streak of scoring at least 36 points in a third-straight game.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BOYS: NW Classen 74, Bartlesville 45
Yes, the Bruins dropped to 2-10 and remained winless (0-6) in the district.
But there appears to be a promising trend for the scrappy but adversity-plagued Bruins — they extended their streak of scoring at least 36 points to a third-straight game, a season best.
NW Classen (5-5, 2-4) turned the game into a track meet, stampeding at whirlwind speed down the court as if the ball were a firecracker ready to crack.
To put it simply, the short-handed Bruins — and the impact of illness on some of them in uniform — struggled to keep up in transition.
The mostly-inexperienced Bartlesville boys still battled like warriors, made a few good plays in transition defense, and poured what they had into the battle.
Six different Bruins contributed to the scoring total, led by the sprightly Dennis Duncan and hustling Nash Zervas with 11 apiece. Jordan Turner added 10, his first double-digit output of the season.
Michael Kent also showed signs of maturing offensive skills by netting six points, followed by Trae Collins with five and Daeton Stevens with two.
Brandon Butler skinned the nets with 31 points for NW Classen, one of multiple double-digit scorers, including Jalen Lopez with 11.
As has been the pattern the Bruins fell behind big early and had to scrap back.
NW Classen used an extended zone look to pressure the ball and intensely contest pretty much every outside shot attempted.
The Bruins kept scrambling and scrounging for points, but also did their best to disrupt NW Classen’s frenetic offensive attack.
Early in the game, the 5-foot-10 Duncan elevated to prevent a running layup attempt.
But NW Classen bolted to an 8-0 lead prior to Turner swishing a jumper from the middle of the paint to put the Bruins on the board.
Jordan also nailed Bartlesville’s second bucket — off a pull-up 17-footer from the left angle. Duncan scored Bartlesville’s other two baskets in the first quarter, but NW Classen sped to an 11-point lead, 19-8.
The gap slowly continued to elongate in the second quarter. The Bruins tried to constrict the margin.
Zervas made a strong heady move toward the bucket and put up a shot in-between taller defenders to cut the lead to 15 points, 25-10.
Zervas also delivered the assist to Collins for a trey for the Bruins’ next points.
Turner scored five points late in the second quarter — one on a three-pointer and the other on a power spin move on the left block for a layup to help keep NW Classen’s lead to 20 points at halftime.
Lacking a major Bruin rally in the second half the final margin was 29 points.
The Bruins hope to be back to full-strength when they travel Friday to take on Jenks (6-7, 3-3).