TOURNEY REPORT: BHS girls storm into 3rd place game; Bruins lose opener
Bartlesville High School’s Sami Sheaffer (15) takes a shot during an earlier season game. The Lady Bruins defeated tournament host Frontenac (Kan.) in the first round, 62-40, but fell to Blue Valley (Kan.) Southwest, 58-51. They play for the third place spot on Saturday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesville High School’s Michael Kent (14) looks to the basket during an earlier season game. The Bruins fell to tournament host Moore, 66-32 in first round of action on January 23, 2025.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
Jan. 24, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Following are summaries of some of the Bartlesville High basketball action this past weekend.
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GIRLS: Blue Valley (Kan.) Southwest 58, Bartlesville 51 (Friday, Jan. 24)
With just a couple of different wrinkles the Bartlesville Lady Bruins might have earned a spot in the Frontenac (Kan.) girls tournament championship.
Unfortunately for Bartlesville, BV Southwest did too much smooth free throw shooting down the stretch to give Bartlesville a last-gasp chance to pull ahead at the end.
During the final 3:45, BV Southwest flushed five free throws to keep the score just out of reach in crunch time.
Truthfully, the Lady Bruins squandered a couple of key opportunities in the last couple of minutes — but some of that certainly was influenced by a touch of desperation in trying to overcome a two-possession deficit.
With just less than three minutes remaining, Sheaffer stuck in two free throws — getting the roll on the first one — to trim BV Southwest’s lead to four, 48-44.
But BV Southwest cashed in on a deuce-and-one — off an offensive rebound — on its next possession to widen the gap to 51-44.
Adrianne Flick answered for Bartlesville with a layup to make it a five-point game, 51-46.
After a BV Southwest free throw, the Lady Bruins gave themselves their best late run, started when Lunn scored on a baseline drive, followed by a BV Southwest backcourt turnover. But the Lady Bruins failed to cash in on the chance to slice the margin to two or one points.
BV Southwest shortly increased its lead back to six, 54-48, which essentially put the score out of reach, barring a fiery surge in the final 90 seconds by Bartlesville. Two free throws put BV Southwest up by eight points as the clock wound under a minute.
Shaeffer kept the Lady Bruins’ pulse beat going with a long trey to narrow the distance to five points, 56-51. But that would be Bartlesville’s final points.
The loss moved the Lady Bruins into the third-place game on Saturday.
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Bartlesville High School’s E.J. Belisle (10) looks to pass during an earlier season game. The Bruins fell to tournament host Moore, 66-32 in first round of action on January 23, 2025.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BOYS: Moore 66, Bartlesville 32 (Thursday, Jan. 23)
Bartlesville — which is coached by Tommy DeSalme — boosted its offensive attack in the second half but didn’t keep pace with Moore in the first round of the Moore Tournament.
Eight different Bruins contributed points, led by Hunter Eads and Michael Kent with six apiece, and Trae Collins and Jordan Turner with five each. Nash Zervas and Dennis Duncan both rang up four points while Jaden Turner and E.J. Belisle each hit a free throw.
The Moore Lions blitzed to a 22-3 lead in the first quarter but found the Bruins to be a much stubborn foe the.remaining three quarters.
By halftime, Moore had increased its lead by just five points, 34-10.
In the second half Bartlesville more than tripled its point total from the first half.
Kent buried two treys in the second half — one to start the third quarter scoring, the other for the game’s final points.
It wasn’t so much a matter of Bartlesville challenging Moore’s lead as it was feeding off its own offensive core.
Zervas — the only senior on the Bruin roster — scored all four of his points in the fourth quarter.
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(Right) Bartlesville High School’s Emma Zimmerman (5) grabs a loose ball while teammate Alayah Lunn (4) looks on during an earlier season game. The Lady Bruins defeated tournament host Frontenac (Kan.) in the first round, 62-40, but fell to Blue Valley (Kan.) Southwest, 58-51. They play for the third place spot on Saturday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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GIRLS: Bartlesville 62, Frontenac (Kan.) 40 (Thursday, Jan. 23)
Bolstered by the shooting of Sami Sheaffer, Alayah Lunn, Emma Zimmerman and other players, Bartlesville knocked the host team to the loser’s bracket in first-round action in the Frontenac Tournament.
Sheaffer blasted the cords with 23 points — to go with three boards and three assists.
Lunn earned a “Well, done” with 15 points, two rebounds and two assists; Zimmerman zapped the Frontenac defense with 12 points and also contributed two rebounds and four assists.
Bartlesville ascended to its ninth season win — just three victories shy of last year’s total. The Lady Bruins are closing in on back-to-back double-digit win seasons since 2019.
“We played better,” veteran Lady Bruin head coach Justyn Shaw said in reference to a loss earlier in the week to Edmond North. “We didn’t start off well, but we played better in the second half.”
The Lady Bruins shared the ball better and handled ball pressure better in the second half, he added.
“We shot the ball pretty well,” he continued. “We scored some baskets in transition. But we definitely have room for improvement.”
Rounding out the Lady Bruin scorers were Kennedy Nubel and Kenzie Denny with five points each. Nubel also pulled down three rebounds and spooned out three assists; Denny gained custodian of four rebounds and amassed two assists.
The Lady Bruins are still looking to sustain their best effort for four-straight quarters, Shaw added.