BHS Lady Bruins dismantle foe; Bruins lose close decision
The Bartlesville High School bench cheers on the Lady Bruins during an earlier season home game, BHS defeated host NW Classen, 65-25 on February 11, 2025. Broken Arrow comes to town on Friday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesville High School’s Hunter Holmes (24) passes the ball during earlier season home action. The Bruins fell to NW Classen, 55-51 on February 11, 2025. BHS hosts Broken Arrow on Friday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
February 12, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Fate is a two-faced specter.
He can either bless or curse, depending on reasons known only to itself.
Funny thing is, sometimes when he doles out bad luck he’s really sowing a seed of experience that will germinate later into success.
Perhaps that’s so with the Bartlesville High School boys basketball team after suffering a heartbreaking loss for the second time in a week.
On Tuesday, the host Northwest Classen High School Knights rallied in the final four minutes to beat the Bruins, 55-51, in District 6A-4 action.
This setback occurred just a week after Sapulpa held off the struggling Bruins, 52-50.
Bartlesville (3-17, 0-12) came out of the contest still seeking its first district win.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Bartlesville Lady Bruins (12-9, 6-6) whomped Northwest Classen, 65-25, in girls’ action.
Kennedy Nubel scored 14 to lead Bartlesville’s victorious assault, led by Sami Sheaffer and Alayah Lunn with 11 apiece.
“We could have been better, but I thought we got out in transition a bit, which helped out,” said Lady Bruin head coach Justyn Shaw.
He also praised the contribution of his reserves.
Next up, Bartlesville eyes a home doubleheader Friday against the Broken Arrow powerhouse teams. The girls’ game is set for 6:30 p.m., followed by the guys’ collision at 8 p.m.
KWON (1400 am) radio provides play-by-play live action — and a TV streaming service on its website — for Bartlesville games. Evan Fahrbach is the popular Voice of the Bruins.
Following are more details for Tuesday’s games.
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Bartlesville High School’s Sami Sheaffer (15) passes the ball during earlier season action. The Lady Bruins defeated host NW Classen, 65-25 on February 11, 2025. BHS hosts Broken Arrow on Friday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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GIRLS: Bartlesville 65, NW Classen 25
In their previous meeting this season, the Lady Bruins had dismantled the Lady Knights by 57 points.
The final margin in the rematch was closer but the outcome was equally out of reach by the end of the first quarter.
With eight different girls (Nubel, Lunn, Sheaffer, Cadence Gray, Adrianne Flick, Kenzie Denny, Erin Bridendolph and Emma Zimmerman) contributing to the scoring, Bartlesville burst to a 34-13 halftime lead.
Gray scored four quick points to help boost the blitz.
Shaw said he felt encouraged by Lunn’s stepping up on scoring end and showing part of that offensively which she’s capable.
The second half was like the first with Bartlesville continuing to widen the margin, including a two-pointer by Sadie Reynolds, who came in from deep off the bench.
Bartlesville ended the game on a 12-0 run.
“Probably those two things, our transition game and the way our second unit did a really good job of bringing energy … were the main differences,” Shaw said.
When Bartlesville’s consistently high scorers — Sheaffer, Nubel and Lunn, and sometimes Denny — produce a high level at the same time, Bartlesville has “a really good chance of competing with teams that score the basketball,” Shaw said.
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Bartlesville High School’s Dennis Duncan (11) drives the ball during earlier season action. The Bruins fell to host NW Classen, 55-51 on February 11, 2025. Broken Arrow comes to Bartlesville on Friday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BOYS: Northwest Classen 55, Bartlesville 51
Earlier this season, Northwest Classen thumped the Bruins by 29 points, 74-45, at the Bruin Fieldhouse.
Tuesday’s rematch displayed how much Bartlesville has progressed since then.
This was not an accordion game, where the Knights would expand the lead and the Bruins would squeeze back closer.
It was a genuine pitched battle from opening tip to buzzer, a veritable slug out that brought out the best in both team’s competitive characters.
Bartlesville, which is coached by Tommy DeSalme, bolted to an early 5-2 lead on Trae Collins’ three-pointer — he would end up with 19 points on the night. Northwest Classen clawed back to take a seven-point bulge at the end of the first quarter, 18-11.
But buckets by Collins and Dennis Duncan cut the deficit in half, 20-16. Not too long later, Luke Massey dropped in two free throws to trim the Knights’ lead to three, 21-18.
By halftime, the home team clung to a 27-23 lead.
Duncan netted a bucket to open the third quarter, Hunter Holmes absorbed a charge and Collins made another basket to tie it, 27-27. There would be four lead changes and a tie in the third period, which ended with the Knights still ahead, 41-36.
That set the stage for a blistering Bruin comeback in the fourth period, including two early treys by Nash Zervas.
Bartlesville finally regained the lead, 49-47, on another Collins’ net-buster.
But Northwester Classen closed out the game with an 8-2 run. Collins made two free throws to make it a one-point game with less than a minute left, 52-51. The Knights hit free throws to seal the win.