AREA PREP HOOPS: OUHS takes 2 vs. rival Nowata; WCS, Copan and Barnsdall eye playoff games
Following is a roundup of area prep basketball reports.
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Boys: Class B district playoffs
For Wesleyan Christian and Copan High Schools, Friday night is S-Hour.
Win and survive in the playoffs, lose and say ‘bye-bye’ to the season.
The WCS Mustangs (17-2) play at 8 p.m. at Coyle High School against Butner High School.
The winner will advance to the regionals as well as play Saturday night against Coyle for the district title.
Wesleyan Christian is coming off a historic regular season. The Mustangs set a record for the most regular season wins as an OSSAA team, capped by last Tuesday’s 77-65 win against Mingo Valley.
Kade Kelley dialed in a season-high — and possibly career high — 31 points to lead the Mustangs.
Tyrel Cloud added 17 points, followed by Kael Siemers with 13, Cooper Holley with four, and Landon Norris, Josh G., Logan Scott and Caleb Vanwinkle with two apiece.
The game was neck-and-neck until the third quarter.
“I think ultimately, we were able to get a little deeper,” WCS first-year head coach Steven Cooks said. “We got a good defensive effort, No. 1.”
WCS led by 21 with about four minutes left; Mingo Valley made a little run at the end to pull within 12.
In going into tonight’s playoff game, Cooks said he told his team that “Everybody is 0-0 in the postseason so we’ve got to come ready to play.”
A victory Friday night would set a school record for overall season wins. The Mustangs also will be fighting to advance to the regionals for the third-straight season.
Copan (10-9) won’t have to worry about bus legs.
The Hornets are playing host to their district tourney.
But, they also have to win Friday’s first-round game — against South Coffeyville — in order to stay alive.
During the regular season, Copan and South Coffeyville split. South Coffeyville won back on Nov. 30, 79-73, but Copan bounced back on Jan. 29 to win the rematch, 65-33.
Copan is 5-2 in its last seven games.
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Class B girls’ playoffs
Copan and Wesleyan Christian will have had to win on Thursday in order to play in Saturday’s district finals.
Copan is hosting its district tournament while WCS’s district assignment is at Coyle.
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Class A playoffs
Barnsdall had to travel to Wellston for the postseason opening weekend.
The Lady Panthers needed to beat Regent Prep on Thursday in order to play in Saturday’s final against Wellston.
Barnsdall boys open the playoffs at 8 p.m. tonight against Regent Prep.
The winner plays at 8 p.m. Saturday against Wellston
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Boys: Oklahoma Union 51, Nowata 31
Oklahoma Union High’s boys’ basketball team didn’t take anything for granted Wednesday night.
Still stinging from a 55-30 loss back on Jan. 14 to Nowata High, the OUHS Cougars got another shot Wednesday at Nowata.
This time it turned out almost exactly opposite.
Paced by Tristan Davis with 15 points and Kade Hollingshed with 14, OUHS clawed out a 51-31 victory.
The Cougars powered to a 27-13 halftime lead and kept its intensity up until it the victory was in hand.
“Our defensive discipline was better,” OUHS head coach Lee Ott said about this game compared to the first meeting against Nowata. “Our offensive ball movement was better. We weren’t trying to cram the ball down their throat; we moved the ball a little more than the first time.”
The Cougars’ shining stat?
Nowata’s leading scorer Jace Williams didn’t hit a bucket until the fourth quarter, after OUHS had taken a 38-17 lead.
Thompson finished with 11 points to tie James Ewers as Nowata’s leading scorer.
OUHS (17-3) rolled to its eight-straight win, while Nowata (13-4) saw its winning streak snapped at three-in-a-row.
The Cougars — which are ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 2A — are revving up for the playoffs and the opportunity to defend their state title.
In that regard, Ott is grateful for the tough two-game regular season series against No. 17 Nowata.
“They exposed some of the weaknesses that we need to work on,” Ott said, adding the Cougars will probably battle again with either Nowata or fellow rival Caney Valley in the playoffs.
Score by quarters: Oklahoma Union 11-16-11-13—51, Nowata 8-5-4-14—31.
Oklahoma Union scorers: Tristan Davis 15, Kaide Hill 7, Jaiden Kennard 8, Kade Hollingshed 14, Baylor Nash 7.
Nowata: Jace Thompson 11, Tucker Collier 2, James Ewers 11, Skyler Stevens 4, Jacob Taylor 3.
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Girls: Nowata 55, Oklahoma Union 52
Nowata wrapped up a regular season sweep of Oklahoma Union, thanks to a gritty comeback.
Nowata trailed by 14 in the third quarter, prompting head coach David Vann to call time out.
He challenged his girls to step up their effort — and they did.
“We showed some fight,” Vann said.
He didn’t have scoring totals but said several of girls contributed points to the win.
Nowata improved to 6-11, including a 2-1 record in its last three games.
Oklahoma Union fell to 11-9 and 6-6 since December.
Oklahoma Union travels Friday to Fairland, while Nowata closes out the regular season with a journey next Monday to Chelsea.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: OUHS wins boys', girls' games against Nowata; playoffs this weekend
