DROUGHT ENDED: BHS Lady Bruins snap 38-game conference losing streak

On Thursday, Bartlesville High School’s girls basketball team did a little linguistic engineering, redefining the phrase “despite” to “tenacity.”

Indeed, the Lady Bruins proved they could cherish the challenge and dump the doubt during an historic 47-44 victory in the Bruin Fieldhouse against Tulsa Union High.

It kind of went like this Thursday against Tulsa Union:

— Despite playing only five girls, Bartlesville displayed as much energy in the fourth and the first quarter.

— Despite missing one of their two top scorers, the Lady Bruins reached their ninth-highest single game scoring total.

— Despite missing five free throws the final 34 seconds, the Lady Bruins found the grit to hold on.

— Despite no seniors on the floor, the Lady Bruins played with a rugged toughness seldom witnessed by young squad.

Not only did Bartlesville (7-10) wrap up its first season win in the Frontier Valley Conference, the Lady Bruins did something very special — end a 38-game losing streak in regular season conference wins.

Bartlesville had posted its last conference win in January 2020, with a 38-37 decision against Owasso, in a throw-back game at the Phillips Fieldhouse. Following that buzzer-beating win (Kate Gronigan hit the winning shot), Bartlesville just couldn’t deliver a conference win in the rest of that season and throughout 2020-21 and 2021-22 and through the first couple of months this season.

“They were aware of that (the long winless run in conference),” Bartlesville head coach Justyn Shaw said. “They were aware even before we played Muskogee.”

But, whereas the Lady Bruins pressed maybe a bit too much in the loss to Muskogee, against Tulsa Union “they played with a sense of freedom,” Shaw said. “We knew we were missing two regular starters, so they told themselves let’s go out and relax. Let’s go out there and play basketball with a sense of freedom. They didn’t worry about the score so much. I think they responded well by trusting what they had already done in the game.”

When the Lady Bruins realized they could beat Union, they did what they needed to close it out.

But, Justyn Shaw and his Ironmen Five — Alayah Dunn, Grace McPhail, Mikka Chambers, Kenzie Denny and Emma Zimmerman — got it done Thursday night, in circumstances certainly not favorable to the task. But, they turned “despite” to “tenacity.”

The same five had played every minute in the previous game, and might have to the next game or do unless Shaw brings some of his few remaining reserves on the floor.

“They’ve bonded together and have been disciplined,” he said out his group of five the last two games. “I didn’t think we’d have a problem with stamina. We do a lot of physical drills in practice, running and getting on the floor. I told them that getting after it like take was going to pay off.”

Dunn canned 15 points to lead Bartlesville’s scoring list, followed by McPhail, 14; Chambers, 11; and Denny, seven. Zimmerman missed a couple of three throws that would have put her on the board.

Tulsa Union boasted nine-different scorers, led by Yanae’ Edwards with 11 and Jamiya Woodard, eight.

The Lady Bruins nearly led wire-to-wire.

Chambers dialed in a two-pointer to open the scoring in the game; Tulsa Union then pulled even, 2-2.

But, Lunn’s first trey sparked Bartlesville on an 11-6 run to end the first quarter.

Lunn scored eight in the first period to lead Bartlesville to a 13-8 lead.

McPhail also completed a three-point play in the period.

The Lady Bruins presaged their unrelenting effort when Denny opened the second quarter scoring.

Lunn buried her third three-pointer of the first half and Chambers canned a deuce to make it a 10-point game, 24-14, near the end of the second quarter. Union clawed back to within eight by halftime, 26-18.

The teams scrapped through a fiercely-contested third quarter, which saw Union briefly pull into the lead, 31-30 before Lunn ended the quarter with another trey.

Union regained the advantage, 37-33, in the fourth quarter.

Bartlesville fans had to wonder — could victory be slipping away again as it has so often the he past four seasons?

The Lady Bruins offered a fiery answer — a bucket by Chambers, two free throws by McPhail and a steal and bucket by Denny to power Bartlesville back into the top spot, 39-37.

Bartlesville would never relinquish the lead the rest of the way. Chambers’ old-fashioned three-point play increased the gap to 42-37, with precious time evaporating. After Union sliced the lead to 43-40, McPhail McCanned two free throws to make it a two-possession lead, 44-40.

The Lady Bruins struggled at the charity stripe the rest of the way, hitting 3-of-10. But, that was enough to rule the game.

Bartlesville said the Lady Bruins just let the game come to them and got settled in.

“They trusted one another and came out with a win,” he said.

Next up, Bartlesville is home on Monday to play Sand Springs and travels Tuesday to Sapulpa.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville High downs Tulsa Union in girls basketball scrap