BARTLESVILLE BOYS HOOPS CAPTURES MORE THAN 20 WINS IN JUNE PRESEASON TESTS
Bartlesville Bruins Dennis Duncan goes to the basket during last season. Duncan is expected to play a large part in this year’s Bruins team under the new leadership of head coach Jake Christenson.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesville Bruins basketball participated in a successful camp last month.
PHOTO PROVIDED
By Mike Tupa
July 14, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Optimism has many faces.
It may manifest itself as an explosive thunderstorm that seems to rip open the seams of the sky and unleash a deluge of expectations.
Or, it can be a wave of steady velvet-smooth rain chattering softly about the revitalizing prospects of the future.
Either way, optimism’s roots are planted in soil consisting of prospective performance and confidence in the process of becoming.
Bartlesville High School’s boys basketball team seems to be at that stage now following a successful June team camp showing under the direction of new head coach Jake Christenson and his staff.
The Bruins bolted to a 24-7 record — while winning 21 of their final 25 outings — in what can be best defined as a rebuilding/reloading project.
Bartlesville won only three games last season — and one of those against a junior varsity opponent.
After the campaign, last year’s head coach Tommy DeSalme decided to return to coach in the college ranks — where he had been ultra successful — after just one season at Bartlesville.
That opened the door for Christenson, a Pawhuska High School product and veteran head coach — with a bright resume — from the smaller school realm.
Christenson enjoyed a sizable turnout — 22 players — for summer team camp action.
“I was most pleased with our consistency and guys showing up,” he said. “We had about the same crew every single day. … I was pleased they were invested.”
After recording a 1-3 record their first day together, the Bruins finished up June with a 24-7 mark all together.
“I think we shoot the ball really well,” Christenson said, adding several different Bruins stepped up to make three and four three-pointers a game.
“When you’re undersized like we are, it helps you survive,” he added. “I don’t know that I’ve ever coached a team here we walked out on the floor and said, ‘Hey, we’re bigger than them.’ ”
Two veterans that helped solidify the team’s chemistry in June were seniors Dennis Duncan, Hudson Eads and Trae Collins. Christenson added that: “Dennis holds the floor down for us. … We’re mostly all seniors or sophomores.”
Christenson said he’s also happy to see Braden Walls in the gym as Walls continues to recover from a highway tragedy last spring.
Walls, who will be a sophomore, was involved in an accident in May that claimed the life of his father Wayne and others. Wayne — a highly popular coach and mentor — and Braden were returning from a basketball tournament in Kansas when it occurred.
Walls didn’t play for the Bruins last season, but came out this summer to play in team camp games, Christenson said, adding “that was big of us this summer.”
“We have a slew of sophomores,” he added. “But, they’re sure a lot more mature and look a lot more mature than last year.”
Christenson tailored the schedule to give his still developing team a chance to experience success and bond together.
“There was a lot of buy-in,” he said. “We were not playing a lot of 6A teams. … We were beating some state tournament-caliber teams and beating several 4A teams.”
The Bruins competed strong with 4A state powers Stilwell and North Rock Creek, he added.
With summer team camp tournaments behind, the focus now will be on individual workouts and weight room work, Christenson said.
He said he’s relied on his assistants — including veterans Gerald Thompson, Heath Deaton and Chris Turner — to try to gauge how this year’s team compares to last year’s team at this point.
“I think they’re (assistants) real encouraged by our guys,” Christian said. “But I think there’s still a lot of question marks. Class 6A is so big, so strong and so fast. … But, we still have a lot of hope as well.”
As for himself, Christenson remains profoundly grateful about this opportunity to coach at Bartlesville.
“They could offer me the head coaching job at the University of Kansas and I wouldn’t take it,” he said. “There’s not a job in the world over this one that I’d take.”
NOTES: Christenson is just the eighth head coach in the 44-year history of Bartlesville High boys basketball. Four of those coaches (Steve Hesser, Wes Brown, Tim Bart and Clent Stewart) turned in average tenures of almost 10 years apiece. … In the late 1980s through the early 19990s, mostly during the Hesser Era, Bartlesville captured three state titles (1989, 1991, 1992) and appeared in the state final two other times (1988, 1933, the latter during Brown’s first season). … During Bart’s leadership (2000-14), Bartlesville advanced to state five times and finished once as the state runner-up (2005). … Bartlesville hasn’t qualified for state since 2012, toward the end of Bart’s run. … The Bruins have averaged just 5.5 wins per season since the 2019-20 campaign. … Former Bruin star David Castillo played as a freshman last season for Kansas State. During his three seasons at Bartlesville he scored 1,594 points, making him the Bruins’ all-time leading scorer.