BARTLESVILLE BRUINS AND LADY BRUINS FALL TO STILLWATER ON JAN. 16
Bartlesville High School’s Shaylyn Ishem (22) fights for a rebound against Stillwater during a Jan. 16 home game. The Lady Bruins fell 41-38.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesviille High School’s Luke Massey (3) guards a Stillwater player during a Jan. 16 home game. The Bruins fell 69-60.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
Jan. 27, 2026
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
The made free throw giveth a chance and the missed free throw taketh it away.
That could have been the moral of the Jan. 16 Bartlesville vs. Stillwater prep boys basketball showdown, won by host Stillwater, 69-60.
Other than that, Bartlesville’s hustle and scrappiness offset Stillwater’s height and production in the low post.
Bartlesville’s Dennis Duncan unloosed Thunder Time to energize the Bruins to the near win. He reeled off 10 points during a sonic spurt in the first quarter and also electrified the offensive machine with his ballhandling and passing.
But giving up too many offensive rebounds and post points and — as mentioned — missed free throws late helped tilt the final decision in Stillwater’s favor.
Free throws also filled a major role in the girls’ game, won by Stillwater, 41-38.
Stillwater nailed several one-pointers down the stretch that kept the Lady Bruins from changing the result. In addition, the Lady Bruins shot ice cold from long range, going 0-for-everything on three-pointers.
With just a couple of treys Bartlesville girls likely would have added another ‘W’.
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BOTTOM LINE
With the loss, the Bartlesville boys finished 1-1 on the week and 6-8 overall — twice the number of wins for all of the last two seasons. Jake Christenson is the Bruins’ first-year head coach.
Bartlesville girls — who are led by fifth-year head coach Justyn Shaw — fell to 8-6 overall while failing to reach 40 points for the third time in four games.
Following are more details from Friday’s contests in Stillwater.
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Bartlesville High School’s Cadence Gray (11) drives the ball against Stillwater on Jan. 16 in Bartlesville. The Lady Bruins fell 41-38.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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GIRLS: Stillwater 41, Bartlesville 38
Bartlesville displayed whale-sized fight early, but just didn’t find the offensive sync and flow that has characterized their drive to eight wins.
Stillwater surged to an early 11-4 lead, but the Lady Bruins began to claw back on buckets by Kenzie Denny and Shaylyn Ishem, the latter off a low post spin move and bank layup.
Ishem also converted a three-point play late in the first quarter to keep Stillwater’s lead to 16-11 at the end of the first quarter.
Sami Sheaffer scored all six of Bartlesville’s points in the offensive low-voltage output in the second quarter. Stillwater led at intermission, 23-17.
Points also came precious in the third quarter, with Stillwater carrying a five-point lead into the fourth quarter, 30-25.
The Lady Bruins dug in early in the fourth quarter to get within two points, 31-29, on Denny’s deuce.
But Stillwater stretched its lead back to seven points, 38-31. Once again Bartlesville clawed back, getting within two, 38-36, on Emma Zimmerman’s two free throws.
However, Bartlesville then went scoreless for two-and-a-half minutes. With 33 seconds left Sheaffer nailed a jumper to narrow the lead back to two points, 40-38. Stillwater hit a free throw to go up 41-38.
The Lady Bruins had plenty of time to try to tie it up but missed a long three-point attempt on their final shot.
Sheaffer finished with double-digit points, followed by Ishem with eight and Denny with seven.
Bartlesville: 11-6-8-13 — 38
Stillwater: 16-7-7-11 — 41
BARTLESVILLE SCORERS
Sami Sheaffer 5 6-10 14, Emma Zimmerman 1 3-4 5, Cadence Gray 1 1-1 3, Addison Jones 1 0-0 2, Kenzie Denny 3 1-2 7, Shaylyn Ishem 2 4-5 8. Totals: 12 15-22 38.
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Bartlesville High School’s Dennis Duncan (12) goes to the basket agaisnt Stillwater on Jan. 16 in Bartlesville. The Bruins fell 69-60.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BOYS: Stillwater 69, Bartlesville 60
With 3:50 remaining, Bartlesville trailed by just two points, 57-55.
But the Bruins hit only 3-of-8 on free throws the rest of the way, which allowed Stillwater to maintain a two-or-three-possession bulge and drain down the clock.
Duncan finished with 16 points and Trae Collins — a second-half whirlwind on offense — finished with 14, 11 of them after halftime. Collins also nailed 6-of-6 free throws.
Luke Massey chipped in with eight points, followed by Hunter Holmes and Sutton Huff with seven apiece to round out Bartlesville’s top five scorers.
Don’t be mistaken. Bartlesville competed effectively against the Pioneers and gave itself a chance to win. Stillwater did enough to eke out the victory.
Duncan’s 10-point run in the first quarter helped power the Bruins to a 17-12 lead in the opening seven minutes. Massey also scored a key layup off an inbounds pass by Duncan.
By the end of the first quarter the Bruins led, 17-14.
Duncan nailed a three-pointer — set up by Holmes’ steal — and Holmes coaxed a jumper through the nets to bump the Bruins back to a five-point lead, 22-17, early in the second quarter.
But Stillwater finished the half on a 10-6 run to slice Bartlesville’s lead to one point at halftime, 28-27.
A spurt of scoring early in the third quarter — including one of several buckets set up by offensive rebounds — powered Stillwater ahead, 34-30.
Duncan helped the Bruins answer with his penetration and feed to Massey for a layup to make it a 34-32 game.
Stillwater continued to aggressively attack, however, and built a 10-point advantage halfway through the third period, 42-32. Bartlesville slowed the flow, thanks to treys by Jackson Barta and Holmes, to get within seven points at the end of the third period, 49-42.
The Bruins kept their valiant and determined push going through the fourth quarter, closing within four points, 57-53, and two points, 57-55. But missed crucial free throws — and Stillwater’s ability to cash in on the other side — detoured Bartlesville’s rally. With less than a minute left Bartlesville pulled within four, 64-60, on Duncan’s driving layup.
But Stillwater hit 3-of-4 free throws to make it a three-possession game, 67-60. In the final few seconds, Stillwater had the ball on the Bruin side of the court and could have let the time run out. But the Pioneers called timeout, apparently to set up one last scoring play, which resulted in a buzzer-beating slam dunk.
Bartlesville: 17-11-14-18 — 60
Stillwater: 14-13-22-20 — 69
BARTLESVILLE SCORERES
Dennis Duncan 6 (3) 1-5 16, Trae Collins 3 (2) 6-6 14, Luke Massey 3 2-2 8, Hunter Holmes 3 (1) 0-0 7, Sutton Huff 3 (1) 0-2 7, Hudson Eads 1 (1) 0-0 3, Jackson Barta 1 (1) 0-0 3, Titus Huck 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 (9) 9-15 60.