AREA BASKETBALL: CANEY VALLEY GIRLS UNBEATEN, DEWEY BOYS 8-1 GOING INTO CHRISTMAS BREAK; MORE
Dewey High School’s Austin Eastman (11) shoots for the goal in front of the Dew-Crew during last Friday’s home game against Caney Valley (Kan.). The Bulldoggers won 66-51 and go into the Christmas break at 8-1.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
The Caney Valley High School bench reacts during an earlier season game. The Lady Trojans go into the Christmas break unbeaten.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
Dec. 24, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Several area high school basketball teams headed into the Christmas Break for a well-deserved long winter’s nap.
Of course, the forecast really doesn’t include much winter and chances are there will be plenty of sweaty workouts during the vacation.
But, put that all aside until Santa goes up the chimney.
The point is that several squads are headed in the right direction — even without Rudolph leading the way.
Caney Valley girls steamed into the holiday pause with an unbeaten (8-0) record, while the Dewey boys romped into the break with an 8-1 record.
Riding a five-game winning streak into Noel were the Caney Valley Trojans (6-2) and the Dewey girls are scratching a .500 record (4-5) despite playing one of the toughest Class 3A girls’ schedules in the state.
Led by David Lampton the Pawhuska Lady Huskies are nearly perfect (6-1).
Both Wesleyan Christian School teams cruised into the holiday with plenty of positive voltage. The Mustangs are (6-2) and the Lady Huskies are 7-1.
Down Copan way, the Hornets have powered to a winning record (4-2).
The Nowata Ironmen have crusaded to a 5-3 record.
Up north of the border, the Caney Valley Lady Pups are 6-1 and the Bullpups stand at 6-2.
The other area teams aren’t fairing quite as well, but have also shown some improvement and promise going forward.
Following is a closer look at some of the area teams:
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Caney Valley (Kan.) Bullpup Layne Denny, bottom, and Dewey’s Jay Murgia fight for a loose ball during last Friday’s game in Dewey. The Bulldoggers won 66-51 and go into the Christmas break at 8-1.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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DEWEY BOYS
The Doggers (8-1) finished off their December schedule by taking down the rival Caney Valley (Kan.) Bullpups, 66-51.
That was Dewey’s highest point total in eight games and sixth double-digit win of the season.
Zach Renfroe threw in 22 points to lead the energized Dewey squad. Karson Johnson and Austin Eastman also each scored in double figures.
“Once again, it was an all-out effort,” said Dewey head coach Lance Knight. "Defensively, we are playing very well. We got a 10-point lead and never looked back.”
Knight has been trying to balance enjoying the moment with winning focus.
“We know it’s not the NBA Finals,” he said. “We know it’s a Friday night in Oklahoma. To our guys we stressed the most important thing is to go out there is to play hard … going and competing every night like you’re playing for a championship.”
Knight has emphasized an all-out approach — defense, offense and rebounding on both sides of the court — and alertness.
“Austin Eastman took two charges in this game,” Knight said. “When you’ve got the whole group buying into it … good things are happening for us.”
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Caney Valley High School’s Presley Smith (22) comes down with a rebound during an earlier season game. The Lady Trojans go into the Christmas break unbeaten.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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CANEY VALLEY GIRLS
The biggest question mark is why are the Lady Trojans (8-0) ranked only No. 17 in the state (Class 2A)?
They’ve shut down seven of their opponents to 32-or-fewer points, including two to less than 15 points.
They are scoring 64 points a game and beating foes by an average margin of about 38 points.
In their December finale, they took down Oklahoma Union, 78-13, in their highest-scoring, most-lopsided victory of the semester.
“We played pretty solid defense,” said Caney Valley coach Deric Longan. “We shot the ball pretty well from the end of the first quarter on.”
On the defensive side, the Lady Trojans threw a shutout in the second quarter and allowed only five points after halftime.
Caney Valley also boasted a balanced scoring sheet — six players with eight-or-more-points. The list included: Presley Smith, 19; Roxy Hawkins, 15; Harper Watts, 12; Jaycee Tant, nine; Faith Davis, nine; and Khloe Crawford, eight.
Longan likes the Lady Trojans’ momentum as they take aim on January.
“It seems we’ve progressed a little bit more every game going forward,” he said. “If they continue to improve game-by-game the future’s really bright.”
CV: 25-16-18-19 — 78
OUHS: 8-0-4-1 — 13
Caney Valley scorers
Presley Smith 19, Roxy Hawkins 15, Harper Watts 12, Jaycee Tant 9, Faith Davis 9, Khloe Crawford 8, Allie VanDenDriessche 3, Adesta Henry 2, Abby Daigle 1.
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Wesleyan Christian School’s Hank Siemers (23) blocks out against Claremore Christian last Friday. The Mustangs won 78-50 and go into the Christmas break at 6-2.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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WESLEYAN CHRISTIAN BOYS
It’s doubtful any area team has shed itself of more athletic talent and basketball adroitness than the past two graduation cycles, other than the WCS Mustangs.
Yet, led by veteran head coach Steven Cook, has been notching huge wins.
With last weekend’s 78-50 thumping of Claremore Christian, the Mustangs improved to 6-2, including a 6-1 record in December.
WCS has scored 65-or-more points three times and won five times by double-digits.
During the win against Claremore Christian, Owen Hay drained 19 points, followed by Caleb Osborn and Draevyn Carter with 13 apiece.
“We did a really good job of getting it into the paint,” said Cooks.
The Mustangs grabbed control early, scoring 24 points each in the first and second quarters.
Defense has been key for WCS in its torrid start.
“Overall our defensive intensity was pretty good,” Cooks said. “We gave a pretty good, consistent effort each night. I think our guys are really figuring out how to play together.”
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Dewey High School’s Cassie Snead, left, and Caney Valley’s (Kan.) Alysa Scott battles for a loose ball during Friday’s game in Dewey. The Lady Bulldoggers won 51-47.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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DEWEY GIRLS
It was a rugged December for the Lady Doggers (4-5).
Among their foes were the No. 3-ranked team in Class 4A, three top-20 teams from Class 2A and a top-20 squad from Class 3A.
And then they have to finish up against the unbeaten Caney Valley (Kan.) Lady Pups.
Dewey found the right stuff to knock off the Lady Pups, 51-47.
C.J. Jones canned 14 points, followed by Adrianna Hicks with 10 to lead Dewey. Kaci Swan and Cassie Snead added eight points each.
“This was a big for us,” Dewey head coach Michael Sanders said. “We rebounded really well on the offensive end. We got a lot of second chance opportunities. We just kind of took care of the basketball and made the right plays.”
In reflecting on the first month Sanders acknowledged the challenges and his team’s spirited response.
“We’ve been in every single game but one,” Sanders said. “We always say we want to play our best basketball by February. … It’s very positive looking forward. We have some very fixable things so that we can win those close games.”
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Caney Valley High School’s Zac Longan (13) passes the ball during an earlier season game. The Trojans downed Oklahoma Union at home during homecoming night last Friday, 60-22
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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CANEY VALLEY TROJAN BOYS
Coming off five-straight double-digit wins, the Trojans (6-2) appear ready to sail into 2026 on a hurricane gust of momentum.
In their December finale they overwhelmed familiar foe Oklahoma Union, 60-22.
“Our strategy going in was that we were going to sell out and take the three-point shot away from them,” Caney Valley head coach Tug Brinker said. “They almost beat Nowata by shooting threes (hitting 14 of them). … We widened our zone.”
Zac Longan pumped in 21 points to lead the Trojan’ scoring sheet, followed by Speck Gann with 11 and C.J. Breese with 10.
Brinker is counting on his team coming out even stronger in January.
“We’re playing really well,” he said. “Defensively we’re doing a really good job. We plan to add some new things over Christmas break.”
CV: 14-8-18-20 — 60
OUHS: 6-6-6-4 — 22
Caney Valley scoring
C.J. Breese 10, Speck Gann 11, Logan Thompson 5, Zac Longan 21, Preston Gipson 8, Bryor Bonde 5.
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Wesleyan Christian School’s Miranda Hadrava (11) gets control of the ball during last Friday’s home game against Claremore Christian. The Lady Mustangs won 52-23.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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WESLEYAN CHRISTIAN GIRLS
With only one loss to their credit, the Lady Mustangs are focused on coming out at full stride in January.
In their final game of December they thumped Claremore Christian, 52-23, in their home opener.
Veteran Lady Mustang head coach Kendall Huntington has been developing this team for the past several years, beginning at the elementary and junior high levels.
Six of her 11 players are freshmen.
“They’ve all been holding their weight pretty well,” she said.
Her starters are mostly a veteran crew consisting of Whitlie Tennison, Kori White, Miranda Hadrava, Emily Christenson and Elianna Manning.
Freshman twins Lily and Lauren Miller and freshman Karson White also have made big contributions.
In the win against Claremore Christian, Lilly Miller warmed up the cords with 20 points, followed by Kori White and 18 and Tennison with nine.
White has been averaging around 18 ppg in all but one game.
“I have been most pleased with how well-rounded we are,” Huntington said. “We have a few tall girls and a lot of quick guards. If we need to we can play fast basketball or if we need to play big basketball we can do that too.”
In addition to her production, Tennison is an important leader for the team, both on the court and in practice, Huntington said.
“All the girls really want to work hard for her,” she added.
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PAWHUSKA GIRLS
Other than a stumble against Metro Christian the Pawhuska Lady Huskies (6-1) have been unbeatable.
They knocked off a very strong Dewey team twice and handed No. 11-ranked Frontier a 17-point setback.
Pawhuska boasts one of the elite scorers and overall players in the state in Brooklyn Miles. She is just shy of 25 points a game and pulling down almost 12 rebounds per game. She’s also handed out 6.3 assists per game and made 5.9 steals per game.
Emillie Curry and Madison Reynolds are tallying 13.6 ppg and 9.6 ppg, respectively. Curry is also near 10 rebounds per game.
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OKLAHOMA UNION BOYS
Oklahoma Union (0-7) boys have yet to put a game in the win column, but the season is just warming up before the Christmas break. They had two close games in the Ty Hewitt Memorial Tournament. They took host Nowata into OT, losing 65-61 on Dec. 12. The next day, they fell to Chelsea by nine, 43-34. The Cougars, led by Riley Duncan, travel to Ketchum on Jan. 2.
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OKLAHOMA UNION GIRLS
The Lady Cougars (0-5), coached by Angie Thomas, are also struggling to get a win, but as mentioned above, the season is still young. OKU’s closest game was in the Ty Hewitt Memorial Tournament in Nowata, where they lost by three to Chelsea, 35-32. OKU travels to Ketchum on Jan. 2 following the Christmas break
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SOUTH COFFEYVILLE BOYS
The South Coffeyville boys, led by Jarrod Sisney, head into the Christmas break at 1-4. Their one win was a 46-44 victory over Prue in the Copan Shootout earlier in the month. The Lions start the new year at Copan on Jan. 6.
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SOUTH COFFEYVILLE GIRLS
The South Coffeyville girls enter Christmas break 4-3, with their last game an OT heartbreaker loss at Barnsdall, 40-35, on Dec. 15. The Lady Lions have defeated Foyil, Copan (twice), and Dexter, Kan. They open next year at Copan on Jan. 6.
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BARNSDALL BOYS
The Barnsdall boys are even (4-4) going into the Christmas break. The Panthers have had wins over South Coffeyville (twice), Dewey jayvee, and Prue. They start the new year at Pawhuksa on Jan. 2. Wade Corder is the head coach.
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BARNSDALL GIRLS
The Lady Panthers, coached by Gary Askew, are also 4-4 going into the break. They started the season defeating Shidler, 48-47. They ended 2025 with a 56-38 win over Prue. They hit the road Jan. 2 for Pawhuska.
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PAWHUSKA BOYS
The Class 2A Huskies, led by Jason Snodgrass, head into the Christmas break at 2-5, but the record doesn’t reflect their success. Pawhuska (2A) defeated Sperry (3A) 64-31 at the Cleveland Tournament on Dec. 6. They handed Class 4A Oologah-Talala a 75-71 loss on Dec. 20, and had an overtime loss against Frontier on Dec. 9. The Huskies host Barnsdall on Jan. 2.
(Becky Burch contributed to this article.)