TOP ATHLETE OF THE PAST 30 YEARS: AMBER BONHAM (COPAN)
By Mike Tupa
March 20, 2026
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
During his nearly 30 years of covering area high school sports for either the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise or the Bartlesville Area Sports Report, Mike Tupa has enjoyed the opportunity to observe some incredible athletes.
This is an ongoing series highlighting, each few days, one of those athletes from the 1996-97 school year through the present. The list is not in chronological order. The athletes are presented in random sequence.
Today's Spotlight
AMBER BONHAM (Copan)
Multiple sports (mid 2000s)
Copan High School boasts a wealth of exceptional athletes in the history of its girls’ basketball program.
One of the brightest gems in this treasury of talent was Amber Bonham.
A five-foot-9 dynamo, Bonham helped extend Copan’s girls’ glory era of the late 2000s into the mid-2010s.
The Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise in 2014 characterized Bonham thusly: “Sparkling consistent play by lone senior Amber Bonham has been the bridge that has carried Copan over the chasm of youthful pitfalls.”
But Bonham didn’t only excel on the basketball court. She also energized the softball program and excelled on the track.
In the spring of 2013, Bonham qualified for the girls; 100m dash regional final.
She also ran on two regional finalist relay teams for Copan — the 4x100m (along with Courtney Rodgers, Allison Hunt and Maggie Lannan) and the 4x200m with the same teammates.
Bonham placed that season in the girls' 200m dash at the Pawhuska meet. During her sophomore season, she won the 400m dash, placed third in the 200m, and fourth in the 100m.
Bonham also used her blazing speed on the softball diamond, including:
— She delivered an inside-the-park three-run homer in a victory against Tulsa Rogers.
— During a district championship tournament, she lashed two inside-the-park homers — one of them a grand slam.
She delivered her four-run shot in a win against Prue and hammered an inside-the-parker and triple in the championship game against Shidler.
But it was on the basketball court where she forged her greatest fame.
As a junior, she averaged 23 points per game. The next season, she caressed the cord for 25 ppg — and would be named the co-MVP Girls Basketball Player of the Northern Oklahoma Basketball Conference.
As mentioned, she was a part of a magnificent run of elite girls’ hoops warriors of that era, and she would help the team qualify for the state tournament twice during her first three seasons.
A couple of her hardwood highlights included:
— Scoring eight points in the final 2:19 of the first half to fuel a winning effort against Wesleyan Christian.
— Tallying 17 points against an exceptionally strong Caney Valley (Kan.) team.
Bonham was a full-pack offensive weapon — driving the ball, hitting the layup, making the kick-out pass, drawing fouls and hitting the outside shot.
Bonham — a Copan graduate of 2014 — proceeded to take her considerable game to Tabor (Kan.) College.
During the 2015-16 season, Tabor burst out to a 10-0 record in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference but ran into a determined spoiler in Ottawa (Kan.) University.
With Ottawa ahead 56-54, with about seven minutes left, Bonham delivered a two-pointer and a trey that elevated Tabor to a lead it would not relinquish. Tabor won, 67-63 to improve to 11-0 in the KCAC.
During her four seasons at Tabor, Bonham would play in 95 games, average more than six points a game and bury 86 three-pointers.
Following college, Bonham became an athletic trainer for Oklahoma Wesleyan University, keeping her experience and love of competition within the realm of sports.
As a player, Bonham was a competitive force like quiet fire — excelling in three sports —in the history of area prep sports, defining her as one of the best.
Amber Bonham
This series has featured the following athletes, listed in no particular order.
-Jena’ Williams, Bartlesville
-Eric Rolfs, Bartlesville
-Chris Smith, Caney Valley
-Jill Bryan, Copan
-Barron Tanner Jr, Bartlesville
-Hailey Tucker, Bartlesville
-Jeremy Dunkle, Dewey
-Whitney Metcalf, Bartlesville
-Tim Hamilton, Bartlesville
-Danielle Koster, Bartlesville
-Carson LaRue, Dewey
-John Hamman, Wesleyan Christian
-Jamie Elam, Caney Valley
-Sam Mitchell, Bartlesville
-Karissa Jones, Dewey
-Noah Hartsock, Bartlesville
-Tiffany Paper, Copan
-AJ Parker, Bartlesville
-Tiffany Eden, Caney Valley
-Henry Williams, Bartlesville
-Markell Carter, Bartlesville
-Rebecca Schluter, Wesleyan Christian
-Adam Hibdon, Barnsdall
-Tishuana Hunter, Nowata
-Nate Alleman, Bartlesville
-Jessie Burch, Dewey
-Joey McNair, Caney Valley/Bartlesville
-Michael Thompson, Bartlesville
-Kate Steward, Bartlesville
-Jarrett Rouse, Community
-Amanda Warehime, Bartlesville
-Trey Osborne, Dewey
-Heather Lanphear, Barnsdall
-Erin Epperson, Bartlesville
-Levi Wyrick, Caney Valley (Kan.)
-Spencer Magana, Dewey
-Jackie Jo Chaney, Copan
-Haley Downey, Bartlesville
-Cooper Fogle, Caney Valley
-Amanda Brown, Copan
-Rachel Smith, Pawhuska
-Casey Cassity, Barnsdall
-Stacy Cornforth, Bartlesville
-Gabby Higbee, Dewey
-Kirby Schoenthaler, Bartlesville
-Tyler Kay, Barnsdall
-Colton Penrod, Bartlesville
-Erin Herchock, Dewey
-Lindsey Collins, Caney Valley
-Nathan Hughes, Bartlesville
-Aaron Hunt, Copan
-Calan Crowder, Bartlesville
-Colby Kohlmeyer, Caney Valley
-Allison Hunt, Copan
-Stephen Garrett, Dewey
-Brett Turowski, Bartlesville
-Hayley Bryan, Copan
-Kaitlyn Ritchie, Bartlesville
-Caroline Courtney, Bartlesville
-Preston Bartley, Copan
-Chris Turner, Bartlesville
-Michael Wolfe, Bartlesville
-Caleb Hawes, Barnsdall
-Austin Beck, Nowata
-Kortney Bridges, Dewey
-Brandi Schueler, Bartlesville
-Trey Cloud, Wesleyan Christian
-Wyatt Steigerwald, Nowata
-Ben Rovenstine, Bartlesville