TOP ATHLETE OF THE PAST 30 YEARS: SPENCER MAGANA (DEWEY)

By Mike Tupa

Oct. 15, 2025

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

SPENCER MAGANA (Dewey)

Boys basketball (early 2000s)

Few area hoopsters have combined the smoothness, athleticism, sharpshooter skills, toughness and other well-honed talents as did the 6-4 Magana.

He metamorphosed grace into grit, fire into focus and hustle into lightning.

With Magana in the mix Dewey surged into the state tournament in back-to-back seasons — 2004-05 (Class 3A) and 2005-06 (Class 4A).

In the 2005 quarterfinals, Sequoyah-Tahlequah outlasted Dewey, 63-52, and went on to finish as state runner-up. Dewey also lost out in the 2006 quarterfinals, falling to Victory Christian, 60-45.

Of course, Magana was only one of the vital pieces on coach Mark Smith’s state-qualifying Bulldogger teams.

Some others included point guard Andy Smith — a transfer from Nowata after his dad became the Dewey head coach — along with Chad Johnson, 6-foot-8 Brandon Smith, Brad Dunkle, Jarrod Littlesun, Justin Hicks, Mike Carpenter and others.

In the 2005 11-point quarterfinal loss to Tahlequah-Sequoyah, Magana pumped in a team-best 14 points.

Dewey wore the favorite’s mantle as it took on Victory Christian in the 2006 quarterfinals.

But the Doggers struggled with intensity in the first half and scored only 22 points — 12 of them by Andy Smith. When he came out of the game with foul trouble Dewey sputtered the remainder of the half.

However, Dewey led by seven with 4:10 left in the half following a Magana three-pointer. Magana also would hit back-to-back treys in the final five minutes of the game, but Dewey couldn’t crack Victory Christian’s double-digit lead.

Magana finished with 17 points in his final basketball game at Dewey, followed by Smith also in double figures.

During his sophomore season (2003-04), Magana had averaged 15.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Following his time at Dewey, Magana proved he could get it done on the college level at Pittsburg (Kan.) State.

Some of his highlights included:

— Recording a team-high 451 points and 34 steals in the 2009-2010 season.

— Leading the team in assists (76) in the 2008-09.

— Nailing 39 percent of his three-pointers in 2009-10.

— Averaging 10.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game for his college career.

— Hitting 37 percent of his three-pointers and 82 percent of his free throws as a collegian.

— Playing in 108 games, including 66 starts. He started 53 of his final 54 games.

— Being named All-MIAA Conference for 2090-10.

NOTE: Magana is still high on some Pitt State career stat lists. These include career scoring (1,101, 15th), career 3-pters made (4th) and career 3-pter attempts (4th). … Magana’s grandfather Cecil Magana also had been a Dewey High sports star in the early 1950s. In a 27-23 win against Shidler, Cecil dropped in a team-high eight points. The Doggers improved to 10-1 with that win.

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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