Hoops: Huskies eye busy January

Heading into the break, Pawhuska High School’s boys’ basketball team boasted both a winning a record and penchant for progress.

After opening the season — back on Nov. 28 — with a 62-58 loss to Wesleyan Christian School, the Huskies (5-4) snapped back to beat WCS, in the final game of December, 61-53.

In between those two contests, the Huskies posted a 4-3 record.

Highlights included playing for the Agra Tournament championship (losing in the final to Stroud, 52-44), and finishing third in the Pawhuska Tournament (being knocked out of championship bracket in the semifinal against Barnsdall, 59-49).

Huskie head coach Jake Christenson has assembled a competitive, well-balanced, unselfish crew.

Against Barnsdall, for example, Braydon Wilson and Sam West tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively, to top the Pawhuska scoring sheet.

But, in the tourney opener in their own tourney, the Huskies overwhelmed Ark City Christian Academy, 51-6, with senior Brian Jeffers stirring the nets for 10 points and nine teammates contributing two-or-more points.

In their four losses, the Huskies have lost by an average margin of just 7.5 points.

Their average margin of victory in their five wins is 20.2 points. However, they grinded out two of those wins by a single digit — 75-68 (in overtime) against Pawnee, and the aforementioned 61-53 triumph against Wesleyan Christian.

The Huskies next turn the calendar to a busy January, starting with four games in 10 days — on Jan. 2, at Newkirk; on Jan. 5, hosting Dewey; on Jan. 9, at Kellyville; and on Jan. 12, hosting a rematch against Barnsdall.

They will travel to Tonkawa for their lone January tournament (Jan. 18-20).

That will be followed by three more dates in January, making it 10 games for the month.

In addition, they might schedule a make-up with Hominy for either January or February.

The regular season wraps up with two away games — on Feb. 6, at Pawnee; and Feb. 9, at Barnsdall.

Lady Huskies

Pawhuska girls blitzed out of the gate to a 4-1 record in their first five games, but finished December with a 2-2 mark in their final four.

They played for the Agra Tournament girls’ crown (losing to Wellston, 47-31) and also vied for the championship of the Pawhuska Tournament (falling to undefeated Caney Valley, 51-34).

They roll into January with a 6-3 mark and plenty of momentum.

In the semifinals of the Pawhuska tourney, Rayven Stone and Arianna Soliano each scored nine points to spearhead the win against Hominy, 49-26.

Kaiti Moen and Kyleigh Riebel each contributed a three-pointer; Riebel contributed eight points and Alyssa Reynolds tallied seven.

In the 17-point championship game loss to Caney Valley, Moen produced 13 points and Sierra Sellers scored six.

Back in the season opener against WCS, Star Sweeden pumped in 11 points, followed by Riebel and Moen with 10 apiece in a 59-32 victory.

For a summary of the 2018 schedule, see the report above on the boys.