It’s been three weeks of immersion in basketball in the off-season for both the Sapulpa and Kiefer boys’ basketball teams, as each participated in the Bishop Kelley Summer League. Despite mixed results on the scoreboard, both squads displayed significant growth over the course of the summer schedule.
Following a dominant 56-34 victory over Will Rogers on Tuesday, June 13 and a tight 43-42 loss on Thursday to Tulsa NOAH, Kiefer ended its Bishop Kelley experience with a 4-4 record over the three weeks.
Sapulpa finished up with a gritty 60-53 win over Catoosa on Tuesday and a close 71-64 loss to Class 6A power Bixby on Thursday to wind up with at 3-5 after dropping its first four contests.
For Kiefer coach Jeff Hefner, the experience was exactly what the team was looking for when they joined the league.
“It’s been great. The kids have had a great ‘year,’ they’ve been battling, as you can see,” he said after the big win over Will Rogers on Tuesday. “We’re doing things better, we’re playing defense better, we’re getting on the help line better. Very impressed with the way these kids are starting to mature and come together.”
In the Will Rogers game, Stryker Johnson scored 21 points, Cashon Webster had 16 and Owen Murphy scored eight as the Trojans took control right from the start, jumping out to a lead of 20-4 over the first 13 minutes, and entering halftime with a 34-13 advantage. Considering the players have also been participating in Summer Pride workouts every morning, for them to deliver such a performance was encouraging.
“It’s one of those things, we’re coming in with dead legs,” Hefner said. “We’ve lifted, we’ve done things, we’ve ran, and you’ve seen the results. These kids don’t complain, they just go out and play the game like they love it. You can’t ask for much more. I’ve given them really good looks and good competition to play against all summer long and that’s how you get better.”
The growth for Sapulpa over the course of the three weeks has been even more obvious. After losing their first four league contests, the Chieftains won three in a row, culminating with that big victory over Catoosa on Tuesday.
In the win over Catoosa, Romen Abbage scored 14 points and Jaylen Pratt also had 14 – including 10 in the final 8:07 of the game – while Zach Lewis contributed 13, as the Chieftains thrived without one of their top players, Kylen Edwards.
After the teams entered the second half tied 31-31, it looked like Catoosa might pull away during the first portion of the second half, as they built up a 44-38 lead with 11:20 remaining. But Sapulpa hung in there, and even after Catoosa went up 49-44 with 6:22 to play, the Chieftains battled back, scoring the next eight points – six from Pratt – to go up 52-49 with 3:51 left and ending the contest on a 16-4 run.
“We continue to get better,” said new Sapulpa head coach Jordan Nagel, who took over a team that went 5-18 last season and was 9-37 combined over the last two years. “We continue to have guys showing up every morning in the weight room. The culture is getting better, guys like being around each other and each and every time that we play this summer, we want to be getting better and that’s exactly what we’re doing. Guys are cheering each other on, and we’re sharing the basketball much better than we did a couple of weeks ago.”
Nagel was especially pleased with how well the team adjusted without Edwards on the floor, who was at a football event on Tuesday. Players like Pratt, Payton Bullock (four points) and Martre Behn (two points and a lost tooth) filled the void.
“It helps these guys play without one of our best athletes,” he said. “That’s what summer’s about, right? You know your key pieces, but who are those role pieces that are going to step up and help you throughout your season? Guys like Payton Bullock and Martre Behn really stepped up this week.
“And Jaylen Pratt has been getting better. He’s becoming the scorer that we need him to become, to really help Zach on the perimeter, he’s got to step up and score for us. He’s a long, active defender, but if he can knock shots down and go be the athlete that he is and drive the basketball, he’s got a very high ceiling. He continues to get better each and every time he steps on the floor.”
And while the games won’t really count for another five months, Nagel believes the current stretch of basketball will really help his team once they do.
“June basketball is huge,” Nagel said. “You graduate a bunch, so those next guys are now filling varsity roles and some of those guys were only JV guys a year ago and now all of a sudden, they may be starting in June and so it’s just to learn. Those guys get a little bit of that varsity experience, even though, air quotes, ‘these games don’t mean anything.’ They do. It’s still our jersey against somebody else’s jersey and our town versus another town. It’s about pride and growing together.”
Bishop Kelley Summer Basketball League
Week 2
Mon., June 5
Skiatook 69, Kiefer 47
Tues., June 6
Nathan Hale 66, Sapulpa 58
Bishop Kelley 48, Kiefer 46
Thurs., June 8
Rejoice Christian 60, Kiefer 58
Sapulpa 40, Will Rogers 36
Bishop Kelley JV 63, Kiefer JV 31
Mon., June 12
Kiefer 48, Wagoner 40
Sapulpa 53, Glenpool 47
Tues., June 13
Kiefer 56, Will Rogers 34
Sapulpa 60, Catoosa 53
Thurs., June 15
Tulsa NOAH 43, Kiefer 42
Bixby 71, Sapulpa 64
- END –
Photos:
IMG_2140: Kiefer team photo
IMG_2180: Sapulpa coach Jordan Nagel (left, kneeling) talks to his team at halftime
