A delirious student stampede onto the middle of the basketball court capped a joyous Friday night at the Phillips Fieldhouse.
Earlier in the evening, the Bartlesville High School girls opened the varsity throw-back doubleheader by obliterating the Bishop Kelley Lady Comets, 62-39.
The Lady Bruins — who improved to 19-0 on the season — charged out to a 17-1 lead in the opening quarter and never looked back.
At a little past 8 p.m., the varsity boys game between the Bruins and Comets tipped off.
As expected it turned into a pitched battle — for a while.
But, Bartlesville slowly built a double-digit lead and forced the Comets to play catch-up the entire second half.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Bartlesville led by a seemingly safe margin of 13 points, 35-22.
But, Bishop Kelley clawed back to within two points, 35-33.
However, the Bruins then dug in and held on for a six-point win, 50-44, to avenge an earlier season loss to the Comets.
Bartlesville buried 7-of-9 free throws during the final 1:15 to prevent a last-ditch miracle rally by Bishop Kelley.
The Bruins improved to 8-11 while recording back-to-back wins for the first time in nearly a month.
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Note: These complete reports are planned for Sunday’s E-E sports section.