Senior OSU-softball commit Sydney Pennington is the leading scorer for the Sandites with just under 12 points per game. (Photo: Morgan Miller).

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Frontier Valley is continuing to make its mark as one of the toughest conference in the state, and is currently second in overall strength with seven ranked teams and two top-ten teams. The Sand Springs Lady Sandites are currently the top team in conference standings with an overall undefeated record.

No. 3 Sand Springs (10-0, 6-0) holds the No. 4 offense, No. 5 defense, and No. 4 margin of victory in the state, and top the FVC in all categories but defense. They are the only undefeated team in the State besides No. 1 Edmond Santa Fe. In the last two weeks they have defeated Muskogee 62-43, Bixby 67-51, and Sapulpa 61-36. Holly Kersgieter led against Muskogee with 14 points, Kierra McGee led with 16 against Bixby, and Destiny Johnson led against Sapulpa with 20.

No. 10 Owasso (10-5, 5-1) holds the fourth-best offense and fifth-best defense in the conference. Since their season-opening loss to Bartlesville, they've gone on a six-straight winning streak against conference foes, with a tournament win over Bartlesville. In the last two weeks they have topped Jenks 56-45, Union 45-42, and Bixby 51-43. Terryn Milton scored 21 against Jenks and 22 against Bixby, while Sierra Williams led with 12 against Union.

No. 16 Bartlesville (7-5, 4-1) is fourth in the conference offensively and first defensively. Since the new year they've hammered Bixby 56-27 and Bishop Kelley 52-22. Erin Shoemaker posted 20 against the Spartans while Jena Williams scored 21 against the Comets.

No. 13 Union (8-4, 4-2) holds the third-best offense and fourth-best defense in the conference. In the last two week's they dropped Bishop Kelley 62-39 and Muskogee 57-45, but fell 45-42 to Owasso. Taylor Malham led in all three games, tying Deasia Thomas with 12 against Kelley, then scoring 15 against Owasso and 28 against Muskogee.

No. 15 Broken Arrow (7-5, 4-2) is third in the conference defensively and has won both of their conference games in 2017. They edged out Sapulpa 43-40 and topped Jenks 45-34 thanks to Jalise Smallwood with 23 and 22 points, respectively.

No. 19 Sapulpa (5-6, 2-3) has struggled since the Westmoore tournament and fell 43-40 to Broken Arrow and 61-36 to Sand Springs. Kiarra Brooks led with 15 against the Tigers while Michaela Bethel contributed 10 against the Sandites.

Jenks (3-7, 2-4) picked up a 60-54 victory over Muskogee last week, but fell 56-45 to Owasso and 45-34 to Broken Arrow. Haley Meely led against both the Rams and Tigers with 16 and 19, respectively.

5A No. 14 Bishop Kelley (4-6, 1-5) is still looking for their first conference win of the new year after falling 62-39 to Union and 52-22 to Bartlesville.

Muskogee (3-7, 1-5) is 0-for-3 since Christmas break, falling 62-43 to Sand Springs, 60-54 to Jenks, and 57-45 to Union. Trena Mims posted 20 and 21 against their first two opponents, while Chris'alee Patterson tallied 11 against the Redskins.

Bixby (4-10, 0-6) has also gone winless since Christmas, falling 56-27 to Bartlesville, 67-51 to Sand Springs, and 51-43 to Owasso. Maddie Bittle led in the first two games with 8 against Bartlesville and 17 against Sand Springs, while Sarah Tyree set the pace against Owasso with 14.

January conference schedule:

1/24 Union @ Sand Springs
1/24 Bartlesville @ Muskogee
1/24 Broken Arrow @ Owasso
1/24 Bixby @ Sapulpa
1/24 Bishop Kelley @ Jenks
1/27 Sapulpa @ Union
1/27 Muskogee @ Broken Arrow
1/27 Sand Springs @ Owasso
1/27 Jenks @ Bartlesville
1/27 Bishop Kelley @ Bixby
1/31 Bixby @ Union
1/31 Muskogee @ Bishop Kelley
1/31 Broken Arrow @ Bartlesville
1/31 Owasso @ Sapulpa
1/31 Sand Springs @ Jenks