CPHS Basketball: Boys advance to Area finals with 67-63 win over Bartlesville

Cale Savage led his team with a career-high fourteen points against Bartlesville. (Photo: Morgan Miller).

The Class 6A No. 10 ranked Charles Page High School boys basketball team (18-7) came away with a 67-63 win over No. 20 Bartlesville High School (9-16) in a very gritty matchup that came down to the final few seconds of the first-round Area playoffs.

The game was very back and forth from the start with both teams trading baskets much of the first quarter. Cale Savage started the scoring off with a pair of free throws followed by seven straight points by the Bruins. Bruin guards Tayo Dina and Jaylin Oliver got on the board early and often for their squad, leading the game in scoring with 25 and 21 points respectively.

Colt Savage drained a pair of his own free throws and Matthew Price tied the game with a three pointer. Davon Richardson scored five points in the quarter for the Sandites, but the Bruins held the lead 17-16 after a deep buzzer-beater three from Oliver. 

The Sandites began to pull away in the second quarter, with Cale Savage scoring six of his team-high, career-high fourteen points in the period. Two three-pointers by Kendrick Williams and a pair of free throws by Cole Durkee sealed a seven-point lead at the break for Sand Springs.  

The third quarter continued the trend of the Sandites pulling away with balanced team scoring, despite Oliver and Dina doing everything they could to keep their squad in the game scoring thirteen of the sixteen Bruin points in the stanza.  

Boasting an eleven-point lead as the final quarter began, a basket by Josh Minney and a Durkee free throw pushed the lead to the largest of the game at fourteen. Then Bartlesville began chipping away, applying a full court press to force a multitude of Sandite turnovers. With just 9.8 seconds left the Bruins had cut the lead to 3, but missed their opportunity to tie the game, and a Cale Savage free throw sealed the victory for Sand Springs.  

The Sandites will return to action Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. when they play No. 8 Owasso (21-5) at Tulsa Memorial High School. The winning team will advance to the State Tournament, while the loser will end their season. The Sandites trumped the Rams 72-64 in December, but Owasso repaid the loss 97-77 in February.

CPHS 67 BHS 63

1Q BHS 17-16
2Q CPHS 22-14
3Q CPHS 20-16
4Q BHS 16-9

(Sand Springs Stats)
Scoring: Cale Savage 14, Colt Savage 12, Richardson 11, Price 10, Williams 9, Durkee 7, Fisher 2, Minney 2. 
Offensive Rebounds: Richardson 3, Durkee 1, Fisher 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Colt Savage 5, Durkee 4, Richardson 3, Cale Savage 2, Fisher 2, Williams 1, Price 1.
Total Rebounds: Richardson 6, Colt Savage 5, Durkee 5, Fisher 3, Cale Savage 2, Price 1, Williams 1.
Steals: Richardson 3, Price 2, Williams 2, Durkee 1, Colt Savage 1, Cale Savage 1.
Assists: Richardson 4, Colt Savage 2, Cale Savage 1, Fisher 1.
Blocks: Richardson 2, Colt Savage 1, Durkee 1, Fisher 1.
Fouls: Richardson 5, Colt Savage 4, Durkee 2, Price 1.