CPHS Basketball: Sandites dominate defending FVC Champions 66-48

The defending Frontier Valley Conference Champions from No. 9 ranked Bartlesville saw their seventeen-straight conference win streak snapped by No. 11 Sand Springs Tuesday night, and it wasn’t even close. The Sandites jumped out to an insurmountable 18-5 first period lead and rode it to a 66-48 finish behind 21-point performances by Kansas-commit Holly Kersgieter and Tulsa-commit Destiny Johnson.

Kersgieter led the team in scoring for the sixth time this season and had a double-double with thirteen rebounds. Johnson led the team for the second time this year, and Missouri State Softball-commit Jacie Taber had a career night with fifteen points and eight rebounds.

The Sandites (5-2, 3-0) came into their Tuesday night game 1-2 against ranked 6A teams despite playing like a State contender against lesser foes. They have outscored unranked opponents by an average of 91-43 but lost 74-62 to No. 8 Ponca City and 57-44 to No. 5 Shawnee, and needed overtime to beat No. 20 Jenks. The team needed a statement win to reassert themselves in the rankings after dropping from the No. 1 spot earlier this season.

They made their statement in style, overcoming a team with multiple Division One recruits, who was ranked second in 6A defensively coming into the night. Now it’s Bartlesville (3-2, 1-1) who is in need of a statement win, and they’ll get their shot Friday against No. 13 Bixby (4-1, 2-0).

The Sandites could not have asked for a more perfect start to the evening, taking a 12-0 lead with layups from Johnson, Regalado, and Kersgieter. The Bruins rimmed out on their first four shots and committed five penalties before the Sandites had one, leaving it open for a 6-of-9 run at the free throw line in the first quarter.

Rachael Simpson finally ended the Bruin drought with a layup and Nevada-commit Jena’ Williams scored the first three-pointer of the game soon after, but the Sandites ended the period up 18-5.

Johnson hit back-to-back field goals for their biggest lead of the half at 25-7, then the Bruins began finding their stride. Neither team scored more than two baskets in a row in the second period, but the Sandites managed to win the stanza 14-13 for a 32-18 locker room advantage.

Johnson led all scorers in the first half with eleven points while Chloe Martin did eight points in damage for the visitors. Both teams came away with five steals, but the Sandites won the rebound battle 24 to 11.

Sand Springs reclaimed their eighteen-point advantage four times in the third period and pushed it to twenty after putbacks from Taber and Kersgieter. Bartlesville tried to chip away at their deficit with triples from Simpson, Martin, and Elise Cone, but Johnson hit two free throws to close the period 49-31.

The Bruins began to collapse early in the fourth quarter, giving up an 8-3 run for their biggest deficit of the night at 57-35. Williams hit a long three to get her team back on track, but despite putting up their biggest quarter of the night, they were way too far behind to make a comeback.

Lady Sandite Basketball will get a week off before traveling to Muskogee (1-3, 0-2) next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

CPHS 66 BHS 48
1Q CPHS 18-5
2Q CPHS 14-13
3Q CPHS 17-13
4Q All 17-17
Free Throws: CPHS 23-of-33, BHS 9-of-14.
Field Goals: CPHS 21-of-48, BHS 15-of-55.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 16, BHS 9.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 27, BHS 14.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 43, BHS 23.
Steals: CPHS 9, BHS 9.
Blocks: CPHS 4, BHS 1.
Fouls: CPHS 13, BHS 22.

FVC Standings
3-0 Sand Springs
2-0 Union
2-0 Bixby
2-0 Booker T. Washington
1-1 Bartlesville
0-1 Sapulpa
0-2 Broken Arrow
0-2 Muskogee
0-2 Jenks
0-2 Owasso

(Sand Springs Stats)
Scoring: Johnson 21, Kersgieter 21, Taber 15, Regalado 5, Jordan 4.
Offensive Rebounds: Kersgieter 6, Regalado 4, Taber 4, Burris 1, Jordan 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Kersgieter 7, Burris 6, Johnson 5, Regalado 4, Taber 4, Padilla 1.
Total Rebounds: Kersgieter 13, Regalado 8, Taber 8, Burris 7, Johnson 5,Jordan 1, Padilla 1.
Steals: Kersgieter 3, Johnson 2, Taber 2, Regalado 1, Burris 1.
Assists: Johnson 4, Burris 3.
Blocks: Johnson 2, Regalado 2.
Fouls: Taber 4, Kersgieter 3, Regalado 3, Burris 1, Jordan 1, Padilla 1.

(Bartlesville)
Scoring: Williams 17, Martin 14, Cone 7, Simpson 5, Wood 3, Parker 2.