CPHS Basketball Preview: Bartlesville at Sand Springs

The Charles Page High School boys and girls basketball teams will return to action Tuesday evening in their second home games of the season at the Ed Dubie Field House. Both Sandite squads will look to remain undefeated in Frontier Valley Conference action when they take on Bartlesville, beginning with the girls at 6:00 p.m.

The Sand Springs boys are undefeated at 3-0 for the No. 8 ranking in Class 6A and are 2-0 in conference action. Last week they pulled off a tough 54-45 win over No. 18 Broken Arrow (1-2).

No. 17 Bartlesville (2-2, 0-1) lost their conference opener to Owasso but made it to the Broken Arrow Classic finals where they topped East Central and Putnam City before falling to Stillwater.

6’2” Senior Tayo Dina has been the hot commodity at Bartlesville for several seasons with tallies of 26 points against East Central and 18 against Putnam. 6’4” junior Davon Richardson is the bread and butter for Sand Springs, leading in all three games with an average of 19.

The Sandites are fourth in 6A defensively, allowing only 48 points per game, and Bartlesville has one of the lowest-scoring offenses at only 49 points per game. The Bruins also boast a top-ten defense, but Sand Springs is averaging 60 points per outing for a twelve-point margin of victory.

The two teams split wins last season. Bartlesville won on their home court 59-52, but Sand Springs prevailed 67-63 in the Area playoffs. Neither team has won on the other’s home court since Bartlesville rejoined the conference for the 2014-2015 season. The teams’ records are tied at 4-4 during that time, but the Sandites are 3-0 at home.

Bartlesville (2-2)
L 58 - 65 No. 15 Owasso
W 60 - 54 No. 17 East Central
W 39 - 38 No. 13 Putnam City
L 38 - 51 No. 13 Stillwater

Sand Springs (3-0)
W 68 - 46 Ponca City
W 57 - 52 Muskogee
W 54 - 45 No. 18 Broken Arrow

Both the Sand Springs and Bartlesville girls’ teams are out to prove themselves. Bartlesville won the FVC title last year, Sand Springs won it the year prior. Both were State Qualifiers and first-round knockouts last season. Both have taken early losses. Both want to reassert themselves as serious title contenders. Both are also led by new Head Coaches.

While Sand Springs hosts a deep roster with an array of collegiate-level talent, they’ve been led almost exclusively by Kansas-commit Holly Kersgieter with 22 points per game. Destiny Johnson has had a couple of 20+point games and is averaging 13. Bartlesville has been led by junior Chloe Martin and Nevada-commit Jena Williams with twenty points apiece in multiple games.

Sand Springs went 3-1 last week with commanding wins over Broken Arrow and Tulsa Memorial. They were upset by Shawnee, however, and needed overtime to knock off Jenks for third place in the Bishop Kelley Invitational.

The Lady Sandites are the highest-scoring team in all of 6A with 76 points per game and have the sixth-largest margin of victory at 21.8 points. However, they’re only 26th defensively, giving up 54 points per game.

Bartlesville is practically the opposite of Sand Springs, relying on the second-best defense in 6A for their massive wins. They allow only 36 points per game and win by 20.5, but are still a solid fourteenth in offense with 56 points per game.

The Bruins also went 3-1 last week, starting their season Tuesday. They easily handled Owasso and Nathan Hale, but ran into a tough Edmond North team and had to settle for third place at the Broken Arrow Tournament with a brutal doubling of Holland Hall.

Bartlesville was undefeated in the regular season last year, topping Sand Springs 53-42 in conference action, but the Sandites spoiled their 25-game streak in the Area Championship with an identical score. Sand Springs is 6-2 against Bartlesville in the past four seasons and the Bruins haven’t won at the Dubie since the Spring of 2016.

Bartlesville (3-1)
W 46 - 32 Owasso
W 59 - 15 Nathan Hale
L 54 - 63 No. 6 Edmond North
W 66 - 33 No. 9 Holland Hall

Sand Springs (4-2)
L 62 - 74 No. 8 Ponca City
W 109 - 39 Muskogee
W 89 - 56 Broken Arrow
W 75 - 34 Tulsa Memorial
L 43 - 57 No. 5 Shawnee
W 75 - 62, OT No. 20 Jenks

Frontier Valley Conference Standings

Boys
2-0 No. 8 Sand Springs
1-0 No. 3 Sapulpa
1-0 No. 11 Union
1-0 No. 15 Owasso
1-1 Muskogee
0-1 No. 5 Booker T. Washington
0-1 No. 16 Jenks
0-1 No. 17 Bartlesville
0-1 No. 18 Broken Arrow
0-1 Bixby

Girls
2-0 No. 11 Sand Springs
1-0 No. 9 Bartlesville
1-0 No. 12 Booker T. Washington
1-0 No. 13 Bixby
1-0 No. 18 Union
0-1 No. 19 Sapulpa
0-1 No. 20 Jenks
0-1 Owasso
0-1 Broken Arrow
0-2 Muskogee