CPHS Basketball: Lady Sandites struggle in Muskogee but prevail 55-39, Johnson scores 16

Destiny Johnson led all scorers Tuesday with sixteen points against Muskogee. (Photo: Scott Emigh).

The Class 6A No. 8 ranked Charles Page High School girls’ basketball team (6-2, 4-0) played a lackluster game against Muskogee (1-5, 0-4) Tuesday evening on the road, but prevailed 55-39 to remain undefeated in Frontier Valley Conference action.

The Lady Sandites struggled to find rhythm as Head Coach Tobey Nightingale experimented with her lineups, but ultimately won by double digits, despite their closest bout with the Roughers in three seasons.

Both teams turned over their opening possessions, but Holly Kersgieter got the visitors on the board with a pair of free throws. Tea Myers laid up for Muskogee, Isabella Regalado laid up for Sand Springs, then Destiny Johnson, Lonnesha Hill, and Kersgieter traded free throws to make it 8-4 in the Sandites’ favor.

Dissatisfied with her starters’ defensive efforts, Nightingale sent in the second string just three minutes into the game. Things stalled out from there and neither team scored till the final minute. By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Sandites had put more players on the court than points on the board, leading only 9-6, a stark difference from the 36-8 opening stanza in the two teams’ first meeting, just a few weeks prior.

The starters returned to the game in the second period. Kersgieter and Johnson scored on quick steals, but the Roughers continued to hang tight and rattled off six straight to make it a one-point game. Jacie Taber briefly put her team back out front by a single point, but Madison Maxwell gave the Roughers their first and only lead of the night soon after.

The Sandites finally began to hit their stride with a deep ball from Kersgieter and a follow up from Johnson. Patton went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe, then Darrian Jordan rebounded for a long pass to Johnson and a 23-18 halftime advantage.

Just two weeks prior, the Sandites led the Roughers 57-16 at the half, but they shot only 5-of-20 on Muskogee’s home court and gave up five steals for a meager five-point advantage.

D’Asia Brown got hot in the early third period, scoring the Roughers’ first seven points to keep up with three-point baskets from Regalado and Padilla. Regalado had eight points in the quarter, but the Sandites could’t manage to pull away.

Kersgieter hit a layup to start the final stretch up 37-30, but Muskogee rattled off four more before the Sandites finally began to look like themselves and pull away. Johnson scored on a pair of steals and Madison Burris made her way into the scorebook with a three for their first double-digit advantage of the night. McKenzie Harris scored on a steal shortly before the buzzer.

The Lady Sandites will get a nearly three-week Christmas Break before returning to action Thursday, January 4th against No. 15 Bixby (4-2, 2-1) at home.

CPHS 55 MHS 39
1Q: CPHS 9-6
2Q: CPHS 14-12
3Q: All 12-12
4Q: CPHS 20-9
Free Throws: CPHS 15-of-25, MHS 8-of-13.
Field Goals: MHS 13-of-38, CPHS 17-of-52.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 15, MHS 7.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 19, MHS 13.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 34, MHS 20.
Steals: CPHS 20, MHS 11.
Blocks: CPHS 1.
Fouls: CPHS 13, MHS 16.

(Sand Springs Stats)
Scoring: Johnson 16, Kersgieter 14, Regalado 13, Padilla 5, Burris 3, Harris 2, Taber 1, Hughes 1.
Offensive Rebounds: Kersgieter 5, Taber 4, Jordan 2, Regalado 2, Johnson 1, Solis 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Taber 4, Kersgieter 4, Padilla 3, Cheney 2, Jordan 2, Johnson 1, Burris 1, Regalado 1, Bunch 1.
Total Rebounds: Kersgieter 9, Taber 8, Jordan 4, Padilla 3, Regalado 3, Johnson 2, Cheney 2, Burris 1, Solis 1, Bunch 1.
Steals: Johnson 6, Kersgieter 3, Taber 2, Regalado 2, Hughes 2, Burris 1, Hampton 1, Solis 1, Bunch 1, Harris 1.
Blocks: Regalado 1.
Assists: Taber 2, Burris 1.
Fouls: Regalado 4, Johnson 2, Kersgieter 1, Taber 1, Hampton 1, Solis 1, Bunch 1, Cheney.

(Muskogee Scoring): Maxwell 9, Brown 9, Myers 6, Patton 6, Hill 4, Wilson 4, Whitaker 1.