CPHS Basketball: Sandites avenge season-opening loss 65-48 against Ponca City, Kersgieter scores 21

The Class 6A No. 8 ranked Charles Page High School girls basketball team (8-2) earned a quality payback win Saturday afternoon at the Ed Dubie Field House, avenging their season-opening loss to No. 11 Ponca City (4-3). The Wildcats looked to be on their way to another upset after the first quarter, but Sand Springs closed the half on a nineteen-point run and never looked back.

Ponca jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Jacie Taber made a three point play on a layup. Seven more points for the Wildcats and the home team trailed by double digits before Madison Burris sank a three and Destiny Johnson scored on a steal. Holly Kersgeiter closed the first quarter with a layup, trailing 18-11.

A three-pointer from Ashlynn Fincher gave the Wildcats a ten-point lead to start the second period, but Isabella Regalado kicked off a 22-point streak for the Sandites in their best defensive quarter of the season. Kersgeiter scored ten point in a row during the onslaught and the Sandites led 30-21 at the half.

Regalado kicked off the third quarter with a three-pointer, Madison Birnbaum put back a pair of field goals for Ponca, then Darrian Jordan scored back to back followed by a Taber three-point play to make it 42-25. Sand Springs took a loss midway through the period when Johnson went down with an ankle injury, but she returned to the court four minutes later.

Ponca rode an eight-point streak across two quarters to cut their deficit to 42-33 early in the fourth, but Sand Springs rattled off nine to answer before Taylor Wetzel broke it up with a layup to kick off a six-point streak. Leading 51-39, Kersgieter got triple-manned at half court and sent a desperate long pass to a wide open Taber for two. Taber fouled out shortly after that with 2:59 left to play, but the game was too far gone for Ponca by that point.

Kersgieter led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Taber with thirteen, Regalado with eleven, and Johnson with ten. Kersgieter, a University of Kansas-commit, also led the Sandites in three other categories with nine rebounds, five steals, and five assists.

Sand Springs will look to extend their five-game winning streak Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when they travel to No. 19 Sapulpa (5-3, 2-1) for a Highway 97 Rivalry matchup. The Sandites are undefeated at 5-0 in conference action.

CPHS 65 PoHi 48
1Q: PoHi 18-11
2Q: CPHS 19-3
3Q: CPHS 12-11
4Q: CPHS 23-17
Free Throws: CPHS 19-of-29, PoHi 13-of-21.
Field Goals: CPHS 22-51, PoHi 15-of-44.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 10, PoHi 4.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 20, PoHi 16.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 30, PoHi 20.
Steals: CPHS 13, PoHi 3.
Blocks: CPHS 3, PoHi 1.
Fouls: CPHS 20, PoHi 24.

Frontier Valley Conference Standings
5-0 No. 8 Sand Springs
4-0 No. 9 Union
3-1 No. 15 Booker T. Washington
2-1 No. 19 Sapulpa
2-1 No. 12 Bartlesville
2-2 No. 18 Bixby
2-2 No. 20 Jenks
0-4 Muskogee
0-4 Broken Arrow
0-4 Owasso

(Sand Springs Stats)
Scoring: Kersgieter 21, Taber 13, Regalado 11, Johnson 10, Jordan 7, Burris 3.
Offensive Rebounds: Kersgieter 3, Regalado 3, Burris 2, Taber 1, Jordan 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Kersgieter 6, Jordan 5, Regalado 3, Johnson 2, Taber 2, Burris 2.
Total Rebounds: Kersgieter 9, Jordan 6, Regalado 6, Burris 4, Taber 3, Johnson 2.
Steals: Kersgieter 5, Regalado 3, Johnson 2, Taber 2.
Assists: Kersgieter 5, Johnson 2, Taber 2, Jordan 1.
Blocks: Johnson 2, Taber 1.
Fouls: Taber 5, Kersgieter 3, Johnson 3, Regalado 3, Jordan 3, Burris 2, Padilla 1.