CPHS Basketball: Lady Sandites rout NOAH 84-30 in season-opener

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The Class 6A No. 13 ranked Charles Page High School girls’ basketball team started the season with a bang Thursday evening at the Ed Dubie Field House, bulldozing the Northeast Oklahoma Association of Homeschools 84-30 in front of a small crowd of masked-up fans.

The lopsided event marked the second-largest win of Josh Berry’s two year stint as head coach of the Lady Sandites. All twelve of his available players saw action, eleven made their way into the scorebook, and most of his backups saw the same playing time as the starters.

The Jaguars played somewhat close through the first half and only trailed 34-20 going into the locker room. Then the Sandites scored 25-straight points in the third quarter to put the game safely out of reach, and ended the game on a 20-point run.

“We’ve got to clean up offensively,” said Berry. “That third quarter we finally played the kind of defense I thought we could play. I think we’ve got to get some more out of our inside play a little bit. Other than that I thought our guards played well. We’ve got to make some more shots than we did tonight. We’ve just got to keep getting better each day.”

Junior standout Journey Armstead led her team in almost every game last year, and continued that trend with 26 points against the Jags. Her younger sister, Sakauri Wilson, made her freshman debut with 11 points, seven rebounds, and eight steals. The two sisters had a team-high four assists apiece.

Layne Kirkendoll also made her varsity debut with four points, three rebounds, and three steals. The 6’2” junior wasn’t allowed to compete at the varsity level last year after transferring from Jenks, but she is now cleared for competition and brings much-needed height to the team. “It helps a whole lot, especially when we get ready to go against the 6A giants that we go against,” said Berry. “She’s going to get better as it goes on. Having her out there helps us a lot.”

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to make an impact on the season. Scrimmages this week were closed to spectators. There will be no general admission to home games this season. The few seats that were available were sold as season-tickets to keep attendance low, and masks are required. The team has also had to deal with quarantines throughout the preseason.

“I think it’s a disadvantage to everyone,” said Coach Berry. “I talk to the girls every day about it. Every day that we get to practice, every day we get to play is just a blessing for us. That’s another day for our seniors - to be together with them. That’s what it’s about right now, making sure that they get as many practices in, as many games as they can for this senior class. It’s not fair for them with a season like this, but at least we get to have one.”

The Lady Sandites will kick off Frontier Valley Conference action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Bartlesville before competing in the Bixby Invitational next weekend. NOAH (2-5) will return to action Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against the Christian Home Educators Fellowship (2-1).

CPHS 84 NOAH 30
1Q: CPH 17-7.
2Q: CPHS 17-13.
3Q: CPHS 25-5.
4Q: CPHS 25-5.
Free Throws: CPHS 5-of-11, NOAH 12-of-17.
Field Goals: CPHS 36-of-68, NOAH 8-of-18.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 17, NOAH 2.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 10, NOAH 12.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 27, NOAH 14.
Steals: CPHS 27, NOAH 3.
Fouls: CPHS 20, NOAH 10.

(Sand Springs)
Scoring: Armstead 26, Wilson 11, Tanner 10, Jackson 8, Jordan 7, L. Morris 6, Cheney 5, Kirkendoll 4, Hampton 3, T. Morris 2, Pearce 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Wilson 6, Armstead 4, L. Morris 4, Jackson 2, Pearce 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Kirkendoll 3, Cheney 2, Armstead 1, Jackson 1, Wilson 1, Rector 1, Jordan 1.
Total Rebounds: Wilson 7, Armstead 5, L. Morris 4, Kirkendoll 3, Jackson 3, Cheney 2, Rector 1, Jordan 1, Pearce 1.
Steals: Wilson 8, Kirkendoll 3, Jackson 3, Tanner 3, Jordan 3, Hampton 2, Cheney 2, Armstead 1, T. Morris 1, L. Morris 1.
Assists: Armstead 4, Wilson 4, Hampton 2, L. Morris 2, Jackson 1, Cheney 1, Tanner 1, Jordan 1.
Fouls: Cheney 4, Wilson 3, Hampton 3, Jackson 3, Armstead 2, Kirkendoll 2, Jordan 2, L. Morris 1.

(NOAH)
Scoring: Langley 16, Hay 7, Wright 6, Stevens 1.
Fouls: Stevens 3, Hay 2, Langley 2, Greuel 1, Padgett 1.

JV: CPHS 49 NOAH 34
1Q: CPHS 13-8.
2Q: All 9-9.
3Q: CPHS 16-10.
4Q: CPHS 11-7.

CPHS Scoring: Johnson 13, Pearce 11, Rector 7, Taylor 6, Morris 6, Wilson 5, Brown 1.
NOAH Scoring: Stevens 11, Trost 6, Yant 4, Wright 4, Hay 3, Padgett 3, Langley 2, Taylor 1.