CPHS Basketball: Girls Upset No. 2 Union, Boys Routed

The Union High School girls’ basketball team managed an impressive feat Tuesday night at the UMAC. It didn’t give up a single field goal to Sand Springs senior star Journey Armstead.

Unfortunately for the RedHawks, Armstead put in work from the free-throw line instead, going 10-of-13 with eight points in the fourth quarter to lift her team to a 38-34 upset.

6A-East No. 4 Charles Page High School (13-3) won a war of attrition against No. 2 Union (12-4), taking advantage of three RedHawk foul-outs in the final two minutes to jump from fourth to second in the Frontier Valley Conference.

“I just love it for my girls,” said Sand Springs head coach Josh Berry. “They went out there and fought hard.”

The Sandites have been through a rough patch lately, losing three of their last four games against top-ranked foes Edmond North, Bixby, and Sapulpa. 

“They’re going out there against a well-coached team in Union,” said Berry. “But you know, we’re a good team too. So to be able to finally come out with a win against one of those top teams shows that we are a top team as well.”

“I think that’s huge. I think they responded, they learned from some of the losses that we had, and they bonded together today.”

The Sandites were held to their lowest scoring total of the season in the first half and trailed 17-13, but came storming back in the third quarter. 

Armstead drew her fourth foul two minutes into the third quarter and spent much of the half on the bench. Layne Kirkendoll scored four points in that stanza and three-pointers from Sakauri Wilson and Taiona Morris lifted the visitors to a 27-24 advantage.

“We had some big contributions with Journey being in foul trouble and some people stepped up today,” said Berry. “That’s what you need to advance and survive from here on out.”

TK Pitts scored through a foul from Hailey Jackson and hit the free throw for one final Union lead at 31-30 with 1:40 left to play, but it was all Sand Springs from there. 

Sydni Smith fouled out with 1:31 to play and sent Armstead to the line for two. Then Aubrey Hishaw fouled out with 1:05 to play and sent Armstead to the line for two more. Finally, Pitts fouled out with 41 seconds left and sent Wilson to the line.

Pitts, an SMU commit, led all scorers with 12 points, but was the only RedHawk in double digits. Jackson and Armstead scored 10 apiece for the Sandites. Kirkendoll finished with 6 points and 10 rebounds, and Wilson added 7 points.

Sand Springs also benefited from the brief return of 5’10” sophomore Kiaryn Taylor, who has been out with injury since early in December.

“That’s big for us,” said Berry. “She gives us another versatile person. She’s still struggling right now, but as she gets better, she’s only going to help us more.”

A 58-52 Bixby win over Sapulpa helped lift Sand Springs to second place in conference standings, but the Sandites don’t control their own destiny. With no rematch against Bixby on the horizon, it’ll take the Spartans stumbling against some other conference foe for the Sandites to climb the totem pole further.

Either way, winning the conference isn’t that important to Berry and his Sandites.

“We focus on trying to get better each and every game,” said Berry. “We want to continue to play together and just advance. We don’t worry about that. If we’re winning, it’ll come.”

The RedHawks will return to action Friday in a rematch at 5A-East No. 1 Sapulpa (12-5, 5-3). Union won the first meeting this year 40-36 in the season opener.

Sand Springs will travel to No. 10 Owasso (8-10, 3-6) Friday. The Sandites previously beat the Rams 54-37 in the season opener.

Boys Basketball

Coming off back-to-back losses in Frontier Valley Conference action, the 6A-East No. 7 RedHawks needed a win, and they got a big one Tuesday night against No. 14 Sand Springs.

6’3” sophomore Dalen Fuller scored 28 points in a 79-38 rout of the Sandites as the RedHawks improved to 9-8 overall and 5-4 in the conference. 

The Sandites (5-11, 1-7) led 20-16 early in the second quarter but soon fell out of pace with the taller, faster RedHawks. Union stormed to a 44-25 halftime advantage and had the game safely locked away after outsourcing the Sandites 23-7 in the third.

Chris Mason added 16 for the RedHawks and Trent Pierce had 14. JD Dickson led the Sandites with 12.

Union will travel to 5A-East No. 14 Sapulpa (4-14, 0-9) Friday. The RedHawks previously beat the Chieftains 91-45 in December. Sand Springs will get a rematch with No. 5 Owasso (12-6, 7-2) on Friday, who won the first meeting 47-44 in overtime.

Girls Statistics

CPHS 38 Union 34
1Q: All 8-8.
2Q: Union 9-5.
3Q: CPHS 14-7.
4Q: CPHS 11-10.
Free Throws: CPHS 14-of-21, Union 10-of-14.
Field Goals: CPHS 11-of-34, Union 11-of-38.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 6, Union 4.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 20, Union 20.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 26, Union 24.
Steals: CPHS 2, Union 3.
Blocks: CPHS 2, Union 0.
Fouls: CPHS 16, Union 21.

Scoring: (CPHS) Armstead 10, Jackson 10, Wilson 7, Kirkendoll 6, T. Morris 3, L. Morris 2. (Union) Pitts 12, S. Smith 8, Malham 5, Hishaw 5, Marshall-Penny 3, Coleman 1.

Boys Statistics

Union 79 CPHS 38
1Q: Union 16-15.
2Q: Union 28-10.
3Q: Union 23-7.
4Q: Union 12-6.
Free Throws: Union 11-of-14, CPHS 6-of-9.
Field Goals: Union 30-of-53, CPHS 14-of-55.
Offensive Rebounds: Union 8, CPHS 9.
Defensive Rebounds: Union 29, CPHS 15.
Total Rebounds: Union 37, CPHS 26.
Steals: Union 9, CPHS 4.
Blocks: Union 6, CPHS 1.
Fouls: Union 10, CPHS 14.

Scoring: (Union) Fuller 28, Mason 16, Pierce 14, Mims 7, Madrid 6, Dixon 5, McQuarters 3. (CPHS) Dickson 12, Clark 9, Oakley 8, Johnson 4, Kelly 3, Foster 2.