Sandite Weekly Sports Roundup: Basketball Sweeps Roughers, Athletes Sign LOIs

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Sandite basketball swept the Muskogee Roughers Friday night with the varsity boys winning 72-65 while the girls won 63-41.

The 6A-East No. 6 Lady Sandites (12-5, 5-3) never trailed against No. 14 Muskogee. It was still a close game at 39-31 entering the fourth but the Sandites steamrolled the Roughers 24-10 in the final stanza.

Hailey Jackson scored 24 points to lead all scorers, Taiona “Yanni” Morris added 13, Sakauri Wilson had 9, and three different Sandites scored 5 apiece.

“We’re starting to play better as a unit,” said head coach Josh Berry. “We have more people stepping up.”

Sand Springs will have to cover six games over the final two weeks after meetings with Bartlesville and Booker T. Washington were postponed due to weather. This is the second time the Washington game has been rescheduled.

“This is our second game in 17 days,” said Berry. “It’s a bit different from when we start the season out with eight games in like 14 days.”

“We’re rested and we’re ready to go. It’s nothing that we can control so we just try to get better.”

The No. 11 Sandite boys (9-8, 2-6) snapped a five-game conference skid and got back above .500 overall with a win over the No. 15 Roughers (3-13, 0-9).

The Sandites led 34-27 at halftime but a seven-point run put the Roughers up 45-44 entering the final stanza.

Jamarian Ficklin tied it for the final time at 52-52 but Kooper Kelly hit a pair of free throws and layed up on a steal to put his team ahead for the final three minutes of the game.

Kelly tied his career-high with 20 points to lead all scorers while Luke Hooper also had a career night with 15 points.

“Any conference win, especially on the road, is a good feeling,” said head coach Eric Savage.

“In the past we’ve kind of lost our composure. A couple of times this wear we gave up the lead and never got it back. We showed some growth tonight and were able to weather the storm and get back in control late in the fourth quarter.”

Sand Springs will travel to Bixby on Tuesday and Bartlesville on Thursday before hosting Sapulpa Friday night.

Signing Day

School may have been canceled, but the festivities couldn’t be stopped Wednesday morning at the Ed Dubie Field House. Sand Springs celebrated 10 student-athletes who signed letters of intent to continue their careers at the collegiate level.

Many of the players will get to enjoy Sand Springs connections on their new rosters.

Kyle Morrall, Jacob Blevins, and Drake Fain signed with Northwestern Oklahoma State University to play Division II football. There they will be reunited with former Sandite assistant coach Jason Medrano, who recently took over as Offensive Coordinator for the Rangers.

Brody Rutledge signed to play Division II football at Northeastern State University. There he will join former Sand Springs teammates Gabe Brown, Landon Hendricks, and Blake Jones.

Dominic Ornelas and Jabe Schlehuber signed to play junior college baseball together at Northern Oklahoma College in Enid.

Carson Sargent signed to play Division II soccer at Rogers State University, where she will join former teammates Ali Day and Karsen Lynch.

Payton Robbins signed to play NAIA volleyball at Friends University in Kansas, where she’ll be reunited with Sandites Tehya Johnson, Charley Fahland, and Kasidy Holland.

Madori Bland signed with the stunt team at Drury University, a Division II program in Missouri.

Coleman Hight signed to play NAIA golf at Southwestern College in Kansas.

Baseball

Freshman quarterback Easton Webb has been getting lots of attention as a football prospect, but on Friday he announced his commitment to Oklahoma State University as a baseball player before ever playing a varsity minute.

Sand Springs will kick off the preseason with a home scrimmage against Sapulpa on the 16th at 4:30 p.m.

Girls Powerlifting

The Sand Springs girls powerlifting team took second place at the All-American Lift-a-thon in Shawnee Saturday with two champions. The Sandites had 137 team points, just behind Choctaw with 141.

Madison Thompson won the 220 weight class, sweeping all three events. She benched 140, squatted 285, and deadlifted 295.

Jaden Jordan won at heavyweight, taking first in squat at 335 pounds, first in deadlift at 375, and third in bench at 155.

Melani Skelly placed third, Gracie Worthington placed fourth, and Bailey Doughty and Kiyah Dover placed fifth.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Sand Springs Hosts First-Ever Girls Wrestling Tournament

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The Charles Page High School boys wrestling team (13-4) suffered a pair of tough losses last week, falling 35-21 to No. 4 Broken Arrow (9-2) on Tuesday and 62-10 to No. 2 Stillwater (11-1) on Thursday.

The Sandites will travel to No. 11 Owasso (4-7) on Tuesday before wrapping up the regular season at the Glenpool Warrior Classic over the weekend.

Sand Springs hosted its first ever girls wrestling tournament Friday at Clyde Boyd Middle School, drawing 22 varsity programs and 18 junior high squads.

Springdale Har-Ber won the inaugural high school tournament while Perry won the junior high event. Sand Springs placed sixth in varsity and fifth in junior high.

Bailey Copeland won the Sandites’ lone gold medal, pinning both of her opponents in the junior high 82-pound bracket.

In junior high: Rylee Allen placed second, Sawyer Briscoe and Ananiah King were fourth, Camden Carrison and Cailey Miller were fifth, and Lyla Waldren and Stefane Ortiz placed sixth.

Gracie Young and Kelsi Hilton led the varsity girls with runner-up performances. Laila Mirza placed fourth, Addily Shotwell was fifth, Madison Chambers placed sixth, and Kreedence Behnke was eighth.

The junior high boys took second place in a tight three-way race at the Ted Anderson Tournament in Edmond on Saturday. The Sandites finished only 13 points behind Bixby while edging out Broken Arrow by 1.5 points.

Kaden Pope and Hudson Sheppard won their brackets; Ryley Kester, Brady Moore, and Jaxon Grigsby were runners up; Kasen McAffery placed third; and Issac Sensintaffer finished fourth.

The Keystone Kids placed seventh out of 100 teams at the OKUSA Youth Wrestling State Championship with four champions and four runners-up.

Brackton Upton, Hagan Wolfenberger, and Jaxon Trotter all won their divisions while Hudson Waag, Karson Waag, and Bryson Pope were runners up. Kydon Harness was a double-finalist, winning in Beginner and placing second in Open.

Ryker Dawes, Collin Randall, Maddix Spencer, and Ayreson Reiss placed third. Brenntly Taylor, Eric Foust, Mason Londo, and Maddox Pope placed fourth.

Baseball

Sandite catcher Dominic Ornelas announced his commitment to Northern Oklahoma College at Enid Tuesday on Twitter. Also headed to NOC-Enid is pitcher and second baseman Jabe Schlehuber, who committed in November.

Football

Sand Springs seniors Kyle Morrall and Jacob Blevins announced their commitment to Northwestern Oklahoma State University. There they will be reunited with former Sandite assistant coach Jason Medrano, who recently took over as Offensive Coordinator for the Rangers.

Brody Rutledge, the Sandites’ leading receiver, committed to Northeastern State University on Tuesday. There he will join former Sand Springs teammates Gabe Brown, Landon Hendricks, and Blake Jones.

Sand Springs Sports Roundup: Girls Basketball wins first playoff

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Inclement weather couldn’t stymie the Sandites for long, and the Charles Page High School girls basketball team rolled to a 70-50 win against Muskogee in the first round of the regional playoffs Saturday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

In a game that was originally scheduled for Thursday, the 6A-East No. 2 Sandites (20-3) won their eighth consecutive game to extend their season by an extra week against No. 15 Muskogee (2-14).

“They’re a good team,” said head coach Josh Berry. “They make shots and they don’t quit. You look at their record and you don’t see what they really are. They’re well-coached and they’re going to play hard.”

The Roughers held pace with the Sandites throughout the first half, entering the second quarter 12-12 and leading by as much as 23-19.

Journey Armstead and Kiaryn Taylor hit back-to-back three pointers to end the first half with a 35-29 advantage, however, and the Sandites never trailed again.

“We had everybody in foul trouble in the first half, but once we got in and got settled down, I think everything took care of itself,” said Berry. 

The two teams combined for 37 fouls overall and 22 in the first half, with 45 free throw opportunities. Muskogee made the most of their trips to the charity stripe, shooting 14-of-18, while the Sandites went 18-of-27.

Zhayn Mayes scored 17 to lead the Roughers, followed by Akira Eubanks with 16, but the Sandites had three double-digit scorers.

Armstead led all scorers with 20 points, followed by Hailey Jackson with 15 and Taiona Morris with 10. Morris also collected a team-high five steals, and Layne Kirkendoll added 9 points with 9 rebounds. 

“Layne did good tonight,” said Berry. “Kiaryn played well, Yanni (Taiona Morris) played well. It’s about that - different people stepping up and finding a way to win and I think we did that tonight. I think that’s a team effort.”

Next up for the Sandites will be a rematch with No. 7 Putnam City North (12-10), who won its game 53-47 in double overtime against No. 10 Ponca City (9-12). 

The Lady Sandites previously beat the Panthers 50-33 at the Jenks/Union tournament in January.

“Hopefully we guard and don’t let them shoot some open shots, and make some shots,” said Berry. 

“Tonight we made some shots and we haven’t done that in a long time either. We made quite a few threes. We need to continue to do that, continue to share the basketball, and play for each other.”

The regional championship will be played Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Sand Springs, and both teams will advance to the area playoffs.

Boys Basketball

The No. 14 Sand Springs boys (5-17) had their Regional playoff game postponed to Monday at 8:00 p.m. The Sandites will play No. 3 Putnam City West (17-5) in an elimination game.

Wrestling

Mitchell Smith (30-7) placed third in the 145-pound bracket at the OSSAA 6A State Championship on Saturday. It was the junior’s third trip to state but his first medal, and he was the only Sandite to earn a medal.

Smith won his first match 2-1 but gave up a 7-4 decision to West Champion Layton Schneider in the semifinals. In consolation he won 6-3 against Bixby’s Caden Kelley and 3-2 against Yukon’s Boston Powell.

David Ritchey and Zander Grigsby both won their wrestle-in matches, Carter Goodman won his quarterfinal, and Blake Jones won a consolation match to help the team to a 13th place finish overall.

Six of the Sandites’ state qualifiers will return next year, with Jones being the lone senior. Jones wrapped up his career with an 82-42 record as a four-time State qualifier. 

Track and Field

Several Sandite alums competed in the Summit League Indoor Championship for Oral Roberts University on Saturday. 

Aden Baughman placed 8th in the 800 meter run. Joel Mackey placed 14th in the 60 meter and 15th in the 200. Mitchell Mefford placed 14th in the weight throw. 

Soccer 

The Lady Sandite soccer team is off to a strong start in preseason action, winning 4-0 against Sapulpa before sweeping the Skiatook scrimmage tournament and outscoring their foes 11-0. They suffered their first loss 1-0 at Owasso. 

The season will officially begin March 1st at home with non-district matches against Tulsa NOAH. The girls will play at 6:00 p.m. followed by the boys at 8:00 p.m.

Baseball

Sandite baseball took its first preseason loss, 13-5, at Owasso. The Sandites previously routed Glenpool 16-5, Tahlequah 8-0, and Lawton MacArthur 11-0, and tied Westmoore 2-2. Their season will begin March 1st at Guthrie.

Sandite Wrestling places sixth at Regionals with seven State qualifiers

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Sandite wrestler Mitchell Smith

Mitchell Smith finished second as the Sandites’ top placer.

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Charles Page High School wrestling team finished in sixth place at the OSSAA 6A-East Regional in Stillwater on Saturday, qualifying seven Sandites for the State tournament next weekend in Oklahoma City.

“I felt like everybody wrestled hard,” said coach Jarrod Patterson. “We had a couple that came up a little bit short but I was very pleased with the effort that we put in. Everybody wrestled hard.”

The team saw a notable improvement over last year’s eighth place finish with four qualifiers, and the Sandites will be sending their largest lineup to State since Patterson took over the program in 2018.

“I think we’ve got a little bit more of a team type of atmosphere,” said Patterson. “Everybody’s watching every single match, cheering for guys.”

“They’re excited for each other, they’re excited for themselves. There’s a little bit more passion this year. I’m really excited about this group and the future.”

Junior Mitchell Smith (27-6) was the team’s highest finisher, placing second at 145 pounds with two pins and a 3-1 upset of the one-seed.

Carter Goodman (24-11) placed third at 160 after taking a break from wrestling last season. In the placement round he won a 6-4 decision against the Bixby wrestler who had beaten him 5-1 the day before. 

“Carter’s come up short a few times throughout the year, but man this tournament was a good one for him,” said Patterson. “He’s been working hard and just battling and staying in good position and had some really good matches.”

Blake Jones (11-6) placed third at 170 with three pins, and his only loss came to the tournament champion.

“Blake’s had a couple lingering injuries from football that we’ve been nursing throughout the season,” said Patterson. “But at this point it is what it is. He’s a senior and we’re going to push through it. That’s all we can do.” 

Sophomore stars Zander Grigsby (18-3) and Mason Harris (17-7) placed fourth at 120 and 220, respectively, and freshmen David Ritchey (20-12) and Jaxon “Scout” Trotter (20-11) placed fifth at 106 and 138, respectively.

Seniors Ethan Norton (23-15) and Brooks Dudley (21-11) placed sixth in their brackets, one win short of qualifying for State.

The State wrestling tournament will begin Friday, February 25th at 10:00 a.m. at State Fairgrounds Arena in Oklahoma City.

Sandite Wrestling wins Homecoming 54-27 against Glenpool

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The Sand Springs Winter Homecoming Court combined Basketball and Wrestling this year. Photo courtesy of Moton Photography.

The Charles Page High School wrestling team went 2-1 in district duals Tuesday at Union, winning 65-9 against Deer Creek and 45-27 against Union before falling 50-30 to No. 8 Ponca City.  They also won a 54-27 Homecoming dual against 5A No. 8 Glenpool on Thursday.

Sammy Naugle, James Robey, Carter Goodman, Blake Jones, and Brooks Dudley collected pins against the Antlers, while Jayden Pait, Mitchell Smith, Goodman, Ethan White, Dudley, Mason Harris, and David Ritchey recorded falls against Union. 

Against the Wildcats, the Sandites fell behind 21-0 before Smith got a pin at 145. Ethan Norton, Goodman, and White followed it up with pins to take the lead.

Ponca rallied with pins at 182 and 195 before Harris got a fall at 220, but the Wildcats won the next three matches with bonus points to punch their ticket to dual state.

On Thursday, Ritchey, Colt Hood, Shane Wolf, Robey, Goodman, White, Dudley, and Harris all won pins against the Warriors.

The Sandites canceled their involvement at the Owasso Ram Duals over the weekend due to sickness and injuries. They will instead compete at Glenpool Warrior Classic February 4-5th.

Keystone Kids

The Keystone Kids brought home two gold medals from the Wrestlemania tournament in Broken Arrow, Saturday, January 22nd.

Nicholas Elmore and Kydon Harness won their brackets, JJ Baker was runner-up, Collin Randall and Caemon Young placed third, and Rixon Hathaway placed fourth.

Sandite Wrestling places second at Cabot tournament, beat Sapulpa in dual

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Charles Page High School wrestling team (1-0) is off to a hot start on the season, topping 5A No. 4 Sapulpa 37-23 in a Highway 97 Rivalry dual. 

The Sandites won eight out of the fourteen matches, collecting four pins in their fifth consecutive win against the Chieftains. 

Sapulpa, fresh off a tournament win at Bristow, took an early lead before Sammy Naugle pinned Parker Lecoq at 138 to put the Sandites up 13-12. Lecoq had scored two takedowns and a set of nearfall points against Naugle before the Sandite made a second-period comeback.

Mitchell Smith followed it up with a pin of Blake Hurt, and Ethan Norton pinned Hugh Primeau to turn the tide in the Sandites’ favor. 

The two teams traded blows till 195 when Brooks Dudley clinched the dual with a pin of Jackson Deerman to make it 34-20. 

Zander Grigsby recorded a major decision for the Sandites, and Jayden Pait, Ethan White, and Marcus Sims all won decisions. 

The junior high team pitched a shutout against the Chieftains with a 75-0 victory.

The Sandites traveled to Cabot, Arkansas over the weekend and placed second at the Bring the Hammer tournament with two champions in Grigsby and Smith.

Grigsby won the 120-pound bracket with three pins, a technical fall, and two major decisions to remain undefeated on the season.

Smith won at 145 pounds with seven pins and was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. 

Pait, Norton, David Ritchey, Cash Lucas, and Carter Goodman placed third. Jaxon “Scout” Trotter placed fourth, James Robey placed seventh, Colt Hood and Jesse Moore placed ninth. Dylan Quinton and Drake Fain placed tenth, Ethan White placed eleventh, and Slaytor Ferrell placed twelfth. 

The Sandites were only 17 points behind Keller Timber Creek, despite being short handed without Blake Jones, Brooks Dudley, and Mason Harris. Dudley and Harris are expected to return after Christmas Break, but Jones may miss the season due to a football injury. 

Sand Springs will return to action January 4th with a dual at Jenks (0-2).