Sand Springs Girls Basketball wins Area Championship 50-46 against Putnam City West

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

For the seventeenth time in school history and the first time since 2019, the Sand Springs girls basketball team is headed to State. 

The 6A-East No. 2 Lady Sandites (22-3) won their seventh Area Championship in school history 52-46 against No. 3 Putnam City West (19-6) in front of a rowdy Thursday night crowd at Will Rogers High School.

The Patriots trailed 46-35 halfway through the final period but clawed their way back to make it a one-score game in the closing moments. 

Hailey Jackson scored an easy layup for the last bucket of the game on a pass from Leyshia Morris with 19 seconds to play, then the Sandites got a turnover with 12 seconds remaining when Kierra Brown was whistled for palming the ball.

Morris inbounded the ball to Journey Armstead who ran out the clock and cemented her team in the Sandite history books.

It was an emotional night for Sand Springs coach Josh Berry, who got his head coaching start at Rogers in 2010. This will be his first trip to State with a girls’ team since taking the Ropers there in 2011.

“This is a big moment for me, for them,” said Berry. “I’m proud. I told them to just leave it all out there and I think they did that.”

Sand Springs never once trailed in the game and the Patriots only tied it once at 8-8 late in the first quarter. Kiaryn Taylor made a buzzer-beating putback to end the first stanza 12-8.

Sakauri Wilson scored five free throws in a nine-point run early in the second quarter that gave the Sandites their first double-digit lead at 21-10, and they took a comfortable 29-21 advantage into the locker room.

Putnam West hit the gas in the fourth quarter and won the second half, but the Sandites did just enough to stay on top. 

The highly physical game saw 42 fouls, including 24 in the first half. Caya Smith fouled out with 1:43 in the third quarter and Shamar Bert fouled out with 1:09 left to play. 

“I thought we did what we needed to do to win,” said Berry. “I don’t think it was the prettiest game on either side, but I’ll take the win whatever which way we can get it.”

No Sandites fouled out of the game, but most of the team was in foul trouble, and Wilson and Jackson ended the night with four apiece.

“I trust the ones that are coming in off the bench,” said Berry. “They can go in and they can do what they need to do when we do get in foul trouble. We’ve got a little bit of depth over there.” 

All seven Sandites who saw action earned their way into the scorebook, led by Jackson with 16 points and 6 rebounds, and Armstead with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“That’s what I told them, we’ve got to do it by committee. That’s the beauty of this year’s team; it’s not just one person that has to score all the points. A lot of them are able to do it, and so we’re just proud of them.”

Brooklyn Fisher scored 16 apiece to lead the Patriots, followed by Brown with 13. 

Sand Springs will return to action Thursday, March 10th at the University of Oklahoma’s Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, where they’ll begin the hunt for their first gold ball since 1994.

Putnam West will play No. 9 Stillwater (13-13) in the Area consolation finals Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Will Rogers. Stillwater won its Area game 75-73 over No. 5 Tahlequah (22-3). 

CPHS 50 PCW 46
1Q: CPHS 12-8.
2Q: CPHS 17-13.
3Q: PCW 10-9.
4Q: PCW 15-12.
Free Throws: CPHS 19-of-29, PCW 10-of-22.
Field Goals: CPHS 15-of-47, PCW 16-of-52.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 11, PCW 9.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 28, PCW 18.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 39, PCW 27.
Steals: CPHS 4, PCW 9.
Blocks: CPHS 2, PCW 2.
Fouls: CPHS 19, PCW 23.

Scoring: (CPHS) Jackson 16, Armstead 14, Wilson 8, T. Morris 7, L. Morris 2, Taylor 2, Kirkendoll 1. (PCW) Fisher 16, Brown 13, Bert 9, McHenry-Guzman 4, Smith 2, Ray 2.