Sandites Crown Six Champions at Union Open

The Sand Springs wrestling team crowned six champions at the Union/Pryor Ice Fighter Open Saturday in Tulsa, including three high schoolers and three junior high wrestlers.

High School Boys

Preston Reyna won the 144A bracket with three pins, taking out Broken Arrow’s Robert Miller in the finals in 2:41.

Zander Grigsby won the 175A bracket, outscoring his opponents 25-2 with two decisions and a 13-0 major decision against Stillwater’s Noah Perkins in the finals.

Jaxon Grigsby was runner-up at 132BA, outscoring his first four foes 47-1 with three major decisions and a technical fall before falling 1-0 to Coweta’s Toby Shipman in the finals.

Peyton Callis was runner-up at 190, pinning his first two opponents and winning a 7-5 decision against Broken Arrow’s Braden Jones in the semis before falling 6-2 to Stillwater’s Parker Brown in the finals.

Kase Skaggs placed third at 120B, pinning his first two foes before falling to Broken Arrow’s Hudson Beckley. In consolation he won a pair of decisions.

Jaxon Trotter placed third at 175B, with a major decision, a technical fall, and a pin. He fell 11-0 to Edmond North’s Jude Randall in the semifinals but pinned Union’s Jeremiah T’eo in the consolation finals.

Ayreson Reiss placed fourth at 113A, winning three decisions in the consolation bracket, with both of his losses coming to the same wrestler. Broken Arrow’s Bradley Lazzerini pinned Reiss in the first round and received a medical forfeit in the placement match.

Matthew Moore placed fourth at 138A with two pins and a decision, only losing a pair of decisions including a close 7-6 finale against Poteau’s Jake Fredrickson.

Colt Chambers finished with a winning 3-2 record at 132BA, pinning his first three foes in the first period before being eliminated one round short of placement.

High School Girls

Ambrielle Chambers won the 105 bracket with three first-period falls, taking down Enid’s Kadence Fuksa in the finals.

Trinity Owens placed third at 115, losing her first match to Broken Arrow’s Kristen DeLaRosa before pinning her next two opponents in the first period.

Laila Mirza placed third at 120, pinning her first opponents in 0:24 before giving up a fall in the semifinals to Broken Arrow’s Emily Beckley. In consolation she won a 7-0 decision before pinning Union’s Ma’Kadrian Titus in 18 seconds.

Audree Robinson placed fourth at 130, winning a 12-3 major decision in the consolation semifinals before falling to Henryetta’s Kiley Haywood.

Kayla Arnold went 2-2 at 140 with a decision and a pin, but was eliminated one round short of placement.

Junior High Boys (8th/9th Grade)

Kaden Pope won the 132-pound bracket with four pins and a 10-2 major decision over Owasso’s Jaxon Truitt in the finals.

Hunter Fields placed third at 155 with four pins and an 11-0 major decision, only falling 7-0 to Booker T. Washington’s Maximus Houston in the semifinals. In the consolation finals he pinned Fort Gibson’s Kolt Stevens in 2:52.

Brody Wilson went 4-2; Caleb Childers and Joshua Compton went 3-2; and Andrew Price, Kellen Foster, Conner Mcentire, Elijah Hadley, Camryn Ewing, and Blake Norton all went 2-2, but were eliminated short of placement.

Junior High Girls

Kenzi Johnson took first place at 89 pounds with an 18-3 technical fall and a pin of Ponca City’s Jaycee Wardlow in 1:02 in the finals.

Savannah Taylor was runner-up at 102 pounds, outscoring her first two opponents 19-2 before falling to Broken Arrow’s Jaylyn Lazzerini in the finals.

Lyla Waldren placed fourth at 102 with a sudden-victory decision and a pin, with both of her losses coming to Cleveland’s Hannah Stephenson.

Faith Humble went 2-2 but was eliminated short of placement.

Boys Middle School (6/7th Grade)

Brody Flores was runner-up at 73 pounds, going 2-1 in a round robin with a decision and a forfeit.

Gage Buchanan went 2-2 at 119 but was eliminated short of placement.

Girls Middle School

Kambyr Lee won the 145-pound bracket with two pins.

Chloe Strawn placed third at 82, pinning McAlester’s Lily Dykens in 1:56.

Liz Cline placed third at 126 with a decision and a forfeit.

Baylin Maynard placed third at 138 with two first-period falls.

Brylee Smith placed fourth at 155.

The Lady Sandites also recently held the program’s first ever junior high dual meet at Cleveland, falling 48-30.

Addie Hughes has busy first week with Sandite Softball

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Sand Springs softball team is off to a 3-4 start to the season after a busy first week. The Sandites kicked off 2022 with a pair of non-district losses before playing in the Broken Arrow tournament over the weekend.

Sophomore Addie Hughes received the bulk of pitching duty, going 2-4 with 31 hits, 14 strikeouts, and only four walks in 26 innings.

The Sandites were shut out 9-0 at Tahlequah (5-3) and 2-0 at home against Owasso (4-2) in a no-hitter.

Kelsi Hilton pitched the first win of the season on Friday against Edmond North (0-3) and totalled 16 hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts over 9 ⅔ innings in week one.

Sand Springs batted .500 against the Huskies in a 15-3 tournament-opening rout in only three innings. Jaden Jordan scored three runs and four RBI and hit the team’s first homer of the season.

Hughes picked up her first win of the year in a 9-2 romp against Claremore (2-3), pitching six strikeouts.

Jordan was 3-of-4 with a run and two RBI, Mikena Stephens was 2-of-4 with a run and three RBI, and Ashlyn Clark was 2-of-4 with two runs. 

Broken Arrow (4-1) spoiled their tournament title hopes 7-5 in the third game of the day, despite out-hitting the Tigers eight to seven. The Sandites committed two errors and stranded nine in the close battle.

On Saturday the Sandites won a 9-0 shutout against Jay (0-5). Hughes only gave up one hit in three innings for the win and Jordan blasted her second homer of the season.

The Sandites’ day ended in a 9-2 loss to Bristow (6-1) in bracket play despite a seven-hit performance that included solo homers from Jordan and Hilton. 

Abby Glasglow went 3-for-3 at the plate but was stranded every time, as were four other Sandite runners. 

The Sandites will look to get back above .500 Monday with a district double-header Monday at Enid (2-2) before playing at the Rogers State Festival on Thursday and Friday.

Fishing

Two teams of Sand Springs bass fishers earned their way to the Bassmaster High School National Championship on Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina this week.

Freshmen Eli Rogers and Nathan Griffin placed 158th out of 311 teams, catching eight fish weighing 12 pounds, 7 ounces. Seniors Mack Taylor and Parker Haling caught nine fish weighing 12 pounds, 1 ounce. 

Lainey Stanfill leads Lady Sandites to 1-0 upset of Union

Click here to view the complete photo gallery from Sand Springs vs. Edmond North.

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The 2022 Lady Sandite soccer season has been all about making history, and Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Union was no exception.

With under seven minutes left to play, freshman star Lainey Stanfill connected on her 20th goal of the season to knock off the perennial powerhouse RedHawks (10-5, 6-1) and lift the Sandites (11-4, 4-2) to a new program-best record.

“The Union game was something out of a movie,” said first-year head coach Cisco Chavez.

“Ava (Watts) took it from about half field, it bounced right in front of the keeper and went over. She tipped it out right to Lainey’s foot. Lainey put it in the net and the rest is history, kind of like our season. Just making history, historic moments, and we’re going to keep going.”

The game marked the first time this season the RedHawks have been shut out. Union has averaged more than four goals per game this year, led by University of Arkansas commit Makenzie Malham.

“Lockdown defense,” said Chavez. “We stopped the Gatorade Player of the Year from last year (Malham). They stuck to the assignment and they played well.”

The Sandites had an unfortunate end to the week in a 5-0 loss at Edmond North (11-1, 6-1) with a district title on the line. 

The day got off to a rocky start from the very beginning when the Sandites arrived late to the match due to a scheduling mixup. 

The teams had agreed three weeks prior to move the match up from 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. to help the Huskies manage extensive Senior Night festivities between the girls’ and boys’ games. That change of schedule wasn’t documented on the Sandites’ end, however, and the girls had to go straight to action right off the bus.

To make matters worse, Katie Webb suffered a likely season-ending MCL sprain shortly into the first half, and the Sandites were on the receiving end of a 30 MPH headwind that made it nearly impossible to move the ball outside of their own box. 

“We haven’t had wind like this all year,” said Chavez. “First half, (Edmond North) came out, they put their chances away. Unfortunately, we couldn’t put it in the back of the net tonight, and that happens.”

The Huskies took a 4-0 lead into the half on goals by Ady Bechtel, Maddie Holub, Elle Schuppan, and Desi Abney. 

The Sandites played a far closer match in the second half but still only managed one shot on goal, with Leslie Miller recording the save. Julia McBride added the final goal of the night in the 52nd minute to put the match away.

Sophomore goalie Christina Thompson came away with seven saves in the contest.

“I’ll put this loss on me,” said Chavez. “This was mine for miscommunication with the other coaches. This loss was on me, not on the girls. We look forward to bouncing back and moving forward.”

Due to circular losses in a hotly contested district, the Sandites would have finished first with a win, but slipped to fourth with the loss. They will play the 6A-4 District Champions in the postseason, either Broken Arrow (10-1) or Owasso (14-0).

Sand Springs will wrap up the season Monday with a Senior Night district match against Putnam City (3-11, 0-6) at 6:00 p.m.

Boys

The Sandites (0-11, 0-6) fell by way of 10-0 mercy rule Tuesday against Union (10-5, 5-2) and lost 8-0 to Edmond North (9-3, 5-2) Friday night on the road. They will have one last shot at a win Monday at 8:00 p.m. when they host Putnam City (5-7, 2-3) on Senior Night. 

Lady Sandite Soccer enjoying winningest season in school history

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Ten wins down, seven to go.

The Charles Page High School girls’ soccer team reached ten wins for the first time in school history Friday night at Pioneer Stadium, beating Stillwater 2-0 in district action to improve to 10-3. 

In the post-game huddle, after getting doused by the team’s water bottles in celebration, a soaking wet Cisco Chavez had a simple request for his Lady Sandites. 

“Win out.”

A tall order for a program that has only sniffed the post season a few times in school history, but Chavez has insisted from the beginning of the season that this team has the potential to do something special.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Chavez. “I’m so proud of the girls and the coaching staff.”

The previous best mark for the Sandites was 9-6, first accomplished under Lucas Gray in 2010 and repeated by Bobby Behrens’s team in 2016. 

More important than the team’s ten wins overall is its 3-1 record in district play. The Sandites haven’t pulled off that feat since 2012, the last time they qualified for the postseason.

“I’m just proud,” said Chavez. “There’s no words. I’m emotional because these girls have been working hard through everything and I’m so proud of them. “It doesn’t matter who I call on, they all give me their everything.”

Sand Springs dominated the Pioneers (5-8, 2-3) offensively and spent 59 minutes of play on Stillwater’s half of the field. However, they had few shots on goal thanks to a stingy Stillwater defense.

The game remained scoreless until sophomore Ava Watts snuck in a lefty shot with only 56 seconds left in the half for her 16th goal of the year.

Stillwater opened the second half much more aggressively and Chrissen Harland broke through the Sandite backfield 12 minutes into the half to threaten an equalizer, but Christina Thompson made the save on Stillwater’s only shot on goal.

Freshman Lainey Stanfill connected on her 19th goal of the season in the 57th minute and nearly added another nine minutes later but put it just a hair over the top. 

The Sandites have now outscored their opponents 46 to 16 this season with six clean sheets. 

“We have an outstanding defense,” said Chavez. “We continue to tell them that they’re one of the best in the state. They’re one of the youngest in the state defensively. That D is really no joke.”

The Sandites’ schedule won’t get any easier in the coming week. Next up is a home battle with district leader Union (10-5, 5-0) on Tuesday before traveling to Edmond North (9-1, 4-1) on Thursday.

“We’ve got Union Tuesday, it’s going to be a really tough game. Hopefully we can pull out a victory and try to secure a home playoff game.”

Lady Sandite Dream Season Comes Up Short; Future Looks Bright

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

For the first time since 2017, the Sand Springs girls basketball team made it as far as the State semifinals before its season came to an end.

The Sandites (23-4) won a 48-38 quarterfinal matchup with West No. 2 Choctaw (22-3) Thursday night at the Carl Albert Field House before falling 55-35 to No. 1 Edmond North (28-1) Friday afternoon at OU’s Lloyd Noble Center.

The Sandites trailed 8-7 after the first quarter against Choctaw, but early in the second period uncommitted senior star Journey Armstead hit a three-pointer to surpass 1,500 career points, and Layne Kirkendoll hit a putback for their first lead of the game.

The bucket was Armstead’s first of the game after going scoreless in the first quarter, but she was unstoppable after that.

“I kept on shooting but my shots weren’t falling,” said Armstead. “We were nervous at first but I had to get our rhythm going, step up, and when I got the opportunity to shoot I had to take it.”

“She’s special,” said Sandite head coach Josh Berry. “She doesn’t get the credit she deserves…the girl just keeps rolling.”

Mya Purifoy briefly lifted her team back on top, but Kirkendoll added another basket, Armstead hit two layups, and the Sandites never trailed again. 

The Sandites took a 24-17 advantage into halftime and won the second half 24-21.

Armstead hit the final bucket of the evening to finish the game with 17 points, and Kirkendoll added a career-high 14 for the Sandites.

On Friday the Sandites had to face the tournament frontrunners from Edmond North (28-1) who previously defeated Sand Springs 56-32 at the Jenks/Union Invitational in January. 

The Huskies routed Stillwater 72-37 in their quarterfinal game, then beat East No. 1 Bixby 59-57 in overtime for their first-ever State title on Saturday.

Taiona Morris hit a three-pointer to open the game but the Huskies scored six in a row and never trailed again. 

Down 18 after three quarters, the Sandites went on a 10-2 run to make it 43-33 with 4:02 to play, but the Huskies went on a 12-2 run of their own to end the game.

Jackson scored 11 to lead the Sandites and Armstead added 9.

The Sandites will graduate Armstead, Kirkendoll, and Leyshia Morris this year. 

Armstead scored 1525 points in her career, including 1153 in her three years at Sand Springs after playing for East Central as a freshman. She averaged 5.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.7 steals this year.

Kirkendoll averaged six points, 6.5 rebounds, and two blocks per game with a team-best field goal percentage. Morris averaged 3.3 points and 2.4 rebounds.

Next year’s Sandites will be led by Jackson, who averaged 13.9 points, six rebounds, and 1.5 steals in her junior year. She led the team on 12 occasions with three double-doubles and a career-best 31-point performance against Broken Arrow.

Sophomores Taiona Morris, Sakauri Wilson, and Kiaryn Taylor will also be expected to make a big impact. Morris averaged 5.7 points, Wilson added 5.6, and Taylor had 2.9. Taylor and Fayth Walker will be the frontrunners to compete for the two vacant starting spots. 

CPHS 48 Choctaw 38
1Q: Choctaw 8-7.
2Q: CPHS 17-7.
3Q: Choctaw 11-10.
4Q: CPHS 14-10.

Scoring: (CPHS) Armstead 17, Kirkendoll 14, Jackson 7, T. Morris 3, Taylor 3. (Choctaw) Hunt 12, Adams 8, Jackson 7, Gasaway 5, Smith 4, Purifoy 2. 

EDN 55 CPHS 35
1Q: EDN 10-5.
2Q: EDN 20-7.
3Q: All 11-11.
4Q: EDN 14-12.

Scoring: (CPHS) Jackson 13, Armstead 9, T. Morris 6, Wilson 4, Kirkendoll 3. (EDN) Steele 21, E. Papahronis 14, Heathcock 9, T. Papahronis 7, Franklin 4.

Lady Sandites top Choctaw 48-38 in State Quarterfinals, Armstead surpasses 1500 career points

For the first time since 2017, the Sand Springs girls’ basketball team is headed to the State tournament semifinals after a 48-38 Thursday night win over 6A-West No. 2 Choctaw (22-3) at the Carl Albert High School Field House.

The Sandites trailed 8-7 after the first quarter, but early in the second period uncommitted senior star Journey Armstead hit a three-pointer to surpass 1,500 career points, and Layne Kirkendoll hit a putback for their first lead of the game.

The bucket was Armstead’s first of the game after going scoreless in the first quarter, but she was unstoppable after that.

“I kept on shooting but my shots weren’t falling,” said Armstead. “We were nervous at first but I had to get our rhythm going, step up, and when I got the opportunity to shoot I had to take it.”

“She’s special,” said Sandite head coach Josh Berry. “She doesn’t get the credit she deserves…the girl just keeps rolling.”

Mya Purifoy briefly lifted her team back on top, but Kirkendoll added another basket, Armstead hit two layups, and the Sandites never trailed again.

Ranked No. 2 on the East side of the state, the Sandites improved to 23-3 after taking a 24-17 advantage into halftime and winning the second half 24-21.

Sakauri Wilson took a steal coast to coast with 50 seconds left to make it 46-36. Kylee Hunt hit a pair of free throws for the Yellowjackets, then Armstead hit the final bucket of the evening to finish the game with 17 points.

Kirkendoll added 14 for the Sandites, and Hunt was the only Yellowjacket in double digits with 12.

Sand Springs will get a rematch with West No. 1 Edmond North (26-1) who previously defeated the Sandites 56-32 at the Jenks/Union Invitational in January. The Huskies routed Stillwater 72-37 in their quarterfinal game.

“It’s like David going against Goliath out there,” said Berry. “We lace them up just like they do. It’s the State tournament. It’s one game, one day; anything can happen. We’re going to go out there and play hard and we’re gonna see what’s going to happen.”

“The first game, you learn from it. And hopefully we do and we’ll see if we get better from it.”

The semifinal matchup will be played at noon at the Lloyd Noble Center on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.

CPHS 48 Choctaw 38
1Q: Choctaw 8-7.
2Q: CPHS 17-7.
3Q: Choctaw 11-10.
4Q: CPHS 14-10.

Free Throws: CPHS 5-of-11, Choctaw 12-of-17.
Field Goals: CPHS 20-of-39, Choctaw 12-of-38.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 3, Choctaw 6.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 13, Choctaw 12.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 16, Choctaw 18.
Steals: CPHS 6, Choctaw 2.
Blocks: CPHS 2, Choctaw 2.
Fouls: CPHS 15, Choctaw 13.

Scoring: (CPHS) Armstead 17, Kirkendoll 14, Jackson 7, T. Morris 3, Taylor 3. (Choctaw) Hunt 12, Adams 8, Jackson 7, Gasaway 5, Smith 4, Purifoy 2.