Boys Basketball: Sandites get first conference win, 62-46 against Sapulpa

In a battle for last place in the Frontier Valley Conference, Sand Springs finally got a much-needed 62-46 win against Sapulpa, Friday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

The 6A-East No. 14 Sandites (5-10 overall, 1-6 conference) out-shot and out-rebounded 5A-East No. 14 Sapulpa (4-12, 0-7) to win their third-straight Highway 97 Rivalry meeting.

“It feels good,” said Sand Springs head coach Eric Savage. “We’ve been close several times this year and we just haven’t been able to finish.”

“Sapulpa’s kind of having a year similar to ours, and we knew this was going to be two teams that were really hungry for a win. I thought from the tip we came out focused and executed, and really controlled the game.”

The Sandites took a 6-0 lead out of the gate and never trailed, though the score stayed close till midway through the fourth quarter.

“We had a few lapses in there and Sapulpa kept coming at us, but overall I thought they followed the game plan and we were able to keep them at bay,” said Savage.

Sand Springs took a 31-23 lead into the half and a 44-32 lead into the fourth quarter, with its biggest advantage being a 16-point lead early in the final stanza.

The visiting Chieftains then mounted a comeback attempt, scoring ten in a row, kicked off by a Gavin Read layup through contact. Read missed his and-one opportunity, but Kylen Edwards made the putback and drew a foul of his own, sinking the free throw.

Charles Hobbs scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to 48-42, but it was all Sand Springs from there. 

“We just had to keep attacking,” said Savage. “A couple of times we got slow and quit running. I tried to tell them, ‘we’re playing to win, we’re not playing not to lose.’ I thought we got a little tentative there with what to do with the ball.”

Edwards led all scorers with 20 points, but Jaymason Lindsey was the only other Chieftain in double digits with 12 points.

Jason Clark and JD Dickson led the Sandites with 12 points apiece, followed by Kooper Kelly with 10. Ethan Oakley, Cale Askew, and Costen Brockman added 8 points apiece, and Oakley had 15 rebounds.

“We’re making improvements,” said Savage. “It’s hard to see in our conference sometimes because of how top-heavy and good it is, but we’re making improvements, we’re shooting the ball better, we’re passing the ball better. We struggled early in the year when people would press us, and we’re doing a much better job of that.”

The Sandites will embark on another tough week on the road with a Tuesday game at No. 5 Union (8-8, 4-4) and a Friday battle at No. 6 Owasso (11-6, 6-2).

Sapulpa will host Bixby (6-10, 1-6) on Tuesday and Union on Friday. 

In junior varsity action the Sandites won 65-40 behind 17 points from Alijah Roper and 11 from Kade Holland.

CPHS 62 Sapulpa 46
1Q: CPHS 19-9.
2Q: Sapulpa 14-12.
3Q: CPHS 13-9.
4Q: CPHS 18-14.
Free Throws: CPHS 10-of-14, Sapulpa 10-of-14.
Field Goals: CPHS 22-of-39, Sapulpa 15-of-49.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 6, Sapulpa 5.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 27, Sapulpa 12.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 33, Sapulpa 17.
Steals: CPHS 8, Sapulpa 11.
Blocks: CPHS 2, Sapulpa 0.
Fouls: CPHS 17, Sapulpa 13.

Sand Springs (Unofficial) Stats

Scoring: Clark 12, Dickson 12, Kelly 10, Askew 8, Oakley 8, Brockman 8, Roper 4.
Offensive Rebounds: Askew 2, Clark 1, Kelly 1, Oakley 1, Roper 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Oakley 14, Kelly 4, Dickson 3, Brockman 3, Clark 2, Askew 1.
Total Rebounds: Oakley 15, Kelly 5, Clark 3, Askew 3, Dickson 3, Brockman 3, Roper 1.
Steals: Clark 4, Roper 2, Askew 1, Kelly 1.
Assists: Oakley 3, Kelly 2, Clark 1, Askew 1, Brockman 1.
Blocks: Kelly 1, Dickson 1.
Fouls: Oakley 4, Brockman 4, Askew 3, Kelly 3, Dickson 2, Roper 1.

Sapulpa Stats

Scoring: Edwards 20, Lindsey 12, Read 5, Hobbs 5, Lewis 2, Abbuge 2.
Fouls: Lindsey 3, Hobbs 3, Edwards 2, Abbuge 2, Willoby 1, Read 1, Lewis 1.