Sandite Weekly Sports Roundup: Two Sandites Medal at State Wrestling Tournament

The Sand Springs boys’ wrestling team took tenth place at the OSSAA 6A State Tournament with two placers in their best finish since 2020.

Mitchell Smith took fourth place at 150 pounds to end his career as a four-time State qualifier and two time placer with a 108-35 record.

Mason Harris took fourth place at heavyweight and finished his junior year with a team-best 40-9 record.

The Sandites went 3-3 in the wrestle-in round and 3-3 in the quarterfinals with Jayden Pait, Jaxon Trotter, and Ethan White earning their way into the main bracket.

Smith, Harris, and Kase Skaggs all advanced to the semifinals before taking their first losses. Skaggs and Trotter were both eliminated one win short of the podium.

Sand Springs will graduate Smith and White but will return 12 starters and seven state qualifiers next season.

Soccer

The CPHS boys soccer team improved to 2-0-1 in preseason action while the girls fell to 2-1-0.

The boys won 3-0 against Collinsville on Tuesday with goals from Elias Villanueva, Zac Ritter, and Elgin Hernandez, with Brian Boyles recording an assist. They battled to a 1-1 draw against Sapulpa with Eli Bise scoring the lone goal.

The girls fell 2-1 against Collinsville, with Alyssa Cunningham scoring the lone goal on an assist from Ava Watts. On Thursday they defeated Sapulpa 4-1 with two goals from Watts and one goal apiece from Avery Miller and Ashley Feigenbaum.

The Sandites have one more scrimmage scheduled Tuesday against Glenpool before opening the regular season Friday with home matches against Tulsa NOAH at 6:00 p.m.

Bowling

The CPHS girls bowling team of Tabby Hicks, Olivia Alexander, Zoe Butler, and Kyeara Owens finished as Regional Runners-Up on February 18th in Sapulpa, advancing to the State Tournament Saturday in Enid.

At State they sat in second place after eight games of qualifying, but were eliminated in the first round of bracket play.

“I’m so proud of this team,” said coach Shawn Judy. “Three out of the four girls on the team, this is the first year they have competed in high school bowling. I believe we overachieved every expectation that anybody put on us.”

Baseball

Sandite baseball improved to 5-1-1 in preseason games, losing 6-7 at Owasso on Monday before winning 9-6 Tuesday against Bartlesville and 13-0 Thursday against Glenpool. On Saturday they beat Edmond Santa Fe 2-0 and tied Noble 3-3.

The Sandites will travel to Pryor on Monday and will host Union on Tuesday to conclude the preseason.

The regular season will kick off Thursday at 11:00 a.m. against Greenwood, AR with a home game Friday at 6:00 p.m. against Shawnee. Sand Springs will travel to Yukon Saturday at noon.

Sandites Go Undefeated at Memorial Invitational

For the fifth time in the seven year history of the festival, the Sand Springs boys basketball team (4-2) went undefeated at the Tulsa Memorial Veterans Arena Invitational over the weekend.

Following a 77-72 loss to No. 10 Bixby on Tuesday, the Sandites rolled to wins of 72-29 against the Oklahoma City Knights (3-11) Thursday, 55-42 against Tulsa NOAH (5-5) Friday, and 48-35 against Greenwood, Arkansas (2-7) Saturday.

“It feels good man. We needed those wins after a tough loss to Bixby,” said sophomore forward Blake Johnson.

Johnson scored 40 points on the week, with a career-best 15 against OKC and 12 against Greenwood.

“We’re trying to put weight on him but he’s really got a good basketball IQ,” said head coach Eric Savage.

“He sees the floor well, he moves without the ball. He’s a pretty versatile player because we can use him as a passer or an extra dribbler. He’s got some size and length to him inside where he can score inside, so I think his future is really bright.”

Johnson was particularly effective in the paint on Saturday, playing aggressively in key moments to shift momentum in the Sandites’ favor.

After trailing for the most of the second quarter, the Bulldogs rode a five-point swing to take the lead in the final minutes of the half, but Johnson ensured his team would come out on top.

The sophomore muscled his way through double coverage to go up 21-20, traded buckets with Brady Mackey, then capped off the half with his third consecutive score to make it 25-22.

Sand Springs wouldn’t trail again, opening the third quarter on a 14-point run.

“I’m trying to get them to play a tougher mentality,” said Savage. “I think the only way you get that is to play aggressive basketball and I think we’ve done that this week.”

“Even the Bixby game, we didn’t shy away from them.”

The Sandites had Bixby on upset alert for most of the night, but Notre Dame signee Parker Freidrichsen’s 40 points helped the Spartans secure the conference win.

Another big player for the Sandites was senior guard Michael Foster.

“Foster bounced back after not shooting the ball well the first two days,” said Savage.

Foster shot a career-high 18 points on Tuesday against the Spartans, then bookended the week with a game-best 16 points against Greenwood.

Sophomore Kooper Kelly scored a career-best 13 to lead the Sandites against NOAH, followed by Alijah Roper with 12. Roper also had a career-best 19 against Bixby.

The girls team (7-2) hung with No. 2 Bixby through a halftime tie before ultimately falling 84-50. Hailey Jackson scored 16 points with 9 rebounds in the loss, and Sakauri Wilson and Calla Fuseshko both scored 10.

Both teams will return to action January 5th. The girls will compete at the Putnam City Invitational while the boys will play at the East Central Classic in Ada.

Scoring Summaries

12/17/2022 - CPHS 48, Greenwood 35
CPHS;12;13;14;9;--;48
Greenwood;10;12;5;8;--;35

CPHS: Foster 16, Johnson 12, Allen 7, Kelly 6, Roper 3, Michell 2, Hooper 2.
Greenwood: Holt 9, Karnes 6, Chick 6, Kennon 5, Robins 5, Mackey 2, Bollman 2.

12/16/2022 - CPHS 55, NOAH 42
CPHS;12;12;14;17;--;55
NOAH;11;10;9;12;--42

CPHS: Kelly 13, Roper 12, Johnson 9, Holland 7, Allen 4, Hayes 4, Hooper 2, Shope 2, Foster 2.
NOAH: Wagner 10, Hislop 10, B. Bell 8, D. Bell 6, Garner 3, Brockett 3, Ross 2.

12/15/2022 - CPHS 72, OKC 29
CPHS;15;25;13;19;--;72
OKC;12;9;2;4;--;29

CPHS: Johnson 15, Kelly 10, Holland 9, Fueshko 9, Hayes 9, Hooper 4, Allen 4, Roper 3, Shope 3, Michell 2, Foster 2, Marshall 2.
OKC: Coombs 17, Ledet 6, Skelly 4, Chiarello 2.

12/13/2022 - Bixby 84, CPHS 50 (Girls)
Bixby;17;16;23;28;--84
CPHS;14;19;9;8;--50

Bixby: G. Wernli 24, Nielsen 17, Baldwin 16, K. Wernli 12, Musick 7, Wilson 4, Daniel 2, Beltran 2.
CPHS: Jackson 16, Wilson 10, Fueshko 10, Martin 7, Morris 5, Taylor 2.

12/3/2022 - Bixby 77, CPHS 72 (Boys)
Bixby;17;27;13;20;--77
CPHS;19;15;21;17;--72

Bixby: P. Friedrichsen 40, Driver 15, L. Friedrichsen 10, McCormick 6, Holley 4.
CPHS: Roper 19, Foster 18, Michell 9, Allen 8, Kelly 7, Holland 7, Johnson 4.

Sandites Throttle OKC Knights 72-29 at Memorial Invitational

Happy Birthday Kade Holland. The senior starter scored 9 points with 4 rebounds in a 72-29 win against the Oklahoma City Knights (3-9) Thursday night.

The last time Sand Springs played an Oklahoma City homeschool team, they suffered a 68-48 upset, but this year’s Sandites wouldn’t be caught sleeping,

After giving No. 10 Bixby a scare on Tuesday, the Sandites (2-2) showed up at Memorial High School with extra motivation Thursday night in the first round of the Veterans Arena Invitational.

“I thought we had big strides against Bixby at home on Tuesday night,” said head coach Eric Savage.

“Hopefully, I thought coming into here, is we carry some of that momentum and try to keep gaining experience and develop a little more depth.”

“Obviously we’d like to have a couple of more wins in there, but we’re getting better,” said Savage.

Thirteen Sandites saw game time and all but one made their way into the scorebook.

Sophomore Blake Johnson had a career night with 15 points and 9 boards before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.

“Blake has had a good week,” said Savage. “He had a good JV game Tuesday night too (scoring 19 points).”

“We thought playing JV would help some of these younger guys get some confidence and he’s turned it up another level this week so that’s good to see.”

Caden Coombs gave the Knights a brief lead with 2:01 left in the first quarter but the Sandites went on an 8-point run and never trailed again.

Jax Marshall fed an assist inside to Sam Hayes on the next possession to make it 12-11 then stole the ball and scored the go-ahead free throws on a foul from Isaiah Zoschke.

Sand Springs ran away with it in the second quarter, taking a 40-23 lead with 10 players in the scorebook by halftime.

“We’re working hard and we’re showing improvement,” said Savage. “(It’s a) really young team experience wise and age wise.”

The Sandites only returned one starter from last year’s unit and only started two seniors against the Knights.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who it’s their first time seeing significant varsity action and they’re going to go through some growing pains,” said Savage.

The second half was a 32-6 rout with the Knights only scoring on free throws.

Kooper Kelly scored 10 for the Sandites, followed by Zane Fueshko and Holland with 9 apiece. Coombs led all scorers with 17.

Sand Springs will return to action Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Tulsa NOAH (5-4). The Knights will play 5A No. 16 Collinsville (2-3) at 6:00.

Memorial 54, NOAH 31

The NOAH Jaguars made a game of it but ultimately succumbed to 5A No. 2 Memorial (4-1) Thursday night at the Chargers’ home tournament.

After hanging tight for three quarters, the Jaguars were outscored 20-8 in the final stanza of a 54-31 loss.

Jarreth Ingram set the tone early, scoring 7 of his game-best 15 points in the first quarter and the Jaguars never once led.

Montae Collins ended the opening period with a steal and a buzzer-beating floater to go up 16-4 but the Jaguars cut it to 25-15 by halftime.

Ben Radford got hot in the fourth quarter with 7 of his 9 points and the Chargers bullied their way to the win.

Collins ended with 13 for the Chargers and Seth Pratt added 10. Sullivan Wagner scored 14 for NOAH.

Memorial will play Greenwood, Arkansas (1-5) Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Scoring Summaries

CPHS 72, OKC 29
CPHS;15;25;13;19;--;72
OKC;12;9;2;4;--;29

CPHS: Johnson 15, Kelly 10, Holland 9, Fueshko 9, Hayes 9, Hooper 4, Allen 4, Roper 3, Shope 3, Michell 2, Foster 2, Marshall 2.
OKC: Coombs 17, Ledet 6, Skelly 4, Chiarello 2.

Memorial 54 NOAH 31
Memorial;16;9;9;20;--;54
NOAH;4;11;8;8;--;31

Memorial: Ingram 15, Collins 13, Pratt 11, Radford 9, Cotton 6.
NOAH: Wagner 14, Bell 7, Ross 4, Garner 3, Bockett 2, Hislop 1.

CPHS Football Preview: Sand Springs celebrates 100th anniversary Friday against Greenwood

6’2” senior Jacob Snodgrass caught three touchdown passes from two quarterbacks Friday in a 35-0 rout of Putnam City. (Photo: Scott Emigh).

The Class 6A-II No. 11 ranked Charles Page High School varsity football team (1-1) will host the defending back-to-back Arkansas 6A State Champions from Greenwood (2-0) Friday at 7:00 p.m. Prior to kickoff the Sandites will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sand Springs Football with an alumni event.

Former Sand Springs football players and managers, cheerleaders, dancers, color guard, and band members are invited for refreshments from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. in the Sandite Room of the Fine Arts Building, located near the south end zone of Memorial Stadium.

Alumni will be allowed to tour the locker rooms and the sideline beginning at 6:15 p.m. Four minutes prior to halftime alumni are invited to gather at the northeast corner of the stadium where they will be sorted by decade, then will be introduced to the crowd and will get to walk across the field.

Also prior to the game, the Church That Matters Tailgate Crew will be selling hot dogs, burgers, and chicken sandwiches with chips and a drink for only $6.00. The event will benefit Sandite Cheer. Last week they raised $1851 for the Quarterback Club.

Tickets for Sandite Football games are $5.00 for students and $7.00 for adults.

The Programs

Sand Springs is coming off a 3-7 season but prior to that was riding a program-best six straight years of playoff appearances. They are 64-68 under thirteenth-year Head Coach Dustin Kinard. The Sandites own one gold ball, from 1966, and made their last State Finals appearance in 2015.

Greenwood went 12-1 last year, losing their season opener before winning out for a 6A State Title. The Bulldogs own nine Championships (2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, and 2018). They also played for titles in 2015 and 2016. Greenwood has lost only three games in the past four seasons and haven’t lost two in a year since 2014. Rick Jones is 177-24 in his sixteenth season.

Coach Jones recently commented on the Sandites to Richard White with Greenwooddogpound.com

“‘I’ve been there a couple times,’ he said. ‘I know quite a bit about them. I coached in Tulsa for 12 years and I’m familiar with them. We played them when I was at Tulsa Union and Broken Arrow. They are tough kids. They have a great wrestling program. They are always physical and tough. They’re not afraid of anybody.’”

Last year was the first-ever meeting between Sand Springs and Greenwood, with the Bulldogs prevailing 49-13. Greenwood held the Sandites to 45 passing yards, Sand Springs held the Dogs to 60 rushing yards. The visitors ran for 234 yards and the home team passed for 244 yards.

Greenwood scored on the first play from scrimmage then forced a punt and scored on the return and never slowed down, taking a 42-0 lead before letting the visitors on the board. Sand Springs had two red zone turnovers on downs before averting the shutout a minute before the fourth quarter.

This Season

The Sandites were hammered 41-7 in their season opener at Mansfield Summit (3-0). They didn’t have too much difficulty moving the ball, but threw two picks and gave up three turnovers in the red zone.

After a bye week the boys rolled to their first shutout in four years, 35-0 against Putnam City (0-2). They did all of their damage by air with 259 yards and five touchdowns, but were held to a 31-75 rushing performance. Defensively they held the Pirates to 80 total yards.

Average Sandite Box Score
Points: CPHS 21 Opponent 21
First Downs: CPHS 14, OPP 16.
Fumbles/Lost: CPHS 1/0, OPP 4/1.
Penalties: CPHS 9-90, OPP 14-143.
C-A-Y-I: CPHS 16-29-175-1, OPP 9-16-147-1.
Rushing: CPHS 31-94, OPP 36-124.
Offense: CPHS 60-269, OPP 51-271.

Greenwood pitched a second half shutout in a 38-10 win over Fort Smith Northside (2-1), holding the Grizzlies to only 30 yards passing. The team scored four touchdowns by air, one on the ground, and had one field goal. In week two they won 44-14 against Fort Smith Southside (0-2) with three passing scores, three rushing scores and a field goal.

Players to Watch

Sand Springs

Ty Pennington, sophomore QB, 19-35-229-0, 5TD passing.

Braden Foster, senior QB, 13-23-121-2, 1TD passing.

Jacob Snodgrass, senior WR, 7-112, 3TD receiving.

Keaton Campbell, sophomore WR, 9-84, 1TD receiving. 1-30 on kick returns.

Trey Wilkerson, senior RB, 26-100 rushing, 5-33, 1TD receiving.

Junior kicker Zach Heinen is 6/6 on PATs, averaging 31 yards per punt and 45 yards per kick.

Jerret Haley, senior DB, has twelve tackles and an interception return for 21 yards.

Brooks Dudley, sophomore LB, has eight tackles and a fumble recovery.

Bryson Chase, junior DB, has six tackles and a fumble recovery.

Lane Webster, junior DL, has six tackles and two sacks for eighteen yards.

Greenwood

Jace Presley, senior QB, 51-69-651-0, 7TD passing.

Hunter Wilkinson, junior RB, 31-155, 3TD rushing and 9-76, 1TD receiving.

Peyton Carter, junior WR, 20-275, 2TD receiving.

Jayden Jasna, junior DB, snagged the first Bulldog interception of the season. He is also 2-50 on kick returns and 3-53 on punt returns.

Landon Kilgore, sophomore DL, has a forced fumble and recovery.

Jordan Hanna, junior DL, also has a fumble recovery.

Senior kicker Jackson Stewart is 8/10 on PATs this season and 2/2 on field goals with a 41-yard season long. He averages 53 yards per kick and 44 yards per punt.

Sandite Resume under Coach Kinard (2007-2019)

Record: 64-68 (with three forfeited wins).
District Record: 41-41 (with one forfeited win).
Playoff Record: 4-7.
Home Record: 33-27.
Best Record: 8-3 (2012), went 7-5 in 2015 with two forfeited wins and one game canceled with an 18-7 Sandite lead due to weather. Sand Springs made the State Finals that season.
Worst Record: 1-9 (2010).
Highway 97 Rivalry Record: 9-3.
Best Offense: 38.8 PPG (2008).
Worst Offense: 22.4 PPG (2010)
Best Defense: 14.3 PPG (2015).
Worst Defense: 36.2 PPG (2010).
Shutouts: 5.
Biggest Win: 63-6 vs. Nathan Hale (9/5/2014).
Biggest Loss: 63-6 vs. Union (10/17/2013).