Lady Rams fend off fourth quarter rally attempt by Lady Sandites, 53-48

/

Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No.11 ranked Sand Springs Lady Sandites (14-7) just can't seem to catch a break. After winning eight straight earlier in the season, they've now dropped five of their last seven matchups and haven't defeated a ranked opponent in nearly a month.

It's not due to a lack of effort, however. All of their last  three losses were contested to the final moments and were to top-ten teams. 

The girls defeated the Union Redskins (8-13) by double digits Friday night after eight Sandites got on the board and Gloria Mutiri and Sydney Pennington each doubled with 12 and 10 points respectively.

Tuesday night the girls battled valiantly against the No.9 Owasso Lady Rams (17-5) and returned from multiple double digit deficits to as close as 49-48 before the Rams finally got the edge and the 53-48 win in the final moments.

This time Pennington was the top scorer for the Sandites, followed by freshman Destiny Johnson, and each put up 8 points in the final stanza that saw the home team outscore their opponents 17-9.

The Sandites spent the entire night in the hole after giving up four straight turnovers to start with a 9-0 deficit. Johnson finally interrupted to onslaught with a layup, followed by Owasso's top-scorer, Rachel Skalnik, then the girls came alive. 

Pennington missed her first shot of the game, but rebounded herself and sank the second attempt to cut it to 11-4. Sophomores Terryn Milton and Mya Bhinhar put up a basket each for the opposition, but Gloria Mutiri hit her lone basket of the night soon after. Mutiri's next attempt would fall short but Pennington fought for another rebound and hooked the ball out to senior Cierra Scott in the corner for a three.

Johnson snagged a steal off the Ram's subsequent possession and handed it off to Scott for yet another three to make the game 16-12.

Some sloppy Sandite work gave up the next five points to Owasso but Pennington responded with five of her own to cut the gap to 21-17 at the buzzer.

The next two periods were far closer but Owasso carried a 33-26 advantage into halftime and worked it up to 42-31 by the final quarter.

After a Loni Culley layup put the Sandites in the hole by 13 points it looked like the hotly contested game would begin to work itself further in favor of the visitors, but then our two heroes of the night went on a run.

Holly Kersgieter went 1-of-2 from the line, then Johnson hit a two before Pennington went on a 6-0 run and the girls were right back in it at 44-40. Milton hit a two pointer and added the extra penalty shot, but Pennington responded with a two followed by a pair of free throws by Johnson. 

Milton added her 13th point of the night to make the advantage 49-44. Mutiri missed a two point attempt that Owasso rebounded but Scott snagged a steal and sent it to Johnson for two.  

Both teams were in the bonus as Mutiri fouled Culley on the floor with 1:22 left, but the Ram missed her first shot and Pennington rebounded and passed it to Johnson who sent it to Kersgieter in the corner. The freshman had zero coverage and it looked like the Sandites were about to tie the game, but the shot hit rim and there were no Sandites there to rebound it.

Culley was bringing it up court when Johnson managed to slap the ball away and into the ready hands of Isabella Regalado who sent it back to Johnson on her way for the layup to close it down to 49-48 with 0:53 left.

Culley got payback with a layup of her own 21 seconds later and the return was in the hands of Cierra Scott, one of the best three-point shooters in the game. Owasso applied a full court press and Skalnik made off with the ball for a game-clinching two-pointer and despite being outscored 17-9 in the last period, the Rams held on to enough of their lead for a 53-48 final score. 

Sand Springs has but one game left in the regular season and is currently fifth in Frontier Valley Conference standings with a 6-7 record in the talent-packed league. The girls will take on Jenks Friday night whom they already have a 64-43 road win over from a month ago. After that it's Regionals next Thursday as the Lady Sandites travel to Sapulpa to take on the Union Redskins who they have two double-digit wins over this season. If they add a third win they'll advance to the Area tournament regardless of the outcome of the Regional finals. 

#11 Lady Sandites upset by Bartlesville 46-41 in overtime

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

The Sand Springs girls led for the entire game, often by double digits, until a late rally from senior Lauryn Washington put the Lady Bruins back in the game.

The 11th-ranked Charles Page High School varsity Lady Sandites (12-4) hadn't been tied since 0-0 and for all appearances they had an easy win over #17 Bartlesville (9-8). 

Bartlesville was like a pesky gnat, however, and wouldn't go away. Sand Springs jumped to a 7-0 lead to start, but the Bruins fought back within a single possession to end the first period 9-7. 

The Sandites went on a run to start the second quarter, with Holly Kersgieter, Sydney Pennington, and Destiney Johnson scoring back-to-back-to-back to double the Bruins 15-7. 

Jena Williams, Ronni Gilliard, and Washington sank a series of free throws to narrow it to 22-15 at the half. Free throws would prove to be one of the most crucial points of the game for both teams. 

Sophomore Gloria Mutiri scored seven in the third period en route to a thirteen-point advantage and it was beginning to look more and more like the Lady Sandites had this game all wrapped up. 

Then Washington showed up, scoring thirteen points in the fourth quarter to cut the gap to 2. With seven seconds left, Gilliard drew a foul and sank both of her free throws to tie the game up for the first time since tip-off.

At 39-all, the girls were headed into overtime for the first time this season. 

Bartlesville won the tip-off and Washington sank a two to give Bartlesville their first lead of the game. Pennington tied things up at 41, but Bartlesville went on a free throw spree to ice their cake 46-41. 

Despite their (at times) heavy lead, the Sandites had a rough time scoring, shooting only 35% on field goals and 5-of-17 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Bartlesville scored 14-of-16 on freebies. 

Mutiri shot 6-of-8 on field goals and tacked on a pair of freebies for a team-high 14 points, making her the lone Sandite to double in the low-scoring affair. Washington had the game-high, however, with 24 points. 

This marks two-straight losses for the girls who have ran up an impressive tournament record with wins over 5A #4 Shawnee for the Bishop Kelley Invitational Championship, and a tough Life Prep Academy team for the Interstate Classic Championship. When it comes to Frontier Valley, however, the girls have had a tough time with upset losses to Bixby and now Bartlesville. 

The girls are 5th in conference with a 4-4 record and big games looming against #5 Muskogee and #1 Sapulpa. They've more than proven they can take on tough foes, however, upsetting #8 Owasso and leading Sapulpa for much of that game before the Chieftains finally rebounded. 

The next game for the girls is this Tuesday with the Muskogee Lady Roughers (14-2) visiting Ed Dubie Field House at 6:00 pm. 

The Lady Sandites also lost their Tuesday night match-up against #4 Broken Arrow, 54-47.

Sandite of the Week: Sydney Pennington

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize CPHS junior Sydney Pennington as Sandite of the Week for her outstanding sportsmanship and incredible performance at this past weekend's tournament.

Pennington has led all scorers for the last two seasons, has led her team in four games this season, and averages just under thirteen points per game this season.

She scored 10 last Tuesday against Bishop Kelley, then scored 36 over three games at Coffeyville's Interstate Classic tournament, including a season-high 22 in the championship win over Life Prep Academy. 

Pennington was named to the All Tournament Team along with Gloria Mutiri, and was voted the tournament's Most Inspirational Player.

In addition to being one of the best ballers in recent memory, Pennington was also one of the top sluggers on the school's State Runner-Up fast pitch softball team and is an Oklahoma State University softball commit. 

Lady Sandites win five straight games by 20+ points, win Interstate Classic tournament

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

The Charles Page High School varsity basketball girls have been having one heck of a season. They're certainly the best squad since the 2010-2011 Regional Championship team, and possibly even better. With eight regular season games left before Regionals, the ladies only need to post one more victory to beat last year's record and officially claim their best season since 2011. 

How did they get to this point?

From 2011-2013 the Lady Sandites went 3-42 under Head Coach Bob Banfield. 

In 2012, the ladies added freshman Cierra "CJ" Scott who was an immediate scoring threat with well over 100 points, setting a career-high in her sixth game with 16 points--an amount she would repeat a month later.

For the 2013-2014 season, Dustin Morrow took over Head Coaching duties and led the team to a 10-14 overall record, 5-9 in Frontier Valley. Sydney Pennington, Jessica Collins, Amari Grant, Bailey Boaz, Lee Leslie, and Maddie Ward were the freshman additions to the team. 

Pennington erupted on the scene with 373 points, only failing to double in three games, and set a personal best of 22 points against Muskogee. Scott scored 101. 

Last season the Sandites added Selena Hitchcock and major inside scoring threat Gloria Mutiri. Pennington led all scorers with 412 points and set a new career-high with 32 points against Muskogee once again. Mutiri made an incredible debut with 200, Scott added 150,  Collins scored 69, and Hitchcock had 31. 

That year the 8th grade girls went a perfect 28-0 and secured a Frontier Valley Conference Championship. In 2015 those girls became freshmen. 

The first game of the 2015-2016 season saw a 59-39 rout of the Green Country Defenders home school team. Pennington scored a team-high 22 points, and eight other girls scored including four freshmen.

The next game was a 61-51 loss to Bixby, but Pennington had a double-double with 19 points, followed by Scott with 18. 

Next came the Bishop Kelley Invitational. The ladies swept the tournament, dominating Cascia Hall 59-37, Norman North 52-38, and 5A #4 Shawnee 49-40. Freshman Destiney Johnson had her break-out game against Cascia with 14 points. Collins added 12, Pennington 11, and Scott 10. Pennington led against Norman North with 15. The Shawnee game proved a defining night for two different freshmen. Isabella Regalado led with 17, followed closely by Holly Kersgieter with 14. Johnson, Pennington, and Scott were named to the all-tournament team and Pennington was named MVP.

The next game was against then #6 Sapulpa, who would go on to be ranked #1 for weeks before dropping to their current position at #2. The Sandites led for nearly the entire game before a series of fouls gave the Chieftains a 54-43 win. Johnson and Pennington both doubled with 14 and 11 respectively.

From there it's been nothing but wins, and most of them were big ones.

Mutiri, Kersgieter, Pennington, and Johnson all doubled in a 59-39 win over #14 Union. 

Pennington and Kersgieter doubled in a 57-28 doubling of Green Country. 

Johnson, Pennington, and Mutiri doubled in a 51-48 upset of #8 Owasso.

Mutiri scored 20, aided by Pennington and Johnson with 11 each in a 64-43 extermination of Jenks.

Scott scored 17, and Pennington and Mutiri each added 10 in a 67-46 smothering of Bishop Kelley.

Currently the ladies are ranked 11th with a 12-2 record, sitting at 4th in Frontier Valley Conference standings. 

Thursday night the girls arrived in Coffeyville, Kansas for the 43rd Harold Thomas Interstate Classic, where they went undefeated last year. 

In Thursday's round one matchup with Field Kindley High School (Coffeyville), the Lady Sandites continued their dominating streak with a 64-33 smack down. Gloria Mutiri led all scorers with 15 points, followed by Collins with 9, Pennington with 7, Hitchcock with 7, Regalado with 6, Johnson with 6, Kersgieter with 4, Ward with 4, Scott with 2, Presnall with 2, and Grant with 2. 

Friday night was even more impressive, as they outscored Nathan Hale 60-16, led by Hitchcock with 10, Ward 8, Grant 7, Pennington 7, Taber 6, Presnall 5, Collins 5, Leslie 4, Kersgieter 3, Regalado 3, Mutiri 2.

Saturday saw an end to their streak of 20+ point wins, but not an end to their overall winning streak. The Ladies took down Life Prep Academy 51-49 to defend their Interstate Classic Champions title and add to their eight-straight win streak. Pennington scored 22, aided by Johnson with 8, Kersgieter 6, Scott 5, Hitchcock 4, Regalado 3, Collins 2, Mutiri 1. Mutiri and Pennington made the All-Tournament team and Pennington was named the tournament's Most Inspirational Player. 

The girls return to action Tuesday night at #4 Broken Arrow (14-2) in a Frontier Valley Conference battle. 

Gloria Mutiri scores 20 in 64-43 rout of Jenks

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The #14 Charles Page High School varsity girls (8-2) had no problem running up the scoreboard against the unranked Jenks Lady Trojans (4-8) Friday night at Frank Herald Gym, emerging to a swift 9-2 lead before allowing the host team to catch back up 16-15 by the end of the first. 

The home team took a brief 3 point lead to start the second quarter but the Sandites responded with an 11 point streak and held a 34-25 lead at halftime.  

The second half was no better for the home team despite the Sandite starters being benched early in the fourth. In the third period the Lady Sandites outscored Jenks 19-6 and 11-10 in the final quarter for a commanding 64-43 victory. 

Gloria Mutiri stole the show scoring 20 points with 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal and 1 assist.  It was Jenks's Jensen Price with the game-high 22, however. 

All the Sandites were impressive and Destiney Johnson and Sydney Pennington each doubled with 11.  

In JV action, the Lady Sandites improved to 5-1 with a 46-45 victory. 

#13 Lady Sandites upset #8 Owasso 51-48

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

Heavy defense and a dominating second quarter were enough for the Charles Page High School varsity girls team (7-2) to hold off the #8 Owasso Lady Rams (12-3) Tuesday night. 

The scoring started off slow for both teams. Neither team scored for the first three minutes, then they exchanging the lead five times in the first period before Terryn Milton tied things up 9-9 shortly before the buzzer. 

Then, in the second quarter, Sand Springs exploded. Season scoring-leader Sydney Pennington scored 5 of Sand Springs's 16 points, but the true power lied in their defense. Pennington and Destiny Johnson each had 5 defensive rebounds for the night and Gloria Mutiri was especially impressive with a double-double, scoring 10 points with 13 rebounds. 

By the end of the first half, the Sandites held a powerful 25-14 lead. Despite being outscored in each of the next two periods, their 11-point second-quarter advantage was enough to ward off the attempted Ram-rally. 

Johnson was the star of the second half, scoring 10 points and going head-to-head with Milton and Mya Bhinhar who combined for 20 in the second half. Bhinhar, Milton, and Leiloni Culley each scored 11 to tie for team-lead.

Owasso closed the gap to 39-33 by the end of the third, and tied things up at 45-all with 2:10 left, but Johnson and Pennington tacked on a couple of field goals for a 4-point lead. Bhinhar hit a three, but Cierra Scott added two and Johnson hit a free throw for a final score of 51-48. 

The Lady Sandites move up to fifth in Frontier Valley Conference standings with a 2-2 record, while Owasso drops to sixth  with a 2-3 record.

Next, the Sandites will travel to Jenks (4-7, 2-5) Friday night to take on the unranked Lady Trojans.

In JV action, the girls were tied up 36-36 when a Lady Sandite sank a free throw with 1 second left for the win. The girls improve to 4-1 for the season.