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.
