Sandites Roll OKC Storm 69-47 Behind Thompson's 20

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On Tuesday night, Sand Springs boys basketball coach Eric Savage said he thought the Oklahoma City Storm (0-7) would be the toughest team that the Sandites would play at the Tulsa Memorial Veterans Arena Invitational.

If he’s right, then it should be an easy weekend for the Sandites, who pummeled OKC 69-47 in Thursday’s opener.

Sand Springs (2-3) jumped out to an 8-0 lead behind three pointers from Deke Thompson III and Kooper Kelly and never once trailed, maintaining a double-digit lead for most of the evening.

Kason Evans scored three buckets in the final two minutes of the first quarter to take a 16-6 lead.

A five-point run from Corbin Hamilton cut the gap to 18-11, but Thompson responded with a pair of treys and a dunk to double up on the Storm at 26-13.

Sand Springs took a 31-19 lead into the locker room and led 43-33 after three quarters. The Storm cut things as close as 43-37 to open the fourth before the Sandites finally ran away with things.

A pair of layups from Evans sparked a 17-2 run and the Sandites led by as much as 66-42 late in the game.

Thompson led all scorers with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, followed by Evans with 15 points and 7 rebounds. 12 of the Sandites’ 15 players saw action and 8 made their way into the scorebook.

Ayomide Adenle-Pinder led OKC with 13 points, followed by Hamilton with 12.

Sand Springs will return to action Friday night at 7:30 p.m. against Crossover Prep (6-5). OKC will look for its first win of the season Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Collinsville (4-0).

CPHS 69 OKC 47

1Q: CPHS 16-6.
2Q: CPHS 15-13.
3Q: OKC 14-12.
4Q: CPHS 26-14.
Free Throws: CPHS 12-of-17, OKC 4-of-6.
Field Goals: CPHS 25-of-61, OKC 19-of-56.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 17, OKC 11.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 21, OKC 14.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 38, OKC 25.
Steals: CPHS 8, OKC 9.
Blocks: CPHS 3, OKC 6.
Fouls: CPHS 14, OKC 13.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Thompson 20, Evans 15, Kelly 8, Shope 7, Johnson 6, Fueshko 6, Allen 5, Young 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Johnson 6, Evans 5, Thompson 3, Allen 2, Fueshko 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Kelly 6, Thompson 4, Allen 3, Mitchell 3, Evans 2, Roper 1, Young 1, Shope 1.
Total Rebounds: Thompson 7, Evans 7, Johnson 6, Kelly 6, Allen 5, Mitchell 3, Roper 1, Fueshko 1, Young 1, Shope 1.
Steals: Mitchell 2, Roper 1, Thompson 1, Allen 1, Johnson 1, Young 1, Shope 1.
Assists: Kelly 3, Thompson 3, Johnson 2, Roper 1, Evans 1, Fueshko 1.
Blocks: Allen 2, Roper 1.
Fouls: Fueshko 3, Allen 2, Johnson 2, Evans 2, Roper 1, Kelly 1, Thompson 1, Fueshko 1, Shope 1.

OKC Statistics

Points: Adenle-Pinder 13, Hamilton 12, Sejour 6, Sykes 6, Harland 3, Edens 3, Steele 2, Farrington 2.
Fouls: Sejour 2, Farrington 2, Sykes 2, Mills 2, Hamilton 1, Harland 1, Steele 1, Edens 1, Eichman 1.

Deke Thompson Leads Sandites to First Win of the Season

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The return of Blake Johnson from injury combined with a 7-of-9 first-half shooting performance from Deke Thompson III helped the Sand Springs boys basketball team coast to a dominant 71-56 win against Putnam City (3-4, 2-2) Tuesday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

It was the first win of the season for Sand Springs (1-3, 1-3), who started the year with a tough district slate and lost its starting power forward to a concussion in the very first game.

“We had a week to prepare after those three hard games and we knew we had to come out with some emotion and intensity,” said head coach Eric Savage.

The Sandites never once trailed, going on an 11-2 run to end the first quarter up 22-10 and by halftime they led 41-23.

“Defense was really good in the first half,” said Savage. “That kind of set the tone early. We kind of coasted and traded buckets in the second half.”

“When you’re up and can hold a double-digit lead, we’ll take that.”

The Sandites built their dominant lead behind Thompson, who scored a season-high 24 points with five three-pointers.

“He showed his shooting ability,” said Savage. “Same thing with him and Kason (Evans), they’re both getting more comfortable shooting. He’s a talent shooting the ball. When he gets going, he can score in bunches.”

Thompson and JaColby Williams traded treys to open the game, then Johnson scored three buckets in a row to make it 9-3 and the Pirates never tied it again.

Johnson scored all 8 of his points in the first quarter and ended the night with 3 assists, 1 rebound, and 1 steal despite seeing limited action for the rest of the game.

“Blake does all the little things that maybe don’t show up on the stat sheets all the time,” said Savage. “He’s kind of our glue guy. Everything moves a lot better when he’s in the game".”

Putnam held closer in the second half, only losing the third quarter 11-10, and won the fourth quarter 23-19, but never got within 10 points of the home team, even as the Sandites went 12 deep on the bench.

Fouls were a big difference maker as the Sandites had a season-low 13 penalties and none of their players got in trouble till late in the game.

Evans had a season-best performance with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Sandites’ first double-double of the year.

Kooper Kelly added 11 points and Alijah Roper had 10 to put four Sandites in double digits.

Sand Springs will return to action Thursday at the Tulsa Memorial Veterans Arena Invitational against the OKC Storm (0-5) at 4:30 p.m.

Putnam City will host No. 3 Owasso (6-1, 4-0) next Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.

CPHS 71 PCO 56

1Q: CPHS 22-10.
2Q: CPHS 19-13.
3Q: CPHS 11-10.
4Q: PCO 23-19.
Free Throws: CPHS 16-of-23, PCO 8-of-14.
Field Goals: CPHS 24-of-47, PCO 21-of-45.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 9, PCO 5.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 20, PCO 15.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 29, PCO 20.
Steals: CPHS 4, PCO 5.
Blocks: CPHS 4, PCO 1.
Fouls: CPHS 13, PCO 18.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Thompson 24, Evans 14, Kelly 11, Roper 10, Johnson 8, Allen 4.
Offensive Rebounds: Evans 4, Allen 3, Thompson 1, Kelly 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Evans 6, Kelly 4, Thompson 3, Roper 2, Fueshko 2, Mitchell 1, Johnson 1, Allen 1.
Total Rebounds: Evans 10, Kelly 5, Allen 4, Thompson 4, Roper 2, Fueshko 2, Mitchell 1, Johnson 1.
Steals: Kelly 1, Johnson 1, Fueshko 1, Young 1.
Assists: Roper 4, Johnson 3, Thompson 2, Fueshko 2, Kelly 1.
Blocks: Kelly 1, Thompson 1, Evans 1, Allen 1.
Fouls: Kelly 4, Thompson 2, Allen 2, Evans 2, Johnson 1, Fueshko 1, Young 1.

Putnam City Statistics

Points: Thompson 21, Williams 13, Stephens 12, Osborne 6, Locke 4.
Fouls: Perry 3, Thompson 3, Osborne 3, Williams 2, Denson 2, Stephens 2, Lloyd 2, Locke 1.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Softball Rolls at Bixby Tournament

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Down 5-4 and riding a four-game losing streak, the Sandites needed a spark in the first round of the Bixby tournament Friday morning.

JoLee McNally stepped up to the plate with two runners on and smacked a ground ball single to center field in the top of the sixth, bringing in Morgan Rector and Kinzie King to kick off a great weekend for the Charles Page High School softball team (9-7).

After taking down Newcastle 6-5, the Sandites got a huge 5-4 upset against title contender Edmond Memorial then steamrolled Union 17-2 and El Reno 11-2 before falling 4-1 to Broken Arrow in the final game. 

“They had an awesome weekend, I thought,” said head coach Shelli Brown. “The turnaround from Bartlesville where we left a lot of runner-on-base opportunities, I felt like this weekend they were able to get the runners on and push them across the plate. That was the difference.”

Prior to the tournament, the Sandites had a rough stretch of district road games at Stillwater, Jenks, Bixby, and Bartlesville. 

Thursday was a tough loss, as the Sandites had previously beaten Bartlesville 12-3 at home, and led 5-0 early before the Bruins surged back with seven runs in the bottom of the third.

Friday’s win over Edmond Memorial (19-4), however, showed that this team is still capable of beating anyone in the state on any given day. 

The Bulldogs took a 4-2 lead in the third inning, but the Sandites rallied in the bottom with RBI doubles from Lauren Hammock and Nataley Crawford, and Kelsi Hilton scored on a passed ball for the lead.

Crawford got the wins in the pitching circle against Edmond and Newcastle, Hilton got the win against Union, and Addie Hughes got the win against El Reno.

“Team effort for sure on the pitching,” said Brown. ”We’ve been kind of double-teaming, so I thought our pitchers did a really good job with that.”

The team’s bats also came alive during the tournament, with McNally, Hammock, Hilton, and Crawford all hitting over .500. McNally scored eight runs and four RBI and Hammock had seven runs and seven RBI over the five games.

“I’m just happy with them,” said Brown. “I told them let’s keep moving forward. I felt like we’ve made the turn a little bit here.”

The Sandites are currently 3-4 in district action, sitting fifth in the standings. They’ll be heavily favored in four of their remaining seven district games, and they’ll have home-field advantage in their rematches with Jenks, Stillwater, and Bixby.

The Sandites have hosted Regionals seven consecutive years but that streak could be in jeopardy if they don’t finish strong in district action.

“We need to focus one game at a time, win those games, and get ourselves in a good situation,” says Brown. “Whether we host or we go travel, we’re going to have to play good teams, and we’ve just got to be ready. I think it’s going to be about timing - peaking at the right time. We’re starting to get everybody back, starting to get everybody healthy, and starting to have that team chemistry that takes some time to develop.”

“I’ve seen both districts. Whether you host or you travel, you’re going to face some really good teams so I just want us to be ready for that.”

Cross Country

Sandite Cross Country traveled to the Sapulpa Chieftain meet on Saturday, September 4th.

Chloe Grona led the elementary girls to a second place finish in the one-mile, finishing in 5:54 for first place, a full 21 seconds ahead of the runner-up, and Josie Grona placed third in 6:23.

The elementary boys placed eighth, led by Canyon Carnahan in 25th place with a time of 7:26.

Junior high boys placed fifth in the one-mile, led by Taigh Wright in 11th with a time of 5:51.21. Junior high girls didn’t have a full team, but Maddyx Hampton placed 18th in 6:38.

The varsity girls didn’t have a full team, but Jazmin Lopez placed fifth in the two-mile run with a time of 13:57.

The varsity boys finished sixth, led by Alejandro Lopez in 11:52 for 25th place, and Dalton Wilcox in 11:55 for 26th.

On Saturday, September 11th, the high school and junior high teams traveled to Broken Arrow. The junior high boys placed sixth in the 1.5 mile run, but were the only team with a full lineup. 

Lopez led the varsity girls in 26th place with a 5K time of 22:22. Noah Hanlon led the boys in 18:56 for 42nd place. Hampton led the junior high girls with a 12:01 1.5-mile run for 33rd, and Wright led the junior high boys in 9:52 for 13th.

Football

The Class 6A-II No. 5 ranked Sandite football team (2-0) will look to remain undefeated when they travel to Arkansas 3A No. 1 Shiloh Christian (2-0). Both teams will be well-rested after bye weeks.

Last year Sand Springs hosted the first-ever meeting of the two teams and topped the Saints 27-26. It would be Shiloh’s only loss of the season as they went on to earn their eighth State Championship.

Volleyball

Class 6A No. 15 ranked Sand Springs (7-11) is riding a tough nine-match losing streak after traveling to the prestigious Heather Harkness Invitational in Edmond, one of the toughest tournaments in the state.

Sandite Volleyball fell 2-0 to No. 6 Deer Creek, 2-0 to No. 4 Edmond Memorial, 2-0 to OKC Storm, 3-2 to No. 10 Edmond North, and 3-0 to No. 16 Moore. 

Sand Springs will compete at the Owasso tournament this weekend with pool matches against Owasso, Edmond Memorial, and Ponca City.