August 30, 2016

Lady Sandite Volleyball knocks off No. 10 Union in beautiful upset

August 30, 2016/ Scott Emigh

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No. 10 ranked Union Redskins (5-5) probably expected little competition from the No. 17 Sand Springs Lady Sandites (13-9). Union’s only losses before their journey to Sand Springs were to top-ten teams. Unfortunately for them, the Sandites’ ranking is misleading.

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team had recently gone 2-4 at the Broken Arrow Invitational, but that record doesn’t show that they were one of only two teams there to win even a single set against No. 2 Norman North (12-2). It also doesn’t show that six of the ten games they lost were by five points or less.

The Redskins got off to a fast start on the Sandites in the first set before giving up three points on errors. Madison Burris and Gloria Mutiri combined on a block to tie things up at 4-4 and Mutiri scored a kill for the lead.

Union went on a five-point run from there, but the Sandites won eight-straight rallies to reclaim the advantage. Mutiri and Holly Kersgieter each scored several kills off Burris and Lee Leslie, and Madison Ward scored the first ace of the game.

The Sandites were up 16-11 when Union went on another streak. Kendall Cotter scored a pair of aces, Gabbie Inman and Paris Hornor both registered kills, and the Redskins took the 19-16 lead before freshman Devree Youngblood broke the streak with a spike off Burris. Union continued to outscore Sand Springs till a 24-19 score looked like they had it all wrapped up.

The Sandites had other plans.

Mutiri scored off Kenzie Bradshaw, Kylie Taylor served an ace, Ashley Barrows gave up a point on an error, and MaKenzie Ward set up Mutiri to narrow the score to 24-23. Barrows scored a kill to win the set for Union, but the Sandites had shown they were here to play.

The second set was far closer and neither team allowed the other to go on a run this time. The longest scoring-streak either team managed was four rallies. The game was tied up six different times, but the Sandites led six different times and only allowed the Redskins to lead once.

Union tied things up at 15-15 with a kill from Chloe Click, then took the lead on a pair of errors. They held the advantage for only five rallies before giving it up on an error at 18-18 and never recovered. Mutiri took the lead at 20-19 off a set from MaKenzie Ward, Kersgieter served an ace, then scored again after a Union time out. The final minutes were back-and-forth on scoring, but Sand Springs never relinquished the lead and ultimately won 25-23 on a kill from Mutiri.

The third game belonged explosively to the Sandites. After giving up the first three rallies to Union on errors, the Sandites tied things up at 4-4 and took the lead with back-to-back aces from Burris. Union never tied it and never even got close to leading again.

The Sandites scored seven aces in the third game: two from Burris, two from Kersgieter, two from Kendall Wise, and one from Mutiri. The host team had doubled down on their visitors 22-10 midway through the game. The Redskins tried to rally, but they were too far in the deficit and Sand Springs won 25-17.

The visitors found their feet in the fourth game and led for most of it. Sand Springs battled heavy in the last minutes and got within a few points, but Union prevailed 25-22 to force a fifth set.

The final game started off a tad rocky for the Sandites with some communication errors and campfires, but after tying it up at 5-5 with a kill from Mutiri, the Sandites took the lead and never looked back. Kersgieter scored the go-ahead point, Mutiri and Leslie combined on a block, Hornor committed an error, Mutiri added another kill, and Mutiri and Leslie combined on yet another block for the 10-5 lead.

The next five points were decided by errors and the Redskins closed the gap to 12-9 with a tipped ball from Inman. Kersgieter almost saved a shanked dig that went OB, but the ball caught the antenna for the point. Morgan Livingston hit an ace, and the Redskins threatened at 12-11.

Union got into the net on the next rally and Wise served an ace to make it 14-11. A four-touch call gave Union a point, but MaKenzie Ward set up Youngblood for the game-winner.

Mutiri led the Sandites in scoring with twenty-nine kills, five blocks, and two aces, followed by Kersgieter with a season-best fourteen kills, two assists, and four aces. Youngblood was next in on the action with a season-best ten kills, and Wise also scored a season-best with five kills and four aces. Burris had her best night of the season with nineteen assists, followed by MaKenzie Ward with eighteen.

The Lady Sandites will get a full week off after playing twenty matches in twenty-one days. They’ll return to action next Tuesday in an away match at Owasso. Owasso is ranked fifth in 6A with a 4-0 record. Freshmen begin play at 4:00 p.m., Junior Varsity is at 5:00 p.m. and Varsity is at 6:00 p.m.

September 20, 2015

Week 4 Sandite Pride Rankings and Predictions

September 20, 2015/ Scott Emigh

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo by: Morgan Miller

Week 3 was heavily disrupted by severe weather systems across the state that lead to more cancellations than actual games.

#1 Charles Page (2-0, 0-0) District 1

The Sandites were one of few teams to actually start a game Friday night, but it was cancelled shortly before halftime and will thus not count towards their record or stats. However, their performance on the field still plays into my rankings. They lead 5A unranked Guthrie 18-7 with 6 minutes in the half, and QB Hunter Greathouse was 4-5-129 in that short amount of time. Guthrie may not be the team they've been in recent memory, but they're far from pushovers.

#5 Bartlesville (3-0, 0-0) District 1

The Bruins were far enough North that they had plenty of time to put a 42-20 beat down on Enid before the weather reached them. Enid is an 0-3 pushover this year and the 20 points they scored on Bartlesville is the most they've mustered all season. I expect Bartlesville to come hot at the Sandites with their offense, but be unable to put up any stops of their own against double-threat Hunter Greathouse. I'm expecting a shootout with the Sandites coming on top by a pair of touchdowns, minus a few blocked/missed PATs.

The Pick: CPHS 46, Bartlesville 35.

#2 Bixby (2-1, 0-0) District 1

Despite nearly 700 yards of total offense, the Spartans didn't put up nearly the points I expected them to against Springdale, AR (0-3). It looks like the defending State Champions have their offense in good order between QB Tanner Griffin and RB Nic Roller but are going to need to whip their defense in shape quickly if they want to hold up against BTW and CPHS. The Spartans won 57-38, which is more points than they allowed anyone but Jenks to score last season.

#10 Claremore (2-1, 0-0) District 1

The Red Zebras held up to a 10 point loss to Siloam Springs, 22-12, only 3 points worse than I expected. Their passing game was abysmal and they won't stand much of a chance rushing against Bixby. If they manage to score at all it will be due more to Bixby's slacking defense than Claremore's capabilities.

The Pick: Bixby 52, Claremore 3

#3 Booker T Washington (2-0, 0-0) District 1

The Hornets game against East Central was cancelled Friday, though it's safe to say it would have been a slaughter considering the 62-6 they put on Tulsa Central in week 2.

#9 Ponca City (1-1, 0-0) District 1

The Wildcats' game against Shawnee was also cancelled, but not before they were outscored 10-6 in the first quarter. It's hard to judge a team off less than a quarter so I didn't drop them in my rankings, but I had expected Ponca to easily defeat the unranked 5A team.

The Pick: BTW 42, Ponca City 13.

#4 Midwest City (2-1, 0-0) District 2

The Bombers pulled off a big upset over the top ranked 5A Del City, 37-14, and are my favorite to win the District 2 title. They lost to BTW in the season opener, but when it comes to Eisenhower, they're going to bring the thunder.

#14 Eisenhower (0-3, 0-0) District 2

Lawton Ike scored a lot more against 5A #2 MacArthur than anybody expected them to, but were still handed a solid 57-34 beat down.

The Pick: MWC 28, Ike 6

#6 Choctaw (2-1, 0-0) District 2

Choctaw suffered their first loss of the season in a close 25-23 to Putnam North.

#12 Enid (0-3, 0-0) District 2

The Plainsmen have been getting their butts handed to them left and right this year, and I don't expect things to change in district play.

The Pick: Choctaw 38, Enid 12.

#7 Muskogee (0-3, 0-0) District 1

The Roughers have definitely not lived up to expectation these past two season under new Head Coach Rafe Watkins, but in their defense, they've only played really solid teams thus far. 33-22 to 5A #5 McAlester, 34-25 to 6A #5 Owasso, and 56-21 to undefeated #3 Fayetteville, AR. If they were in District 2 I could see them making a run at the district title, but in the talent-crowded Tulsa district I see them winning 3 games at most.

#13 Sapulpa (1-1, 0-0) District 1

Lawton may not be the team they were last year, but the Chieftains got off lucky that their game was cancelled. Unfortunately for them, there's no rain in the forecast for this Friday.

The Pick: Muskogee 35, Sapulpa 12.

#8 Putnam City West (1-2, 0-0) District 2

I was so impressed with PCW after their 5 point loss to Del City and their 29-6 win over PCN, then they had to go and blow it, getting slaughtered 49-17 by PC.

#11 Lawton (1-1, 0-0) District 2

I'm a lot less confident in PCW for this matchup than I was last week, and it's really anybody's game in my book.

The Pick: PCW 31, Lawton 28

#15 Stillwater (0-3, 0-0) District 2

Stillwater lost 26-14 to Edmond North Friday, and is the only team not starting District play this upcoming weekend. As District 2 is only 7 teams, the Pioneers will be battling with U.S. Grant as both teams look for their first win of the season.

The Pick: Stillwater 29, Grant 14.

My Record

Week 1: 10-2 83%
Week 2: 12-2 85%
Week 3: 6-3 66%
Overall: 28-7 80%

September 19, 2015

Charles Page leads Guthrie 18-7 before weather cancellation

September 19, 2015/ Memorial Stadium/ Scott Emigh

By: Scott Emigh, Sand Springs Leader Sports Correspondent

Photo by: Morgan Miller

The Charles Page High School football team led the Guthrie Bluejays 18-7 Friday night before the game was cancelled six minutes before the half.

Kickoff was scheduled for 7pm but didn’t occur until after 9pm due to weather delays.

Junior Quarterback Hunter Greathouse led the Sand Springs Sandites with 129 passing yards for two touchdowns and 22 rushing yards. Guthrie QB Zane Maltz had only 67 yards passing and -10 yards rushing by comparison.

Click here for the full story.

September 15, 2015

Division 6A-II Sandite Pride Week 2 round-up/ Week 3 Rankings and Predictions

September 15, 2015/ Scott Emigh

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Five teams remain undefeated in 6A-II after the week 2 bouts. Here are the new Sandite Pride rankings and predictions for this upcoming weekend.

#1 Charles Page (2-0, 0-0) District-1

The Sand Springs Sandites walked all over Enid in a 33-7 sabotage of the Plainsmen's homecoming. CPHS had over 400 yards of total offense and limited the home team to only 162. Last week the Sandites leveled the Hale Rangers 61-8 while Enid was smashed 41-14 at Ponca City. Sand Springs will take on 5A Guthrie at home this Friday.

Last week I picked CPHS by 24; the Sandites slightly outdid my expectations with a 26 point win.

Week 3 Pick: Sand Springs 35, Guthrie 24

#2 Bixby (1-1, 0-0) District-1

The 2014 6A-II State Champions, improved to 1-1 overall with a 71-7 win over 5A East Central (0-2). Bixby's first game was a 58-24 loss to the 2014 6A-1 State Champs at Jenks who this week affirmed their #1 ranking with a 45-27 win over Union. East Central's first loss was a 47-0 shutout to Bartlesville (2-0).

Last week I picked Bixby to win by 54 points which was 10 points shy of the damage they actually did.

Week 3 Pick: Bixby 54, Springdale AR 13

#3 Booker T Washington (2-0, 0-0) District-1

BTW put a 62-16 beat down on 4A Tulsa Central Friday, improving on their 28-16 win over Midwest City last week. The numbers are solid but their enemy was not. The Braves are 0-2 and unranked. Last year they won only two games and aren't expected to fair much better this year. The Hornets should breeze through their next four opponents and won't experience a real challenge till Bartlesville and Bixby at the end of October.

Last week I picked BTW by 35 points--an underestimation of 9 points.

Week 3 Pick: BTW 56, East Central 6

#4 Midwest City (1-1, 0-0) District-2

Midwest City won their first game of the season against cross-town rivals 5A #4 Carl Albert (1-1) in a close 28-21. It turned from a beat down to a dog fight as MWC's 28-0 3rd-quarter lead quickly dissipated and Carl Albert was barely held off from a touchdown drive that could have forced overtime. MWC has nine new starters on both sides of the ball and they'll need to really break them in before Del City this weekend.

Last week I picked MWC by 12 points.

Week 3 Pick: Del City 35, MWC 31

#5 Bartlesville (2-0, 0-0) District-1

#12 Enid (0-2, 0-0) District-2

The Bruins may be off to a better start than last year, but considering their wins were 46-0 over unranked 5A East Central and 42-14 over the 4A #6 Cascia Hall, its unclear how well they'll do when it comes to district play. Enid however, has been walked all over this season and hasn't had a win yet.

Last week I picked Bartlesville to win by 35 and was one touchdown off from their 28 point win. Enid lost by 2 points more than my 24 point prediction.

Week 3 Pick: Barlesville 35, Enid 12

#6 Choctaw (2-0, 0-0) District-2

The Choctaw Yellowjackets may be undefeated, but it's against teams that are at the bottom of everybody's list. 38-12 in Week one over Sapulpa and 24-13 over unranked 6A-I Putnam City Friday. Choctaw has a lot to clean up before they'll make anyone's top picks this season--especially after committing 22 penalties for 172 yards against PC. Their passing game needs some major workup too as they connected on less than half of 26 attempts for under 100 yards.

Week 3 Pick: Choctaw 34, Putnam City North 28

#7 Muskogee (0-2, 0-0) District-1

The Rougher's record may not look good this season, but it's a noticeable improvement over last year. Muskogee suffered a 33-22 loss to 5A #5 McAlester who defeated them 35-7 last year, and Friday they lost 34-25 to 6A-1 #5 Owasso who shut them out 34-0 last year. The Roughers were 3-7 last year and should be expected to finish around 5-5 or better this year.

Either I put too much faith in Owasso or too little in Muskogee as the Roughers only lost by 9 points as opposed to the 3 touchdowns I expected.

Week 3 Pick: Fayetteville AR 21, Muskogee 0

#8 Putnam City West (1-1, 0-0) District-2

The Patriots narrowly lost 47-42 in week one to 5A #1 Del City and smoked cross-town rivals PC North 29-6. PCW hasn't had a winning season since 2000 and in the last 14 years they've gone 18-122. It appears the team may finally be on the up-and-up.

Last week I picked PCW by six points. The game was actually won by 23.

Week 3 Pick: Putnam City 18, PCW 16

#9 Ponca City (1-1, 0-0) District-1

The Wildcats started the season hot with a 42-14 win over Enid, but choked against 5A unranked Guthrie, 28-19.

I had picked Guthrie by 14 points, the blue jays won by 9.

Week 3 Pick: Ponca 28, Shawnee 7

#10 Claremore (2-0, 0-0) District-1

The Red Zebras may not be winning by a lot, but they're undefeated and have won as many games this year as they did through all of last year. They narrowly beat Pryor 21-20 this week, but had a solid edge on Rogers, AR 18-7.

Last week I picked Rogers by six and was happily wrong as our Okies won by 11.

Week 3 Pick: Siloam Springs 28, Claremore 21

#11 Lawton (1-1, 0-0) District-2

#14 Sapulpa (1-1, 0-0) District-1

The Lawton Wolverines are far from a team to laugh at, but they've certainly fallen off their pedestal from last year. They won 56-35 over Salina, Kansas last week--a team that they beat 49-3 the year before. This week they barely put up points against in-town 5A rivals, MacArthur. MacArthur's starting QB went down with a leg injury early in the 2nd quarter, but even with the backup in, Mac managed a 13-0 lead into the half. MacArthur's 33-12 was a notable improvement over their narrow 35-33 winlast year. With divisional play not starting till the Wolverines travel to Sapulpa next week, there's still plenty of time for them to find their mojo and make a run at the state title--but they'll definitely need to make some improvements if they're going to stand a chance against District-1's top dogs.

Sapulpa is healthily recovering from a 1-9 record last year with a new head coach and a 55-0 shutout of Tulsa Hale. At the least, they'll tie their record from last year. I expect them to do a little better but I doubt if I'd pick them for a winning season. They lost 38-12 to Choctaw in week one. 55-0 sounds impressive, but Hale has lost their last 27 consecutive games and 8 of those were shutouts of 50+ points. 55-0 was the same score Sapulpa managed last year.

I picked Sapulpa to win by 41 points last week and they outdid my expectations by a pair of touchdowns.

I picked Lawton by 13 last week and was way off as Mac topped them by 21.

Week 3 Pick: Lawton 48, Sapulpa 27

#13 Stillwater (0-2, 0-0) District-2

The Plainsmen are non-contenders this year, losing 31-7 to 5A unranked Deer Creek and 41-14 to 6A-1 Mustang.

I picked Mustang by 31 points last week and was only 4 points off.

Week 3 Pick: Stillwater 21, Edmond North 14

#15 Eisenhower (0-2, 0-0) District-2

Eisenhower is off to a rough start this year after a 58-6 loss to #3 Fayetteville, AR and a 41-14 loss to 5A #1 Del City. Last year they went 4-6--this year I expect them to do worse.

Week 3 Pick: MacArthur 35, Ike 9

September 12, 2015

CPHS ruins Enid's homecoming with 33-7 win

September 12, 2015/ Scott Emigh

By: Scott Emigh, Sand Springs Leader Sports Correspondent

ENID — Sand Springs picked up their second win of the season, ruining the Plainmen’s homecoming festivities.

The Charles Page High School football team beat the Enid Plainsmen 33-7 Friday night on the road, jumping out to a 20-0 lead before the Plainsmen could put any points on the board.

Click here for the full story.