Lady Sandite Basketball wins Regional Championship, 47-35 against Putnam City North

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Team photo of the Sand Springs girls basketball team with a Regional Championship trophy

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader

For the first time under head coach Josh Berry, the Lady Sandites are Regional Champions.

The 6A-East No. 2 Lady Sandites (21-3) won their ninth consecutive game and eighth Regional title in school history, 47-35 against No. 7 Putnam City North (12-11) Tuesday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

“It’s very big,” said Berry. “Anytime you can go and get a Regional title in a tough game, it’s big. It’s big for the program, it’s big for the girls, it’s big for the seniors.”

The Lady Sandites won three Regional titles in a row from 2017 to 2019, but this is the first for any current member of the team.

Down 16-5 after the first quarter, the Sandites dominated the Panthers 16-2 in the second quarter and never trailed again, taking a 21-18 lead into the half on a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Sakauri Wilson.

“We just weren’t playing very hard in the beginning,” said Berry. “They played harder, they made shots. It’s the playoffs, everybody can play. It’s going to be a game of runs. They can make their runs, but we have to make our runs and make sure we’re the last ones to make a run.”

Paris Hardwick scored seven points in the first quarter for the Panthers, but was held to a pair of free throws in the second. 

Journey Armstead scored six for Sand Springs in the third quarter and the home team took a 34-24 lead into the final stanza. 

Putnam cut the deficit to 40-33 with 1:31 to play, but Auhnesty Hawkins fouled out and sent Wilson to the free throw line for two. 

Wilson went five-of-six on free throws in the final minutes and ended the night with a season-best 13 points and five rebounds.

Armstead led the Sandites with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Hailey Jackson added nine points and eight rebounds. Hardwick led the Panthers with 15 points.

“They’re good,” Berry said of Wilson and Armstead. “They’re great ball handlers so they’re able to control it down the stretch.”

“Our bigs tonight, they controlled the paint later on. Yanni (Taiona Morris) made some big shots for us to kind of get us there, and we had some good contributions off the bench when Layne (Kirkendoll) got in foul trouble, so I think it was a good team effort.”

The Lady Sandites will return to action Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Area Championship. They will play No. 3 Putnam City West (19-5) at Will Rogers High School. Coincidentally, Berry also coached two seasons at Rogers early in his career.

Putnam North will play in the Area consolation bracket Thursday at 8:00 p.m. against No. 11 Owasso (11-13) in an elimination game at Cleveland High School.

CPHS 47 PCN 35
1Q: PCN 16-5.
2Q: CPHS 16-2.
3Q: CPHS 13-6.
4Q: CPHS 13-11.
Free Throws: CPHS 15-of-23, PCN 5-of-9.
Field Goals: CPHS 14-of-40, PCN 14-of-41.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 12, PCN 10.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 18, PCN 14.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 30, PCN 24.
Steals: CPHS 7, PCN 4.
Blocks: CPHS 0, PCN 2.
Fouls: CPHS 12, PCN 18.

Scoring: (CPHS) Armstead 15, Wilson 13, Jackson 9, T. Morris 5, L. Morris 2, Taylor 2, Kirkendoll 1. (PCN) Hardwick 15, Mcloud 6, Powell 6, Geretta 2, Hawkins 2, Vicks 2, Sykes 2.