Sapulpa Wins Highway 97 Rivalry - Sandites to Play at Southmoore Tournament Friday

Chants of “let’s play football” rang out through the Ed Dubie Field House as the Sapulpa volleyball team took away the Highway 97 Rivalry trophy from the defending Sandites Tuesday evening.

5A No. 7 Sapulpa (24-11, 2-4) picked up its second Frontier Valley Conference win of the season while depriving Sand Springs (11-12, 0-7) of its first - winning the match 3-1.

Sand Springs lost three closely contested games while running away with the third in one of the most exhilarating matches of the season.

In game one the Sandites trailed by as much as 16-10 before battling back to 22-21 after an ace from Brooklyn Shope, but a pair of kills from Tyla Heard and an ace from Jailey Battles secured the 25-22 win for the road team.

Game two was the highest-scoring set for the Sandites since 2019 but once against Sapulpa came out on top following nine lead changes and fifteen tie scores.

After a Chieftain block tied it up at 11-11 the Sandites won five of the next six rallies and led by as much as 20-15 before Sapulpa came roaring back.

The Sandites had match point four times but Heard tied it up thrice on two kills and a block. A service error for the Sandites tied it again at 27-27 and Sapulpa took its first lead since 8-7 on a kill from Wrigley Adkisson.

A Chieftain error tied it once more and the Sandites once against got match point on a kill from Shope, but this time Jazymyne Cole tied it with a kill.

The Sandites’ final lead came on a Chieftain error, but the visitors won the final three rallies on a kill from Battles and two Sand Springs hitting errors to prevail 32-30.

Complete undiscouraged, the home team stole set three 25-13 with their biggest win against the Chieftains since 2020.

After giving up the first two points to Sapulpa, a kill from Shope sparked a 7-1 run for the Sandites and they never trailed again

Game four was another back-and-forth affair with seven lead changes and 11 tie scores. The Sandites had their final lead at 16-13 but Sapulpa went on a 7-1 run of their own to make it 20-17.

A big-time kill from Patience Pearce sparked a three-point run to tie it at 20-20, but Sapulpa would lead from then on, winning 25-22 on a kill from Heard.

Heard, an Abilene Christian University basketball commit, led all scorers with 15 kills closely followed by Cole with 11. Rylie Steward had 15 assists for the Chieftains and Battles had three aces.

Shope and Jacelyn Smith both recorded double-doubles for the Sandites. Shope had 12 kills, 14 digs, and six aces while Smith had 10 kills and 11 digs.

Hannah McKelvey recorded 20 assists and Adelynn Ray contributed 17. Evyn Morrow led the defense with 31 digs.

Sand Springs will return to action Friday at the Southmoore Invitational. The Sandites will play No. 12 Bartlesville (19-9) at 10:00 a.m., Norman (5-16) at 12:00 p.m., and No. 13 Westmoore (11-8) at 3:00 p.m. in pool play. Bracket play will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Sapulpa 3 CPHS 1 (25-21, 32-30, 13-25, 25-22)
Kills: Sapulpa 37, CPHS 40.
Blocks: Sapulpa 5, CPHS 5.
Aces: Sapulpa 9, CPHS 13.
Errors: Sapulpa 40, CPHS 44.
Service Errors: Sapulpa 8, CPHS 17.

(Sand Springs Stats)
Kills: Shope 12, Smith 10, Tippit 6, Ray 6, Pearce 5, DeBerry 1.
Assists: H. McKelvey 20, Ray 17, Morrow 2.
Digs: Morrow 31, Shope 14, Smith 11, Ray 9, H. McKelvey 8, Tippit 5, F. McKelvey 5, DeBerry 2, Pearce 1.
Solo Blocks: Tippit 1.
Assisted Blocks: Tippit 3, Ray 2, Shope 1, Pearce 1, DeBerry 1.
Aces: Shope 6, H. McKelvey 3, Tippit 2, Morrow 1, Ray 1.

Girls Basketball: Hall’s Putback Boosts Chieftains Past Sand Springs

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Down 44-43 with seven seconds left in the game, Stailee Heard went for the go-ahead layup and had it deflected by Journey Armstead - right into the hands of rising freshman star Mataya Hall for the putback.

After trailing for almost the entire game, 5A-East No. 1 Sapulpa (11-4 overall, 4-2 conference) knocked off 6A-East No. 4 Sand Springs (12-3, 5-2) Friday night in front of a packed Ed Dubie Field House.

“It was really big,” said Sapulpa head coach Darlean Calip about Hall’s putback. “The possession before she had gone down and shot quicker than we would have liked, so it’s really nice to have her come back and finish.”

“For her to be a freshman and be able to do that speaks volumes for her confidence and how much our team has grown to this point.”

The Chieftains didn’t take their first lead till late in the second quarter and still trailed through most of the second half before a huge momentum shift midway through the fourth. 

With 3:50 left to play, the Sandites’ 6-foot junior center Hailey Jackson fouled out while trying to block a bucket from Stailee Heard. Heard missed the and-one free throw, but Tyla Heard rebounded her sister for the putback and Jaselyn Rossman hit a three pointer soon after for the 43-41 lead. 

Layne Kirkendoll made a free throw for the Sandites and Armstead put the home team back on top, but after Hall’s go-ahead putback, Sand Springs didn’t have enough time to get off a final shot. 

“We got some key stops at key times and we really wanted to take the ball out of Journey (Armstead)’s hands because we know she’s a big part of their offense,” said Calip.

“I just felt like our kids stayed within the game plan and gave ourselves an opportunity to win a tough game like this on the road in a hostile atmosphere. And it’s our rival, so we knew that it was going to be a battle so I’m just really really proud of the kids.”

Sapulpa didn’t allow a single offensive rebound and held the potent Sandite defense to a season-low three steals.

The heavily recruited Heard sisters led the Chieftains, with Stailee scoring 12 and Tyla adding 10. Armstead led all scorers with 15 points for the Sandites.

Sapulpa has won three straight in the Highway 97 rivalry series, and Calip remains undefeated against Josh Berry’s Sandites. It was also the third straight win for the Chieftains overall since a loss to El Reno at the Shawnee Invitational.

Currently fourth in the Frontier Valley Conference standings, the Chieftains still have an outside shot at the conference title with home meetings against first-place Union and second-place Bixby coming up. 

Next for Sapulpa is a Saturday home game against 6A-East No. 14 Muskogee (1-8, 0-5) at 4:00 p.m.

Sand Springs has now lost three of its last four games after starting the season 11-0. With one more game played than the Chieftains, it remains in third place in conference standings. 

Next up for the Sandites is a road meeting with No. 3 Union (12-3, 6-1) Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., and a trip to No. 9 Owasso (8-9, 3-5) on Friday.

Sapulpa 45 CPHS 44
1Q: CPHS 16-11.
2Q: Sapulpa 8-4.
3Q: CPHS 13-10.
4Q: Sapulpa 16-11.
Free Throws: Sapulpa 4-of-7, CPHS 5-of-10.
Field Goals: Sapulpa 19-of-50, CPHS 17-of-32.
Offensive Rebounds: Sapulpa 13, CPHS 0.
Defensive Rebounds: Sapulpa 16, CPHS 12.
Total Rebounds: Sapulpa 29, CPHS 12.
Steals: Sapulpa 4, CPHS 3.
Blocks: Sapulpa 0, CPHS 7.
Fouls: Sapulpa 9, CPHS 13.

(CPHS) Armstead 15, Kirkendoll 9, T. Morris 9, Jackson 6, Wilson 3, L. Morris 2.

Sand Springs Stats

Scoring: Armstead 15, Kirkendoll 9, T. Morris 9, Jackson 6, Wilson 3, L. Morris 2.
Defensive Rebounds: Jackson 4, Wilson 2, T. Morris 2, Walker 2, Armstead 1, L. Morris 1.
Steals: Armstead 2, Jackson 1.
Assists: Armstead 3, Wilson 2, Jackson 1.
Blocks: Kirkendoll 4, Armstead 3.
Fouls: Jackson 5, Armstead 3, Kirkendoll 2, Wilson 1, L. Morris 1, Walker 1.

Sapulpa Stats

Scoring: S. Heard 12, T. Heard 10, Hall 7, Bilby 7, Rossman 7, Berry 2.
Fouls: Rossman 3, S. Heard 3, T. Heard 2, Hall 1.

Frontier Valley Standings

6-1 Union (12-3)
6-1 Bixby (13-3)
5-2 Sand Springs (12-3)
5-3 Broken Arrow (11-6)
4-2 Sapulpa (12-4)
4-3 Booker T. Washington (7-9)
3-5 Owasso (8-9)
2-5 Jenks (5-8)
0-5 Muskogee (1-8)
0-8 Bartlesville (4-13)

Chieftains take down Sandites 3-1 in Highway 97 Rivalry

View fullsize

A version of this story was originally published in the Sapulpa Times.

Just four days after the Sapulpa football team suffered a 53-26 defeat at the hands of their archrivals, the volleyball team found themselves in a similar position Tuesday night. 

Down 10-1 in the first set of a Highway 97 rivalry matchup at Sand Springs, the Chieftains could have counted themselves out, but instead they surged back with a seven-point streak to make it competitive. And even when the Sandites ultimately won the first set 25-20, the Chieftains didn’t let it get them down. They stayed focused and rallied to win the next three.

“I think Sapulpa and Corey (Harp) just did a really good job,” said Sandite head coach Derek Jackon after the game. “The Heard sisters played really well, both offensively and defensively.”

Stailee Heard, a 5’11” junior, led the Chieftains offensively with 13 kills, as well as three blocks and three aces, while 6’0” sophomore Tyla Heard added eight kills and two blocks.

Even with all that firepower, it was a close match and the Chieftains trailed late in each of the last three sets

Down 24-23 in game two, they scored three straight points for the win on Sandite errors.

In game three Amauri Pratt served two aces and Hoey scored a block and a kill en route to a 5-0 start, and the Chieftains held that margin till 19-14 when the Sandites’ Kasidy Holland kicked off a six-point run for the lead. Down 22-20, Tyla Heard scored a kill to get the visitors back on track, and Sapulpa won 25-23. 

It looked like Sand Springs might tie things up in game four after a pair of Chieftain errors put them up 23-21, but this time it was Stailee Heard’s time to shine, scoring a kill to launch a 4-0 run, and capping the 25-23 win with an ace.

5’10” uncommitted senior Ryann Hoey was the heart and soul of the Chieftains, scoring 11 kills with two blocks, two aces, and countless impressive digs while firing up her team at every opportunity with energetic cheers and unbridled passion.

Sapulpa, ranked No. 5 in Class 5A is 12-9 on the season after falling 3-0 to 6A No. 5 Jenks (8-1) on Thursday. They are 2-2 in Frontier Valley Conference action, having beaten Muskogee 3-0 last week to snap a 15-game conference losing streak dating back to 2019. 

Last season saw a successful 18-15 outing that was one win shy of matching their win total for the previous five seasons combined. They even won a Regional Championship and made a State Tournament appearance, despite not winning any conference matches. With two conference wins already under their belts this year, it’s safe to say the Chieftains are aiming for even greater heights.