Jacob Garbey scores 21 in JV loss to Jenks

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The JV Sandite boys got off to a great start against the Jenks junior Trojans Friday night at Frank Herald Stadium, battling back and forth before taking a 19-17 lead at the end of the first.

The boys led by as much as 27-19 at one point before the home team went on a scoring streak nearly catching up 29-27 at the half.  

At some point during halftime the score was changed to 27-27 and the opposing teams were unable to reach a consensus on the score and the home team had their way. 

Not that those two points mattered in the end however, as the Trojans out scored the Sandites 23-8 in the third with 16 unanswered points before Josh Taber sank a pair of free throws.

Riding a 13 point advantage into the final period, the Trojans added another 11 to finish 61-44, or 61-42 according to the scoreboard. 

The boys fall to 1-5 on the season, despite a great performance from Jacob Garbey who scored an outstanding 21 points. 

#10 Sandites unable to overcome #9 Owasso's Kinzer Lambert

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

The Charles Page High School varsity basketball team fell to 7-3 after a disappointing loss at Owasso Tuesday night. The boys trailed by as much as 11 at one point before rallying for a 35-34 midway through the third. It was back and forth from there, exchanging the lead five more times before the Rams (8-3) were finally able to pull away thanks to a series of free throws. 

Colt Savage and Mack Thompson each scored a team-high 14 points, followed closely by Brooks Haddock with 12. It was Kinzer Lambert, however, with the game-high 25, shooting 11-of-12 from the charity stripe.

Early in the fourth, Savage went two-for-two on free throws for a 43-42 advantage and Thompson iced the cake with a three-pointer for a 45-42 lead. Kinzer was right behind him though, shooting a pair of free throws and a three of his own for a 47-45 lead, then Thompson retaliated with yet another long-shot to make it 48-47.

Kyle Keener dropped a pair of freebies late in the fourth to get the Sandites within a single point of the Rams, but by then time was nearly out and the boys were forced to commit a series of desperation fouls that failed to pay off. 

The Rams move up to the #1 spot in Frontier Valley standings with a 4-1 conference record, while the Sandites drop to fifth with a 2-2 record.

Sand Springs will next take on #20 Jenks (4-6) Friday night in an away conference game.

The JV boys have had a tough last few games, falling 51-12 to the Green Country Defenders last week, and 49-36 to Owasso. The boys are 1-4 for the season.


#13 Lady Sandites upset #8 Owasso 51-48

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

Heavy defense and a dominating second quarter were enough for the Charles Page High School varsity girls team (7-2) to hold off the #8 Owasso Lady Rams (12-3) Tuesday night. 

The scoring started off slow for both teams. Neither team scored for the first three minutes, then they exchanging the lead five times in the first period before Terryn Milton tied things up 9-9 shortly before the buzzer. 

Then, in the second quarter, Sand Springs exploded. Season scoring-leader Sydney Pennington scored 5 of Sand Springs's 16 points, but the true power lied in their defense. Pennington and Destiny Johnson each had 5 defensive rebounds for the night and Gloria Mutiri was especially impressive with a double-double, scoring 10 points with 13 rebounds. 

By the end of the first half, the Sandites held a powerful 25-14 lead. Despite being outscored in each of the next two periods, their 11-point second-quarter advantage was enough to ward off the attempted Ram-rally. 

Johnson was the star of the second half, scoring 10 points and going head-to-head with Milton and Mya Bhinhar who combined for 20 in the second half. Bhinhar, Milton, and Leiloni Culley each scored 11 to tie for team-lead.

Owasso closed the gap to 39-33 by the end of the third, and tied things up at 45-all with 2:10 left, but Johnson and Pennington tacked on a couple of field goals for a 4-point lead. Bhinhar hit a three, but Cierra Scott added two and Johnson hit a free throw for a final score of 51-48. 

The Lady Sandites move up to fifth in Frontier Valley Conference standings with a 2-2 record, while Owasso drops to sixth  with a 2-3 record.

Next, the Sandites will travel to Jenks (4-7, 2-5) Friday night to take on the unranked Lady Trojans.

In JV action, the girls were tied up 36-36 when a Lady Sandite sank a free throw with 1 second left for the win. The girls improve to 4-1 for the season.

#14 Lady Sandites double Green Country Defenders, 57-28

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs (6-2) emptied the bench on the Green Country Defenders (14-7) home-school team Friday night. Junior Sydney Pennington led the scoring effort, shooting 7-of-8 on field goals and adding a free throw for a team-leading 15 points. Freshman Holly Kersgieter also doubled with 10 points. 

The Sandites got off to their biggest first quarter lead of the year, scoring the first four baskets of the night before the Defenders finally got on the board with a two pointer from Melanie Williams. Within the first moments of the game, Pennington scored a layup off a steal that she made look far too easy, then scored the next basket on what looked to be an instant replay. Pennington would finish the night with six steals.

 The Lady Sandites turned that 9-2 lead into 24-6 by the end of the first period and started to run the roster in the second. The second quarter was a lot closer, but the home team still maintained a commanding 32-11 half-time lead.

One of the biggest problems of the night was accuracy. The Sandites only made 43% of field goal attempts and 50% of free throws. When you take Pennington's 7-of-8 out of that, however, the girls only connected 34% of the time. 

It's not uncommon for a team to play less than their best against lesser competition, however, and the Lady Sandites' performance was still more than enough to tie their highest-scoring first half of the season. 

The starters returned to action in the third quarter and once more Pennington scored back-to-back layups to kick things off for the home team. Ashley Duncan was next in on the action, sinking a pair of free throws for the Defenders. Duncan led her team with 13 points, shooting 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.

The Defenders managed to match the Sandites' meager 8-point fourth-quarter, but unlike the first time the two teams met this season, the Defenders failed to lead the Sandites' in a single quarter and ultimately fell to the Sandites for the second time this season.

In the season-opener the Lady Sandites registered a 59-39 win over the Defenders. Friday's game marked the Sandites' fourth 20+ point win and biggest point-differential of the season. 

The girls will return to action Tuesday night at #9 Owasso (9-2).

The JV girls won 33-28 bringing their season record to 3-1.

At half-time, the school recognized the accomplishments of the 2010-2011 Lady Sandites who were coached by Bob Banfield and won a Regional Championship.

Haddock and Savage combine for 39 in loss to Union

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Virgil Noah, Staff

It's not often that two players can outscore an entire team, but for much of Tuesday night's home loss to #7 Union, it looked like Brooks Haddock and Colt Savage might just do it. Midway through the third quarter, the #11 Charles Page varsity basketball team held a 42-35 lead over the visiting Redskins--35 of those were scored by the two ferocious sophomores. Two Sandites had tied all nine of Union's scoring players to that point. 

Unfortunately, the pair ran out of scoring steam, and no other Minuteman managed to double--not even the 6'6 junior Kyle Keener who had averaged nearly 12 points per game till that point. 

Credit that to Union.

The brutal outpouring from Haddock and Savage wasn't due to an easy opponent. Far from it. The number two team in Frontier Valley is a major contender for the 6A state title this year, going 2-1 in the recent Tournament of Champions at the Oral Roberts Mabee Center. 

Union got off to an early 7-0 lead before the Sandites rallied to a 13-11 lead that Union tied at 13 just before the buzzer.

Once again the Redskins went on a run, scoring 11 unanswered points before the home team got it back in gear. Only Haddock and Savage scored in the second period, and Union took a narrow 26-24 lead into the half.

Arvionte Nichols tied things up to start the third with a pair of free throws, then Haddock scored ten and Savage added 6 more to take a 42-35 lead.

The Redskins narrowed to 45-43 going into the final period, then opened up the canons, shooting 7 unanswered and doubling the Sandites 14-7 for the win. Sand Springs went down swinging, attempting to rally with a pair of Savage free-throws and a Thompson three-pointer to take the lead back 52-51, but Nile Felton responded with a three of his own and Ethan Charquois went 3-for-3 from the charity stripe to effectively end the game. 

Charquois finished with a team-high 17, joined by Adrian Rodriguez and Mo Garcia in double status. 

Defensively, Nichols and Keener were giants for the Sandites, with Nichols grabbing the most rebounds and Keener connecting for the most blocks. 

This is only Sand Springs's second loss of the season after a 7-0 run came to an end last week at the Ardmore tournament finals where 5A #2 Carl Albert defended their undefeated status. It is their first conference loss, placing them 2-1 in Frontier Valley and third in the standings. 

The dribblers will return to action next Tuesday at #11 Owasso who is currently #1 in conference standings. 

The JV game wasn't nearly the battle that Varsity was. The average Union player had a good 6 inches on the Sandites making rebounds few and far between for the home team. 

Jacob Garbey led the Sandites with 11 points, followed by Caleb Wash with 8.

For the Redskins, Michiah McQuarters lead with 13 with Jordan Flood right behind him shooting 11. 

Sand Springs was neck-and-neck with the Redskins in the second and fourth periods, but Union more than doubled them in the first and third, and held off any rally attempts for a 58-40 final score. 

JV falls to 1-2 for the season and will next see action Friday night at home against the Green Country Defenders at 5PM. 

Sandite of the Week: Colt Savage

/

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize Colt Savage as the first Sandite of the Week in 2016.

The sophomore hooper averaged more than 18 points per game in the Ardmore Tournament last week, scoring a team high 18 against Greenhill Prep, 16 against 5A #5 Ardmore, and a team-high/career-high 21 points against 5A #2 Carl Albert and was named to the all-tournament team. 

He also scored 19 in last night's loss to #7 Union with a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.

Savage has only failed to double once this season and is second in team scoring for the season with 140 points, averaging  15.5 per game.