Fourth quarter rally falls short, #2 Muskogee prevails over Lady Sandites

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

Sometimes you just have to look for silver linings. Tuesday night was one of those times as the #2 Muskogee Lady Roughers (15-2) handled #12 Sand Springs (12-5) 50-38.

Silver lining number one? It could have been a lot worse. The Lady Sandites got off to a very rough start and had to fight from deep in the hole, trailing by 10 after the first, 14 after the second, and 20 midway through the third.

A strong fourth quarter rally allowed the girls to close the gap to single digits at 47-38 before desperation fouls gave the visitors the 12-point win.

Silver lining number two? A lot of the girls who were having trouble executing in the last game and the start of this one finally seemed to rediscover their fire just in time for the last leg of conference battles before Regionals. 

Silver lining number three? Standout junior Sydney Pennington's team-high 11 points were just enough to hit the 1000 mark for her career.

The first three points of the game for the Sandites were free throws as Muskogee trounced up and down the court for a 15-3 advantage before Coach Morrow pulled the entirety of the starting lineup and sent in his second string.

Selena Hitchcock shot the first two-pointer of the game for the home team, and the girls began to  play solid defense, allowing only two more baskets before Morrow returned the starters midway through the second quarter.

From there the Sandites finally began to connect as Pennington and Holly Kersgieter both sank their first baskets of the night. 

Muskogee came out of the half amped up and shot three straight before Pennington responded with a pair of signature transition layups. Jacie Taber, Cierra Scott, Isabella Regalado, and Destiney Johnson all joined in the scoring action to make the score 40-24 going into the final period.

Jada Ford dropped a three to start things off for the Lady Roughers, then Sand Springs went on an eight-point run before Leigh Westbrook sank a two to break things up. Pennington went two-for-two from the charity stripe, but time was nearly out and the girls had to resort to desperation fouls to try and nibble away at the 9 point deficit. 

Unfortunately Muskogee sank three and didn't give Sand Springs a chance to score. 

As much as nobody likes to lose, when it comes to the #2 team in the state, it wasn't out of the blue. The important thing is that the girls battled hard and got some much needed experience as we close in on the playoffs. 

The Lady Sandites drop to 6th in Frontier Valley standings and will next take on the Bixby Lady Spartans in a Friday night home-coming rematch. The Spartans defeated Sand Springs 61-51 in the second game of the season. 

In JV action, the girls improved to 7-3 for the season with a 49-48 win. 

Sandite Junior Sydney Pennington scores 1000 career points

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

Charles Page High School junior Sydney Pennington sank a pair of free throws to score her 11th point of the night, 212th point of the season, and 1000th career point in the fourth quarter of the Lady Sandites' Tuesday night match up against the #2 Muskogee Roughers. 

The Sandites burned a 30 second timeout to congratulate the baller and she received a standing ovation.

Pennington is a three year starter, and has led her team in scoring all three years. This season she's had four team-highs and was the All Tournament MVP at both the Bishop Kelley Invitational and the Interstate Classic this season, and was last week's Sandite of the Week.

She's an Oklahoma State Cowboy-commit for softball and was part of the CPHS State Runner-Up team this season. 

Sandite of the Week: Brooks Haddock

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sandite Pride would like to recognize CPHS sophomore Brooks Haddock as Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performances in the last two basketball games.

Haddock is a two-year starter and has led his team in scoring both seasons. As a freshman he averaged just under 13 points-per-game and ended the season over 300. 

He's well on track to beating that number this season, averaging over 16 PPG with 6 team-highs. Haddock shoots 53% on field goals and 80% on free throws. His season high is 26 points against Ardmore and his career high is 31 against Union. 

Haddock held the team high in both of last week's games, scoring 25 in a 73-56 win over Broken Arrow, and 21 in a 54-35 win over Bartlesville. He's also the only Sandite to be named to the All Tournament teams at both the Interstate Classic and the Ardmore Invitational.

See Brooks in action tonight at the Ed Dubie Field House as the #13 Sandites (12-5) take the #16 Muskogee Roughers (10-6) in a Frontier Valley conference match-up. Varsity games begin 6:00 pm. 

Brooks Haddock scores 46 in wins over Broken Arrow and Bartlesville

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor in Chief

Sophomore Brooks Haddock is making his mark as one of the top scorers in Charles Page history.

The two-year starter scored 25 in a 73-56 win over Broken Arrow (7-10) Tuesday night at Tiger Fieldhouse, then followed it up with 21 in a 54-35 home victory against the #19 Bartlesville Bruins (8-9) Friday night. 

The 16th-ranked Sand Springs Sandites (12-5) appear to be on the rebound after a four-game losing streak came to an end in the Coffeyville tournament where the boys took second place. The two conference wins place the Sandites fourth in Frontier Valley standings.

Sand Springs started in the hole Friday night, trailing 10-4 before finding themselves. Sophomore Colt Savage was the early scoring threat, running up 10 in the first quarter before Haddock sank his first basket of the night to take a 15-12 lead.

The second period belonged entirely to the Sandites who outscored Bartlesville 10-4 for a 25-16 halftime advantage. 

The third quarter was a low-scoring affair with the Bruins out-doing Sand Springs 8-7, but the fourth is when Haddock came alive, scoring 14 of the team's 20 points.

Tyler Smith got the ball for a sweet dunk with 0:02 left to seal the victory 54-35.

Colt Savage and Kyle Keener were equally impressive in both games, scoring 32 and 23 respectively. Keener had a team-high 13 rebounds against Bartlesville along with 4 blocks to make him the biggest defensive asset in the win. 

Charles Page will next take on the #15 Muskogee Roughers (10-6) Tuesday night at Ed Dubie Field House. With only six games left before Regionals, each match-up will be crucial in conference standings. 

Bartlesville stats

Broken Arrow stats


#11 Lady Sandites upset by Bartlesville 46-41 in overtime

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

The Sand Springs girls led for the entire game, often by double digits, until a late rally from senior Lauryn Washington put the Lady Bruins back in the game.

The 11th-ranked Charles Page High School varsity Lady Sandites (12-4) hadn't been tied since 0-0 and for all appearances they had an easy win over #17 Bartlesville (9-8). 

Bartlesville was like a pesky gnat, however, and wouldn't go away. Sand Springs jumped to a 7-0 lead to start, but the Bruins fought back within a single possession to end the first period 9-7. 

The Sandites went on a run to start the second quarter, with Holly Kersgieter, Sydney Pennington, and Destiney Johnson scoring back-to-back-to-back to double the Bruins 15-7. 

Jena Williams, Ronni Gilliard, and Washington sank a series of free throws to narrow it to 22-15 at the half. Free throws would prove to be one of the most crucial points of the game for both teams. 

Sophomore Gloria Mutiri scored seven in the third period en route to a thirteen-point advantage and it was beginning to look more and more like the Lady Sandites had this game all wrapped up. 

Then Washington showed up, scoring thirteen points in the fourth quarter to cut the gap to 2. With seven seconds left, Gilliard drew a foul and sank both of her free throws to tie the game up for the first time since tip-off.

At 39-all, the girls were headed into overtime for the first time this season. 

Bartlesville won the tip-off and Washington sank a two to give Bartlesville their first lead of the game. Pennington tied things up at 41, but Bartlesville went on a free throw spree to ice their cake 46-41. 

Despite their (at times) heavy lead, the Sandites had a rough time scoring, shooting only 35% on field goals and 5-of-17 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Bartlesville scored 14-of-16 on freebies. 

Mutiri shot 6-of-8 on field goals and tacked on a pair of freebies for a team-high 14 points, making her the lone Sandite to double in the low-scoring affair. Washington had the game-high, however, with 24 points. 

This marks two-straight losses for the girls who have ran up an impressive tournament record with wins over 5A #4 Shawnee for the Bishop Kelley Invitational Championship, and a tough Life Prep Academy team for the Interstate Classic Championship. When it comes to Frontier Valley, however, the girls have had a tough time with upset losses to Bixby and now Bartlesville. 

The girls are 5th in conference with a 4-4 record and big games looming against #5 Muskogee and #1 Sapulpa. They've more than proven they can take on tough foes, however, upsetting #8 Owasso and leading Sapulpa for much of that game before the Chieftains finally rebounded. 

The next game for the girls is this Tuesday with the Muskogee Lady Roughers (14-2) visiting Ed Dubie Field House at 6:00 pm. 

The Lady Sandites also lost their Tuesday night match-up against #4 Broken Arrow, 54-47.

Sandite of the Week: Sydney Pennington

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize CPHS junior Sydney Pennington as Sandite of the Week for her outstanding sportsmanship and incredible performance at this past weekend's tournament.

Pennington has led all scorers for the last two seasons, has led her team in four games this season, and averages just under thirteen points per game this season.

She scored 10 last Tuesday against Bishop Kelley, then scored 36 over three games at Coffeyville's Interstate Classic tournament, including a season-high 22 in the championship win over Life Prep Academy. 

Pennington was named to the All Tournament Team along with Gloria Mutiri, and was voted the tournament's Most Inspirational Player.

In addition to being one of the best ballers in recent memory, Pennington was also one of the top sluggers on the school's State Runner-Up fast pitch softball team and is an Oklahoma State University softball commit.