The return of Blake Johnson from injury combined with a 7-of-9 first-half shooting performance from Deke Thompson III helped the Sand Springs boys basketball team coast to a dominant 71-56 win against Putnam City (3-4, 2-2) Tuesday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.
It was the first win of the season for Sand Springs (1-3, 1-3), who started the year with a tough district slate and lost its starting power forward to a concussion in the very first game.
“We had a week to prepare after those three hard games and we knew we had to come out with some emotion and intensity,” said head coach Eric Savage.
The Sandites never once trailed, going on an 11-2 run to end the first quarter up 22-10 and by halftime they led 41-23.
“Defense was really good in the first half,” said Savage. “That kind of set the tone early. We kind of coasted and traded buckets in the second half.”
“When you’re up and can hold a double-digit lead, we’ll take that.”
The Sandites built their dominant lead behind Thompson, who scored a season-high 24 points with five three-pointers.
“He showed his shooting ability,” said Savage. “Same thing with him and Kason (Evans), they’re both getting more comfortable shooting. He’s a talent shooting the ball. When he gets going, he can score in bunches.”
Thompson and JaColby Williams traded treys to open the game, then Johnson scored three buckets in a row to make it 9-3 and the Pirates never tied it again.
Johnson scored all 8 of his points in the first quarter and ended the night with 3 assists, 1 rebound, and 1 steal despite seeing limited action for the rest of the game.
“Blake does all the little things that maybe don’t show up on the stat sheets all the time,” said Savage. “He’s kind of our glue guy. Everything moves a lot better when he’s in the game".”
Putnam held closer in the second half, only losing the third quarter 11-10, and won the fourth quarter 23-19, but never got within 10 points of the home team, even as the Sandites went 12 deep on the bench.
Fouls were a big difference maker as the Sandites had a season-low 13 penalties and none of their players got in trouble till late in the game.
Evans had a season-best performance with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Sandites’ first double-double of the year.
Kooper Kelly added 11 points and Alijah Roper had 10 to put four Sandites in double digits.
Sand Springs will return to action Thursday at the Tulsa Memorial Veterans Arena Invitational against the OKC Storm (0-5) at 4:30 p.m.
Putnam City will host No. 3 Owasso (6-1, 4-0) next Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.
CPHS 71 PCO 56
1Q: CPHS 22-10.
2Q: CPHS 19-13.
3Q: CPHS 11-10.
4Q: PCO 23-19.
Free Throws: CPHS 16-of-23, PCO 8-of-14.
Field Goals: CPHS 24-of-47, PCO 21-of-45.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 9, PCO 5.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 20, PCO 15.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 29, PCO 20.
Steals: CPHS 4, PCO 5.
Blocks: CPHS 4, PCO 1.
Fouls: CPHS 13, PCO 18.
Sand Springs Statistics
Points: Thompson 24, Evans 14, Kelly 11, Roper 10, Johnson 8, Allen 4.
Offensive Rebounds: Evans 4, Allen 3, Thompson 1, Kelly 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Evans 6, Kelly 4, Thompson 3, Roper 2, Fueshko 2, Mitchell 1, Johnson 1, Allen 1.
Total Rebounds: Evans 10, Kelly 5, Allen 4, Thompson 4, Roper 2, Fueshko 2, Mitchell 1, Johnson 1.
Steals: Kelly 1, Johnson 1, Fueshko 1, Young 1.
Assists: Roper 4, Johnson 3, Thompson 2, Fueshko 2, Kelly 1.
Blocks: Kelly 1, Thompson 1, Evans 1, Allen 1.
Fouls: Kelly 4, Thompson 2, Allen 2, Evans 2, Johnson 1, Fueshko 1, Young 1.
Putnam City Statistics
Points: Thompson 21, Williams 13, Stephens 12, Osborne 6, Locke 4.
Fouls: Perry 3, Thompson 3, Osborne 3, Williams 2, Denson 2, Stephens 2, Lloyd 2, Locke 1.
