Deke Thompson Has Career Night as Sandites Throttle KIPP 104-36

A career-night from Deke Thompson III was just the icing on the cake of the Sandites’ 104-36 beatdown of KIPP (1-10) in the final round of the Veterans Arena Invitational Saturday night at Tulsa Memorial.

The junior standout went off for 28 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists to help Sand Springs (4-3) to the highest-scoring game and largest margin of victory in the Eric Savage era.

“My mindset every game is to go kill, go get a win,” said Thompson. My teammates did a really good job of finding me when I was open and when I had a hot hand, they did a really good job of coming back to me, so I’m thankful for them.”

The Sandites never trailed, jumping out to a 21-2 lead behind four first-quarter treys from Thompson. They led 29-9 after the first quarter and 51-15 at halftime.

”We played great defense together tonight,” said Thompson. “Savage made it known that we needed to guard up from the start, because the first few games we came in a little lackadaisical.”

The Sandites trailed Crossover Prep 26-22 on Friday before rebounding to a 98-47 win. But on Saturday they piled onto the Bulldogs hard and fast and never let off the gas.

Sand Springs had several impressive runs on the night, with double-digit scoring streaks of 18, 12, 11, 14, and 11 while smothering the Bulldogs defensively with 15 takeaways.

“I feel like whenever we want to play defense, we’re a really good, defensively sound team,” said Thompson. “We walked into that game (yesterday) knowing we were going to blow them out and it almost messed with us.”

Thompson hit his double-double just a minute and 25 seconds into the second half and didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter.

All 15 Sandites saw action and 14 made their way into the scorebook. Kason Evans had a career-high 17 points and 7 rebounds off the bench, followed by Khalil Allen with 10 points and 7 boards.

“We all got hot,” said Thompson. “It was fun. Our goal was to come in and go 3-0 in this tournament.”

Sand Springs is now on a four-game win streak following an 0-3 start to the season.

“We’re not even close to our full potential yet,” said Thompson. “Blake (Johnson) going down obviously hurt us to start. It slowed us down a little bit. We’re working to get our guys out of foul trouble. As we start the winter practices and finishing this season, I think we’ll get to rolling even better than we are now.”

The Sandites went undefeated for the sixth time in the festival’s eight-year history and for the second year in a row.

“I enjoy this tournament for a number of reasons,” said Savage, who coached at Memorial for 12 seasons before coming to Sand Springs.

“One, getting to come back and be around some familiar places and people and a lot of friends, but it also provides an early season opportunity to play a lot of guys in your roster.”

“Those first three games of the season, we only went seven or eight deep really. It’s just important to these guys to get some varsity action in a good atmosphere. It’s not every year we come over here and get three wins and this year we were able to.”

Sand Springs will return to action after the new year at the East Central Class in Ada. KIPP will play at the Idabel Winter Classic after Christmas.

CPHS 104 KIPP 36

1Q: CPHS 29-9.
2Q: CPHS 22-6.
3Q: CPHS 30-7.
4Q: CPHS 23-14.
Free Throws: CPHS 9-of-14, KIPP 7-of-17.
Field Goals: CPHS 43-of-79, KIPP 12-of-46.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 24, KIPP 5.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 28, KIPP 13.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 52, KIPP 18.
Steals: CPHS 15, KIPP 4.
Blocks: CPHS 2, KIPP 3.
Fouls: CPHS 16, KIPP 12.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Thompson 28, Evans 17, Allen 10, Kelly 9, Johnson 8, Fueshko 7, Roper 6, Betchan 4, Young 4, Collins 3, Shope 2, K. Smith 2, T. Smith 2, Ketcher 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Thompson 5, Evans 4, Allen 4, Johnson 3, Roper 1, Kelly 1, Mitchell 1, Shope 1, Fueshko 1, K. Smith 1, Ketcher 1, Collins 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Thompson 6, Allen 3, Evans 3, Shope 3, Kelly 2, Fueshko 2, Ketcher 2, Young 2, Johnson 1, Mitchell 1, K. Smith 1, T. Smith 1, Collins 1.
Total Rebounds: Thompson 11, Allen 7, Evans 7, Johnson 4, Shope 4, Fueshko 3, Kelly 3, Ketcher 3, Collins 2, Young 2, Mitchell 2, K. Smith 2, T. Smith 1, Roper 1.

KIPP Statistics

Points: Jones 14, Reynolds 8, Wallace 4, Ellis 4, Becknell 2, Payne 2, Taylor 2.
Fouls: Parker 4, Wallace 4, Taylor 3, Payne 1.

Sandite Basketball Pummels Crossover Prep 98-47

All 15 members of the Sand Springs boys’ basketball team saw substantial playing time, 13 made their way into the scorebook, and four scored in double digits Friday night as the Sandites pummeled Crossover Prep 98-47 in the second round of the Tulsa Memorial Veterans Invitational.

It was the highest-scoring game and largest margin of victory for the Sandites since 2020, and the second-highest scoring game of Eric Savage’s Sand Springs coaching tenure.

“I was more worried about stopping them after that first quarter,” said Savage. “They were hitting everything. We didn’t have as much intensity coming out of the gate probably as we needed to.”

Crossover was probably feeling fairly confident after taking a 26-22 lead into the second period, but Blake Johnson kicked off an 18-point run for the Sandites, who shut out the Lions for the first five minutes of the quarter.

Augustine Pickard hit a three-pointer to stop the streak, but the Sandites just started another, scoring 19 in a row through the end of the half and into the third.

“This is new for a lot of these guys,” said Savage. “Learning how to handle and take that next step on being a quality team is what we’re trying to learn.”

“Second quarter, everything changed. Held them to three points. That kind of got us rolling and after that we got to go deep in the bench. Everybody contributed and got to play valuable minutes.”

The Sandites didn’t wait till the fourth quarter to start substituting, with 12 different players seeing action in the first quarter alone. Once Crossover started to make a game of it, the starters saw more playing time in the second period until the double-digit lead was established.

“We’re trying to develop some depth and trying to see some guys with some different lineups and see what works best,” said Savage.

“The guys that we subbed in played well and so those starters got to sit over there for a little bit in the first half.”

Johnson established himself as a threat in the paint early on, ending the night with a career-best 16 points and 9 rebounds. He had 8 points and 6 boards in the first quarter alone, scoring all four buckets on putbacks.

The junior power forward missed two games after suffering a concussion early in the first game of the year, but the Sandites have won three in a row since he rejoined the lineup.

“We had a rough start to the year but we’re really figuring it out and meshing as a team,” said Johnson. “One game at a time, one win at a time, that’s all it takes.”

“It drove me crazy sitting on the bench watching us, but you’ve got to control what you can control. I knew God had a plan for me, I knew He had the perfect timing, so it is what it is.”

Deke Thompson III led the Sandites for the fifth time this season, scoring 23 points through the first three quarters. The junior transfer from Jenks is averaging 19.7 points per game thus far on the season.

“He’s a proven scorer,” said Savage. “He’s a good athlete and a good defender as well. He’s kind of got what we’ve been missing the past few years.”

“He provides a lot of energy and that’s contagious to everybody around him. Right now I would say he’s probably more of our emotional leader as well. Him and Blake Johnson probably take that on the most.”

Kason Evans, another Jenks transfer, scored 6 points with 5 rebounds, with most of his playing time coming in the middle two quarters.

“They’ve been game changers,” said Johnson. “They’ve been great teammates, great team chemistry. Deke brings a new scoring aspect, Kason brings a little bit of a dog mentality…they’ve been real huge for us.”

Khalil Allen had a big night as well, matching his career-high with 14 points while collecting 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Kooper Kelly added 12 points and is averaging 11.5 as the team’s number-two scorer this season.

The Sandites (3-3) will wrap up the Memorial festival with a 3:30 p.m. game against KIPP (1-9). That game also figures to be a high-scoring affair as the Bulldogs lost their first two games against Memorial and Collinsville by a combined score of 187 to 73.

Crossover (6-7) will play Memorial (7-2) at 2:00 p.m.

CPHS 98 Crossover 47

1Q: Crossover 26-22.
2Q: CPHS 26-3.
3Q: CPHS 29-7.
4Q: CPHS 21-11.
Free Throws: CPHS 10-of-15, Crossover 3-of-8.
Field Goals: CPHS 43-of-80, Crossover 17-of-59.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 16, Crossover 3.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 37, Crossover 22.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 53, Crossover 22.
Steals: CPHS 14, Crossover 4.
Blocks: CPHS 7, Crossover 2.
Fouls: CPHS 12, Crossover 10.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Thompson 23, Blake 16, Allen 14, Kelly 12, Roper 8, Evans 6, Mitchell 4, Ketcher 4, K. Smith 3, Fueshko 2, Young 2, Shope 2, T. Smith 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Johnson 5, Allen 4, Thompson 3, Evans 1, K. Smith 1, Collins 1, Kethcher 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Allen 6, Roper 5, Johnson 4, Evans 4, Collins 4, Young 3, K. Smith 3, Thompson 2, Kelly 2, Shope 2, Mitchell 1, Betchan 1.
Total Rebounds: Allen 10, Johnson 9, Thompson 5, Roper 5, Evans 5, Collins 5, K. Smith 4, Young 3, Shope 2, Kelly 2, Mitchell 1, Betchan 1, Ketcher 1.
Steals: Roper 3, Kelly 3, Thompson 2, Johnson 1, Evans 1, Mitchell 1, Shope 1, T. Smith 1, Ketcher 1.
Assists: Roper 4, Young 2, Allen 1, Thompson 1, Johnson 1, Kelly 1, Fueshko 1, Mitchell 1, K. Smith 1.
Blocks: Allen 2, Thompson 2, Kelly 1, Shope 1, Collins 1.
Fouls: Young 3, Johnson 2, Roper 2, Kelly 2, Allen 1, Evans 1, Shope 1.

Crossover Prep Statistics

Points: Pickard 17, Terrell 12, Laird 5, Cowans 4, Shaw 3, McBee 2, Oliver 2, Perry 2.
Fouls: Downing 3, Terrell 2, Pickard 2, Cowans 1, McBee 1, Perry 1.

Sandites Roll OKC Storm 69-47 Behind Thompson's 20

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On Tuesday night, Sand Springs boys basketball coach Eric Savage said he thought the Oklahoma City Storm (0-7) would be the toughest team that the Sandites would play at the Tulsa Memorial Veterans Arena Invitational.

If he’s right, then it should be an easy weekend for the Sandites, who pummeled OKC 69-47 in Thursday’s opener.

Sand Springs (2-3) jumped out to an 8-0 lead behind three pointers from Deke Thompson III and Kooper Kelly and never once trailed, maintaining a double-digit lead for most of the evening.

Kason Evans scored three buckets in the final two minutes of the first quarter to take a 16-6 lead.

A five-point run from Corbin Hamilton cut the gap to 18-11, but Thompson responded with a pair of treys and a dunk to double up on the Storm at 26-13.

Sand Springs took a 31-19 lead into the locker room and led 43-33 after three quarters. The Storm cut things as close as 43-37 to open the fourth before the Sandites finally ran away with things.

A pair of layups from Evans sparked a 17-2 run and the Sandites led by as much as 66-42 late in the game.

Thompson led all scorers with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, followed by Evans with 15 points and 7 rebounds. 12 of the Sandites’ 15 players saw action and 8 made their way into the scorebook.

Ayomide Adenle-Pinder led OKC with 13 points, followed by Hamilton with 12.

Sand Springs will return to action Friday night at 7:30 p.m. against Crossover Prep (6-5). OKC will look for its first win of the season Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Collinsville (4-0).

CPHS 69 OKC 47

1Q: CPHS 16-6.
2Q: CPHS 15-13.
3Q: OKC 14-12.
4Q: CPHS 26-14.
Free Throws: CPHS 12-of-17, OKC 4-of-6.
Field Goals: CPHS 25-of-61, OKC 19-of-56.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 17, OKC 11.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 21, OKC 14.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 38, OKC 25.
Steals: CPHS 8, OKC 9.
Blocks: CPHS 3, OKC 6.
Fouls: CPHS 14, OKC 13.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Thompson 20, Evans 15, Kelly 8, Shope 7, Johnson 6, Fueshko 6, Allen 5, Young 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Johnson 6, Evans 5, Thompson 3, Allen 2, Fueshko 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Kelly 6, Thompson 4, Allen 3, Mitchell 3, Evans 2, Roper 1, Young 1, Shope 1.
Total Rebounds: Thompson 7, Evans 7, Johnson 6, Kelly 6, Allen 5, Mitchell 3, Roper 1, Fueshko 1, Young 1, Shope 1.
Steals: Mitchell 2, Roper 1, Thompson 1, Allen 1, Johnson 1, Young 1, Shope 1.
Assists: Kelly 3, Thompson 3, Johnson 2, Roper 1, Evans 1, Fueshko 1.
Blocks: Allen 2, Roper 1.
Fouls: Fueshko 3, Allen 2, Johnson 2, Evans 2, Roper 1, Kelly 1, Thompson 1, Fueshko 1, Shope 1.

OKC Statistics

Points: Adenle-Pinder 13, Hamilton 12, Sejour 6, Sykes 6, Harland 3, Edens 3, Steele 2, Farrington 2.
Fouls: Sejour 2, Farrington 2, Sykes 2, Mills 2, Hamilton 1, Harland 1, Steele 1, Edens 1, Eichman 1.

Deke Thompson Leads Sandites to First Win of the Season

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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.

6A Week 2 Basketball Rankings

Girls

1. Edmond North (3-0)

2. Putnam City West (4-0)

3. Putnam City North (5-1)

4. Owasso (5-1)

5. Edmond Memorial (2-1)

6. Bixby (2-0)

7. Sand Springs (4-1)

8. Choctaw (4-0)

9. Broken Arrow (2-2)

10. Edmond Santa Fe (3-3)

11. Norman (3-3)

12. Norman North (2-3)

13. Yukon (3-3)

14. Mustang (4-2)

15. Westmoore (3-1)

Boys

1. Edmond North (3-0)

2. Deer Creek (5-1)

3. Owasso (4-0)

4. Broken Arrow (4-0)

5. Piedmont (5-0)

6. Choctaw (4-0)

7. Bixby (4-1)

8. Putnam City West (3-1)

9. Union (4-0)

10. Edmond Santa Fe (5-1)

11. Norman (4-2)

12. Moore (4-2)

13. Edmond Memorial (4-1)

14. Mustang (4-2)

15. Norman North (3-2)

Shorthanded Sandites Fall 63-58 at Enid

The continued loss of Blake Johnson, out on concussion protocol, is wearing on the Sandites.

Sand Springs went on the road to No. 19 Enid (1-1) Tuesday and fell 63-58.

Despite a talented roster with more size and physicality than they’ve had in many years, the Charles Page High School boys basketball team is 0-3 after coming up a hair short in three well-fought games.

After falling into an early 8-2 hole on Tuesday, the Sandites used a timeout to settle down and got into a scoring rhythm but still trailed 24-20 to end the first quarter shootout.

Deke Thompson and Kason Evans scored 7 apiece in a quarter that saw five different Sandites enter the scorebook to keep up with Enid’s Tre Davis with 10.

Things slowed down in the second stanza and the Sandites took their first lead since the opening basket on a pair of free throws from Alijah Roper to go up 29-28 at the 2:48 mark.

Jonathan Reed briefly gave the Plainsmen the lead on the ensuing possession but Thompson took a steal coast to coast and dunked for the advantage and added another bucket soon after to take a 33-30 lead into the locker room.

Davis tied things up with a trey to open the second half. The teams took turns exchanging leads but a layup from Roper with a 1:28 in the quarter gave the Sandites their final advantage at 43-42.

A trey from Tegan Winn put the Plainsmen up 45-43 to enter the fourth and Branden Sears added a three-pointer to open the final stanza.

The Sandites did their best to play catchup but Khalil Allen drew his fourth foul early in the third and Evans picked up his fourth in the fourth, leaving both players unable to play physical in the paint.

Kooper Kelly hit a trio of free throws with 3.3 seconds to play to cut it to 62-58 but Reed hit a free throw for the home team to secure the victory.

Thompson led the Sandites with 14 points and 7 rebounds while Evans had 13 points and 6 boards.

Davis led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Sears with 13 and Reed with 10.

Sand Springs won’t return to action till a district home game on Tuesday against Putnam City (1-1, 1-1) and will hopefully have their 6’5” power forward back in the lineup by then. Enid will host Bartlesville (1-1) on Tuesday.

Enid 63 CPHS 58

1Q: Enid 24-20.
2Q: CPHS 13-6.
3Q: Enid 15-10.
4Q: Enid 18-15.
Free Throws: Enid 7-of-9, CPHS 16-of-19.
Field Goals: Enid 25-of-59, CPHS 20-of-52.
Offensive Rebounds: Enid 7, CPHS 8.
Defensive Rebounds: Enid 19, CPHS 21.
Total Rebounds: Enid 26, CPHS 29.
Steals: Enid 4, CPHS 4.
Blocks: Enid 4, CPHS 2.
Fouls: Enid 18, CPHS 15.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Thompson 14, Evans 13, Kelly 9, Roper 8, Allen 8, Fueshko 6.
Offensive Rebounds: Thompson 2, Evans 2, Roper 1, Kelly 1, Allen 1, Mitchell 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Thompson 5, Evans 4, Fueshko 4, Kelly 3, Roper 2, Allen 1, Mitchell 1, Smith 1.
Total Rebounds: Thompson 7, Evans 6, Fueshko 4, Kelly 4, Roper 3, Allen 2, Mitchell 2, Smith 1.
Steals: Thompson 2, Kelly 1, Smith 1.
Assists: Roper 1, Kelly 1, Thompson 1, Allen 1, Evans 1.
Blocks: Thompson 1, Allen 1.
Fouls: Roper 4, Allen 4, Evans 4, Thompson 2, Mitchell 1.

Enid Statistics

Points: Davis 21, Sears 13, Reed 10, Winn 6, Porter 5, Zyire 4, Cotarelo 4.
Fouls: Davis 4, Porter 4, Sears 3, Allen 2, Reed 2, Winn 2, Cotarelo 1.