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)

Ty Pennington and Gabe Brown make All-State Football team

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The Charles Page High School football team had two seniors named to the Oklahoma Coaches Association All-State East team this week.

Quarterback Ty Pennington and defensive end Gabe Brown will both get to play in the 2022 All-State football game, Friday, July 29th at 7:00 p.m. The exact location is yet to be announced.

The two will be coached by Collinsville’s Tom Redding, along with Brett Jones (Bristow), Jarrett Hurt (Claremore), and Mike Odom (Poteau).

Brown recently announced his commitment to Northeastern State University. The 6-foot, 225-pound captain for the Sandites tallied 69 tackles during their 8-4 campaign this year, including 11.5 for loss and 5 sacks. He also recovered two fumbles and returned one 75 yards for a touchdown. The RiverHawks went 2-9 this season, competing at the NCAA Division II level.

Pennington set single-season records of 2,831 passing yards and 27 passing touchdowns, and career records of 6,455 passing yards, 54 passing TDs, and 77 total TDs. He also rushed for 1,306 yards and 23 TDs in his career. He is committed to Pittsburg State University in Kansas. The Gorillas went 8-3 last year.

Sandite Wrestling wins Homecoming 54-27 against Glenpool

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The Sand Springs Winter Homecoming Court combined Basketball and Wrestling this year. Photo courtesy of Moton Photography.

The Charles Page High School wrestling team went 2-1 in district duals Tuesday at Union, winning 65-9 against Deer Creek and 45-27 against Union before falling 50-30 to No. 8 Ponca City.  They also won a 54-27 Homecoming dual against 5A No. 8 Glenpool on Thursday.

Sammy Naugle, James Robey, Carter Goodman, Blake Jones, and Brooks Dudley collected pins against the Antlers, while Jayden Pait, Mitchell Smith, Goodman, Ethan White, Dudley, Mason Harris, and David Ritchey recorded falls against Union. 

Against the Wildcats, the Sandites fell behind 21-0 before Smith got a pin at 145. Ethan Norton, Goodman, and White followed it up with pins to take the lead.

Ponca rallied with pins at 182 and 195 before Harris got a fall at 220, but the Wildcats won the next three matches with bonus points to punch their ticket to dual state.

On Thursday, Ritchey, Colt Hood, Shane Wolf, Robey, Goodman, White, Dudley, and Harris all won pins against the Warriors.

The Sandites canceled their involvement at the Owasso Ram Duals over the weekend due to sickness and injuries. They will instead compete at Glenpool Warrior Classic February 4-5th.

Keystone Kids

The Keystone Kids brought home two gold medals from the Wrestlemania tournament in Broken Arrow, Saturday, January 22nd.

Nicholas Elmore and Kydon Harness won their brackets, JJ Baker was runner-up, Collin Randall and Caemon Young placed third, and Rixon Hathaway placed fourth.

Sandite Boys place fourth at Port City Classic, beat Catoosa 47-44

The Sand Springs boys’ basketball team (4-9) snapped a three-game losing skid Thursday, taking down Catoosa 47-44 en route to a fourth place finish at the Port City Classic.

The Sandites fell 54-37 to 4A No. 2 Victory Christian (13-3) in the semifinals, however, and 47-46 to No. 19 Tahlequah (10-5) in the placement round. 

Jason Clark scored 15 and Ethan Oakley had 13 points to guide their team to its first win of 2022. 

Catoosa took a 32-31 lead into the fourth quarter, but freshman Kooper Kelly came alive and scored all seven of his points in that stanza, while Oakley and Clark went a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line in crunch time. 

Clark scored ten more on Friday, but was the only Sandite in double digits against the Conquerors, who went on to win the tournament.

Saturday’s game was a real heartbreaker, as the Sandites had it all but locked away late in the fourth quarter. 

With only 23.3 seconds remaining, Clark laid up on a steal for a 46-41 Sandite lead. 

The Tigers wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, and Braylon McDowell hit a three with nine second remaining, then Shaun Young sent Kelly to the line for a one-and-one.

After the freshman missed his free throw, Hayden Smith snagged the rebound and the Tigers took a timeout to dial up a three-point buzzer beater from Brycen Smith for the win.

Clark once again led the Sandites with 14 points in the loss.

Up next for the Sandites is a return to conference action with a Frontier Valley road game at Bixby (5-9, 0-5) on Tuesday. Both teams are still looking for their first conference win of the season.

1/20/2022 - CPHS 47 Catoosa 44
1Q: CPHS 11-7.
2Q: Catoosa 13-10.
3Q: Catoosa 12-10.
4Q: CPHS 16-12.
Free Throws: CPHS 10-of-17, Catoosa 19-of-26.
Penalties: CPHS 18, Catoosa, 16.

Scoring: (CPHS) Clark 16, Oakley 13, Kelly 7, Dickson 5, Askew 3, Jones 2, Brockman 1, Lair 1. (Catoosa) Brown 12, Miller 10, Lewallen 10, McCawley 6, Oxford 5, Hamilton 1.

1/21/2022 - VCS 54 CPHS 37
1Q: VCS 16-7.
2Q: CPHS 10-6.
3Q: VCS 20-10.
4Q: VCS 10-10.
Free Throws: VCS 14-of-18, CPHS 5-of-13.
Penalties: VCS 15, CPHS 16.

Scoring: (VCS) Udoumoh 15, Patton 11, Doctor 8, Granderson 8, Malhi 6, Banner 2, Convington 2, White 2. (CPHS) Clark 10, Brockman 9, Kelly 8, Askew 3, Foster 2, Dickson 2, Oakley 2, Hayes 1.

1/22/2022 - Tahlequah 47 CPHS 46
1Q: Tahlequah 10-8.
2Q: Tahlequah 11-11.
3Q: CPHS 12-11.
4Q: Tahlequah 15-15.
Free Throws: Tahlequah 3-of-7, CPHS 7-of-12.
Penalties: Tahlequah 12, CPHS 11.

Scoring: (Tahlequah) H. Smith 16, Joice 11, Young 9, Matlock 5, McDowell 3, B. Smith 3. (CPHS) Clark 14, Kelly 9, Askew 8, Oakley 8, Brockman 3, Johnson 3, Dickson 1.

Lady Sandites take first loss, place third at Jenks/Union Invitational

This story was originally written by Scott Emigh for the Sand Springs Leader.

All good things come to an end eventually, as did the Lady Sandites’ undefeated start to the season Friday afternoon at the Frank Herald Field House. 

After winning 11 consecutive games, the Class 6A No. 6 Charles Page High School girls basketball team (12-1) fell 56-32 to No. 1 Edmond North (15-0) in the Jenks/Union Invitational semifinals.

Sand Springs bounced back in the third-place battle with No. 16 Putnam City North (6-7), however, and dominated the Panthers defensively to win 50-33.

“(Edmond North) is probably the best team right now in 6A, so it’s a good thing that we got to see them,” said Sand Springs coach Josh Berry. 

“I was just proud that they kept fighting, they didn’t just lay down after a bad start,” said Berry. “The only thing from here is to get back in the gym and work and put in the time and see what we can do from here on.”

Journey Armstead led the Sandites with 14 points against the top-ranked Huskies, but was the only Sandite in double digits. She also scored 22 points in the quarterfinals against Jenks and was named to the All-Tournament team following Saturday’s game.

Hailey Jackson led the Sandites against the Panthers with 12 points and 8 rebounds, followed by Layne Kirkendoll with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Armstead was held to 9 points for her lowest tally of the season.

“Layne is a special talent,” said Berry. “She’s getting better and better, she’s getting healthier. The healthier she gets, I think you’ll see a lot more of those double-doubles from her.”

Sand Springs never trailed after the early first quarter and held Putnam North to only five points in both the second and fourth quarters, but the Panthers still threatened at 37-28 going into the fourth.

Failing to put away free throws proved to be the biggest struggle for the Sandites, who shot well from the field, but only went 7-of-19 at the charity stripe.

“After three days playing back to back to back, we’ll take a win, “said Berry. “We know what we’ve got to work on. We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and Tuesday.”

The Sandites will be traveling to No. 4 Bixby (11-3 overall, 4-1 conference) Tuesday as they aim to improve to 6-0 in Frontier Valley Conference action. Things won’t get any easier from there, as they’ll host 5A No. 2 Sapulpa (9-4, 2-2) on Friday and No. 5 Union (10-3, 4-1) the following Tuesday.

11/22/2022 - CPHS 50 PCN 33
1Q: CPHS 12-9.
2Q: CPHS 15-5.
3Q: PCN 14-10.
4Q: CPHS 13-5.
Free Throws: CPHS 7-of-19, PCN 2-of-3.
Field Goals: CPHS 20-of-44, PCN 13-of-51.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 10, PCN 9.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 24, PCN 13.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 34, PCN 22.
Steals: CPHS 5, PCN 6.
Blocks: CPHS 3, PCN 2.
Fouls: CPHS 12, PCN 19.

Scoring: (CPHS) Jackson 12, Kirkendoll 10, Armstead 9, L. Morris 8, T. Morris 5, Wilson 4, Walker 2. (PCN) McCloud 14, Geretta 8, Hardwick 4, Powell 3, Sanchez 2, Dillard 2.

11/21/2022 - EDN 56 CPHS 32
1Q: EDN 18-8.
2Q: EDN 13-9.
3Q: EDN 15-5.
4Q: EDN 10-10.
Free Throws: EDN 10-of-12, CPHS 10-of-15.
Fouls: EDN 17, CPHS 16.

Scoring: (EDN) Steele 17, Casaus 10, Franklin 10, Heathcock 9, Papahronis 5, Melton 5. (CPHS) Armstead 14, Jackson 8, T. Morris 3, L. Morris 3, Kirkendoll 2, Wilson 2.

11/20/2022 - CPHS 62 Jenks 41
1Q: CPHS 15-8.
2Q: CPHS 9-8.
3Q: CPHS 23-13.
4Q: CPHS 15-12.
Free Throws: CPHS 12-of-18, Jenks 5-of-9.
Fouls: CPHS 9, Jenks 14. 

Scoring: (CPHS) Armstead 22, Wilson 10, Kirkendoll 10, Jackson 7, L. Morris 7, T. Morris 6. (Jenks) Twiehaus 14, Luciaro 6, Johnson 5, Forgione 5, Simpson 4, Williams 3,  Robinson 2, Brown 2.

Sports Roundup: Lady Sandites Still Undefeated, Wrestling Falls to Bixby

Hailey Jackson scored 31 points for the Sandites against Broken Arrow.

This story was originally written by Scott Emigh for the Sand Springs Leader.

The last time the Sand Springs girls basketball team won ten straight games to start the season, it went on to win conference, regional, and area championships.

Whether this year’s eighth-ranked Lady Sandites reach similar heights remains to be seen, but they are still undefeated after meetings with No. 10 Broken Arrow and Bartlesville this week.

The Sandites picked up a 66-46 win over the Tigers (6-4, 2-2) Tuesday night at the Ed Dubie Field House before traveling to Bartlesville for a 55-37 win against the Bruins (3-7, 0-4) to improve to 5-0 in Frontier Valley Conference action.

Junior star Hailey Jackson went off for 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 steals against the Tigers, while Journey Armstead contributed 15 points. Layne Kirkendoll added 8 points and 9 rebounds. 

“(Jackson)’s just coming along and playing hard,” said head coach Josh Berry. “I’ve always said she had the potential to be that good.”

The Sandites led by as much as 28 points early in the fourth quarter before sending in the backups. 

Friday’s game started a little slower, but the Bruins never led after the first quarter and the Sandites ran away with a 22-4 third quarter to put the game safely out of reach. 

“Every game for us in this conference, you’ve got to prepare for it,” said Berry. “If you’re not ready to play, you can get beat. Especially the way we play. We’re a defensively oriented team, so if we don’t come ready to play every night, we can get beat by anybody.”

Armstead scored 23 points with 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists. Jackson scored 8 points with 10 rebounds and Kirkendoll added 6 points with 11 rebounds. 

The Sandites will host Muskogee (1-6, 0-3) Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. before competing at the Jenks/Union tournament Thursday through Saturday. They will play Jenks (2-5) on Thursday before taking on either Trinity Christian or No. 1 Edmond North (10-0) on Friday.

Boys Basketball

The Sandite boys team (3-7, 0-5) is still looking for its first conference win of the season after falling 70-47 to Broken Arrow and 82-54 to Bartlesville this week.

On Tuesday the Sandites were led by Jason Clark with 10 points and Cale Askew with 9 in the home loss to No. 6 Broken Arrow (8-2, 4-1). Clark and Alijah Roper scored 12 apiece against No. 14 Bartlesville (6-4, 3-2).

Sand Springs will get its first unranked opponent in over a month when they play Muskogee (2-6, 0-3) on Tuesday. They will then travel to Catoosa for the Port City Classic with a Thursday matchup against the home team (9-4) at 8:30 p.m.

Wrestling

On Thursday the Sandites (3-1) suffered their first loss of the season, falling 47-24 to No. 5 Bixby (5-1). 

David Ritchey and Colt Hood pinned their foes to start the dual, then Zander Grigsby and Jayden Pait won decisions for an 18-0 lead against last year’s Dual State Runners Up.

The Spartans won the next eight matches, however, before Mason Harris collected a fall at heavyweight to end the night. 

Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday at Union with a district triple-header against No. 10 Ponca City (1-2), No. 15 Union (1-4), and Edmond Deer Creek (0-3). The Sandites won five district titles in a row from 2016 to 2020 before coming up short last season.

The Sandite junior high team placed second at the Perry tournament over the weekend with three finalists.

Kase Skaggs, Kaden Pope, and Ryley Kester all placed second and Dawson Briscoe, Jaxon Grigsby, and Jaxon “Scout” Trotter placed third.