Sandites Throttle OKC Knights 72-29 at Memorial Invitational

Happy Birthday Kade Holland. The senior starter scored 9 points with 4 rebounds in a 72-29 win against the Oklahoma City Knights (3-9) Thursday night.

The last time Sand Springs played an Oklahoma City homeschool team, they suffered a 68-48 upset, but this year’s Sandites wouldn’t be caught sleeping,

After giving No. 10 Bixby a scare on Tuesday, the Sandites (2-2) showed up at Memorial High School with extra motivation Thursday night in the first round of the Veterans Arena Invitational.

“I thought we had big strides against Bixby at home on Tuesday night,” said head coach Eric Savage.

“Hopefully, I thought coming into here, is we carry some of that momentum and try to keep gaining experience and develop a little more depth.”

“Obviously we’d like to have a couple of more wins in there, but we’re getting better,” said Savage.

Thirteen Sandites saw game time and all but one made their way into the scorebook.

Sophomore Blake Johnson had a career night with 15 points and 9 boards before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.

“Blake has had a good week,” said Savage. “He had a good JV game Tuesday night too (scoring 19 points).”

“We thought playing JV would help some of these younger guys get some confidence and he’s turned it up another level this week so that’s good to see.”

Caden Coombs gave the Knights a brief lead with 2:01 left in the first quarter but the Sandites went on an 8-point run and never trailed again.

Jax Marshall fed an assist inside to Sam Hayes on the next possession to make it 12-11 then stole the ball and scored the go-ahead free throws on a foul from Isaiah Zoschke.

Sand Springs ran away with it in the second quarter, taking a 40-23 lead with 10 players in the scorebook by halftime.

“We’re working hard and we’re showing improvement,” said Savage. “(It’s a) really young team experience wise and age wise.”

The Sandites only returned one starter from last year’s unit and only started two seniors against the Knights.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who it’s their first time seeing significant varsity action and they’re going to go through some growing pains,” said Savage.

The second half was a 32-6 rout with the Knights only scoring on free throws.

Kooper Kelly scored 10 for the Sandites, followed by Zane Fueshko and Holland with 9 apiece. Coombs led all scorers with 17.

Sand Springs will return to action Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Tulsa NOAH (5-4). The Knights will play 5A No. 16 Collinsville (2-3) at 6:00.

Memorial 54, NOAH 31

The NOAH Jaguars made a game of it but ultimately succumbed to 5A No. 2 Memorial (4-1) Thursday night at the Chargers’ home tournament.

After hanging tight for three quarters, the Jaguars were outscored 20-8 in the final stanza of a 54-31 loss.

Jarreth Ingram set the tone early, scoring 7 of his game-best 15 points in the first quarter and the Jaguars never once led.

Montae Collins ended the opening period with a steal and a buzzer-beating floater to go up 16-4 but the Jaguars cut it to 25-15 by halftime.

Ben Radford got hot in the fourth quarter with 7 of his 9 points and the Chargers bullied their way to the win.

Collins ended with 13 for the Chargers and Seth Pratt added 10. Sullivan Wagner scored 14 for NOAH.

Memorial will play Greenwood, Arkansas (1-5) Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Scoring Summaries

CPHS 72, OKC 29
CPHS;15;25;13;19;--;72
OKC;12;9;2;4;--;29

CPHS: Johnson 15, Kelly 10, Holland 9, Fueshko 9, Hayes 9, Hooper 4, Allen 4, Roper 3, Shope 3, Michell 2, Foster 2, Marshall 2.
OKC: Coombs 17, Ledet 6, Skelly 4, Chiarello 2.

Memorial 54 NOAH 31
Memorial;16;9;9;20;--;54
NOAH;4;11;8;8;--;31

Memorial: Ingram 15, Collins 13, Pratt 11, Radford 9, Cotton 6.
NOAH: Wagner 14, Bell 7, Ross 4, Garner 3, Bockett 2, Hislop 1.

Bixby Hoopers Sweep Sandites

Gentry Baldwin didn’t score a single point in the first half, but her 16-point performance in the third quarter sparked the No. 2 Bixby Spartans (4-1) to an 84-50 win over No. 9 Sand Springs (7-2) Tuesday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

“She is the most gutsy, gritty kid you’ve ever met in your life,” said head coach Tina Thomas.

“Walking out of the locker room I said ‘let’s go Gentry. Let’s go get this done,’ and she did.”

The top-ten battle between last year’s top two Frontier Valley Conference teams lived up to the hype as the Sandites and Spartans battled neck and neck to a halftime tie before the visitors pulled away.

The first half saw 12 lead changes and neither team led by more than 6 points. Abilene Christian commit Gracy Wernli had 15 by halftime for the Spartans and ended the night with a game-high 24.

“We’re kind of having to redefine who we are and how we do things,” said Thomas, who just lost Meredith Mayes, also an Abilene commit, to an ACL injury in last weekend’s Bixby tournament.

“It’s a process. A little bit of grieving going on right now because these kids have been together since third grade.”

“They’re very sad, but equally, or even more, driven. We’ve had good practices, tweaking on how we’re going to do things a little differently. But the kids have resolve and grit and determination to continue to pursue their goals.”

The Sandites were missing their own starter, Fayth Walker, who also suffered an ACL injury at the Bishop Kelley Tournament.

After ending the first half in a 33-33 tie, the Spartans opened the third quarter on a 12-point run and limited the Sandites’ opportunities through an aggressive full-court press that came away with seven steals.

“I’ve got some senior girls that have some grit and resolve about them and they decided the game wasn’t going to go that way any longer,” said Thomas.

After scoring eight treys in the first half the Sandites wouldn’t hit another and the Spartans appeared to find their new identity minus Mayes.

By the end of the night Drury-commit Alyssa Nielsen would have 17 points and Kate Wernli added 12.

Hailey Jackson led the Sandites with 16 points and 9 rebounds while Calla Fueshko and Sakauri Wilson scored 10 apiece.

Bixby improved to 2-0 in conference play and will travel to No. 14 Owasso (3-2, 1-1) Thursday night. Sand Springs dropped to 1-2 in the league and won’t play again till after the new year.

Boys

Notre Dame commit Parker Friedrichsen scored 40 points to lead No. 10 Bixby (4-1, 2-0) past the unranked Sandites (1-2, 1-2) but Sand Springs had the Spartans on upset alert most of the night before falling 77-72.

The home team trailed 44-34 at halftime but rallied to tie it at 55-55 on Alijah Roper’s fourth of five treys late in the third quarter.

The Sandites only trailed 73-69 after a pair of free throws from Khalil Allen with 35 seconds remaining but Friedrichsen went four-for-four at the charity stripe in the final minute to secure the win.

Sand Springs committed 25 fouls to Bixby’s 15 and the Spartans cashed in, going 34-of-36 on free throws.

Triston Driver scored 15 for Bixby and Luke Friedrichsen added 10. Alijah Roper scored 19 to lead the Sandites and Michael Foster had 18.

Sand Springs will compete at the Memorial Veterans Arena Invitational over the weekend while Bixby will play its last game of 2022 at No. 18 Owasso (0-2, 0-2) on Thursday.

Scoring Summaries

Bixby 84, CPHS 50 (Girls)
Bixby;17;16;23;28;--84
CPHS;14;19;9;8;--50

Bixby: G. Wernli 24, Nielsen 17, Baldwin 16, K. Wernli 12, Musick 7, Wilson 4, Daniel 2, Beltran 2.
CPHS: Jackson 16, Wilson 10, Fueshko 10, Martin 7, Morris 5, Taylor 2.

Bixby 77, CPHS 72 (Boys)
Bixby;17;27;13;20;--77
CPHS;19;15;21;17;--72

Bixby: P. Friedrichsen 40, Driver 15, L. Friedrichsen 10, McCormick 6, Holley 4.
CPHS: Roper 19, Foster 18, Michell 9, Allen 8, Kelly 7, Holland 7, Johnson 4.

Sandite Weekly Sports Roundup: Wrestling Dominates Season-Opening Duals

The Ty Bowling era opened with a bang this week as the No. 13 Sand Springs wrestling team won its first two duals convincingly Thursday at the Ed Dubie Field House before placing sixth out of 35 teams at the Mid America Nations in Enid over the weekend.

In the first dual of the season the Sandites rolled to a 49-18 win over 5A No. 8 Duncan (1-1), going 10-4 in individual matches with six wins by fall.

The teams traded blows to an 18-18 tie after seven matches before Mitchell Smith won a 10-1 major decision to kick off a seven-match win streak.

That streak carried over into the next dual as the Sandites opened with three-straight wins in a 60-12 romp against the defending Arkansas Dual State Champions from Rogers Heritage (4-2)

Colt Hood won a 9-2 decision against defending State Champion Ethan McCrary at 120 pounds to take a 12-0 lead before the visitors got on the board.

The Sandites only lost three matches, all by close decisions, two of which were to returning State placers.

Jaden Allen and Mason Harris both pinned returning State placers and the Sandites totalled eight wins by fall.

At the Enid tournament the Sandites finished with four wrestlers in the top four of their brackets.

David Ritchey placed third at 113 with two pins, Smith placed third at 150 with three pins, Mason Harris finished third at 285 with five pins, and Ethan White finished fourth at 165 with four pins.

Jaxon Trotter placed 7th, Jayden Pait 10th, Ali McCoy 11th, Dawson Briscoe 18th, Allen 18th, Hood 18th, Jackson Burdge 19th, Preston Reyna 22nd, Jace Simms 23rd, Brody Ensten 25th.

The Keystone Kids wrestling club placed third at the Rumble in the Jungle tournament in Coweta over the weekend.

Hudson Waag, Hagan Wolfenberger, Sutton Hawley, Ryder Richardson, Ayreson Reiss, Ryker Dawes, Collin Randall, Brackton Upton, and Kydon Harness all won their brackets.

Dance

The Charles Page High School dance team took second place in 6A Small School Hip Hop at the OSDTDA State Championship on Saturday and the JV/JH team won its division.

Baseball

Sand Springs varsity baseball coach Matt Brown was recognized as the OBCA Region 7 Coach of the Year following the Sandites’ 31-8 season in 2022.

“Coach of the Year awards don’t happen without the best assistant coaches, great players, amazing families, and supportive administration,” tweeted Brown.

Football

Brody Rutledge was named the 6A-II District 2 Wide Receiver of the Year after catching 51 passes for 748 yards and eight touchdowns this season, averaging 14.7 yards per pass. He also had 18 carries for 131 yards and a score.

Jacob Blevins was also named an All-District receiver with 47 catches for 659 yards and four total touchdowns.

Drake Fain was named an All-District linebacker with 101 tackles. RJ Smittick was named an All-District defensive back with 64 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

Dominic Ornelas and Charles Gaylord made the All-District defensive line. Ornelas had 14 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. Gaylord had 33 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

Jabe Schlehuber (WR/DB) and Cody Cramer (DB) received Honorable Mentions. Schlehuber had 27 catches for 369 yards and three touchdowns, as well as two interceptions. Cramer also had two interceptions to go with 57 tackles.

Lady Sandites win Bishop Kelley Invitational, Jackson named MVP

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The Sand Springs girls basketball team didn’t start the year the way it would have liked to, but, since a road loss at Sapulpa, the Sandites have won seven in a row and look poised for another successful season.

Hailey Jackson averaged 22.3 points per game and earned MVP honors over the weekend as the Sandites (7-1) swept the Bishop Kelley Invitational for the fifth time in their last six visits.

In the finals matchup against Owasso (2-2) Jackson scored 20 points and was complemented by 20 from Sakauri Wilson, who also received All-Tournament accolades.

“I don’t think they’ve both really even scratched the surface,” said head coach Josh Berry. “I think we’ve got a couple other ones that have the potential to be just as good and big as they are.”

“It’s going to take more games and a little bit more confidence and I think everybody will see a couple of these other ones end up stepping up in some of those roles.”

With only nine players on the varsity roster, everybody saw solid playing time at the tournament. Taiona Morris was out sick and Kiaryn Taylor missed the Thursday game against Bishop Kelley (1-4).

Patience Pearce and Abigaile Martin scored career highs of 6 and 7 points respectively, against the Comets. Jackson led all scorers with 22 and Wilson added 12.

The Sandites stormed out to a commanding 35-17 halftime lead before the Comets battled back and cut it as close as 44-39 late in the fourth. The Sandites held on to win their tenth straight against their former conference foes, 51-44.

In the semifinals the Sandites won 45-43 against Mustang (3-3) behind a 25-point effort from Jackson.

Sand Springs led by as much as 10 points after the first quarter but Mustang took a 31-28 advantage into the fourth and didn’t relinquish the lead till a seven-point run late in the game.

Tied at 43-43 with five seconds left, Taylor scored the go-ahead bucket on an inbound throw from Walker.

The finals game saw only seven lead changes and the Sandites led for all of the fourth quarter save for a brief tie at 41-41, but neither team ever led by more than six.

Martin hit a big three-pointer to go up 48-44 on an inbound throw from Wilson late in the fourth.

“(Martin) is one of them that ain’t practiced all week (due to sickness) and she’s been just gutting it out so I’m proud of her for that,” said Berry. “She made a big shot at the end and she played pretty big for us today.”

Wilson sank a pair of crucial free throws with 30 seconds left to go up 50-46 but Alex McGarrah hit a three to make it a one-point game.

Wilson added one more free throw in the final seconds but Makenna Yokley’s last-ditch three-pointer was short and the Sandites escaped with the win.

“I’m just proud of the girls,” said Berry. “They fought.”

“We had contributions from different players at different times. That’s what it’s going to take for us, along with big contributions from Hailey and from Sakauri. We really missed (Taiona Morris) this weekend. Once we can get her back, we just hope the others can continue getting better like they did with her out.”

Earlier in the week the Sandites notched their first conference win, 56-46 against Muskogee (1-3) behind a 23-point effort from Wilson and 14 points from Jackson.

The varsity boys also got their first win of the year against the Roughers (2-2) on Tuesday, 38-30, led by Michael Foster with 11 points and 7 rebounds.

Patience Pearce scored 11 points in a 37-35 JV girls win, while Blake Johnson scored 12 in a 33-31 JV boys loss.

Sand Springs will host Bixby on Tuesday and the boys will compete in the Memorial Invitational festival over the weekend.

Junior High Boys Place Second at Home Tournament

The Sand Springs girls wrestling team took 16th place in its season opener at the Jay Border Wars with three medalists.

Kelsi Hilton placed fourth at 140 pounds with two pins, Laila Mirza was sixth at 120 with two pins, and Tyreyalle Davis was sixth at 135 with four pins.

The Lady Sandites will return to action December 16th at the Cleveland Tournament while the boys will open the season Thursday with home duals against Duncan and Rogers Heritage.

Junior High

The boys wrestling team took second place with two champions and four runners-up at its 51st annual home tournament. The girls program placed 11th in its first year.

Riley Kester won the heavyweight bracket with five pins and a technical fall, outscoring his opponents 35-5. In the finals he won a 5-0 decision over Marley Branscum.

Corbin Wooley picked up his fourth win of the season at 132 pounds, making a comeback after an overtime loss in pool play.

After falling 8-6 to Cameron Bowman in sudden victory, Wooley won his next five matches without giving up a single point, defeating Stillwater’s Caden Johnson 6-0 in the finals.

Jaxon Grigsby was runner-up at 98 pounds, recording five pins and a technical fall, outscoring his first six opponents 60-3 before falling 5-0 to defending junior high State champion Aiden Jalajel in the finals.

Matthew Moore was runner-up at 126, pinning six opponents before falling in a 5-2 decision to defending State champion Legend Ellis in the finals.

Isaac Sensintaffer was runner-up at 155 with four pins, falling 10-0 to State champion Jakoby Petree in the finals.

Hudson Sheppard was runner-up at 170, outscoring his first six opponents 17-0 while pinning each of them in an average time of only 39 seconds. He had to medical forfeit his finals match to Haydan Yocham.

Kaden Pope finished third at 119 with four pins, outscoring his opponents 52-9. His only loss was a 3-0 decision to defending State champion Justus Heeg.

Other top-ten finishers were: Gage Gunn (4th), Hunter Spencer (5th), Kasen McAffrey (5th), Caleb Childers (6th), Colt Chambers (6th), Josh Compton (8th), David Cline (8th), and Brody Wilson (9th).

Camben Garrison led the girls with a third-place finish at 96 pounds with two pins and Rylee Allen was fifth at 117 with four pins.

Ananiah King and Lyla Waldren placed 5th, Cassidy Cypert was 8th, and Cailey Miller was 10th.

Youth

The Keystone Kids placed sixth at the Owasso Takedown Classic with six champions.

Jase Morgan won 49 pounds with four pins; Jett Galloway won at 55 with two pins; Holden Yingst won at 66 with one pin; Ryker Dawes won at 64 with three pins; Collin Randall won at 82 with three pins; and Hunter Sims won at 76 pounds with three pins.

Rixon Hathaway, Jayde Parks, and Na’Kya Canady were also finalists.

Lady Sandites Go 3-0 at She Got Game Classic

After a lopsided defeat at Sapulpa to start the season, the Charles Page High School girls basketball team rebounded with a 3-0 performance at the She Got Game Classic in Mansfield, Texas over the weekend.

“I thought we learned a little bit from Tuesday and I thought we got better,” said head coach Josh Berry. “It’s going to be a growing process of everybody learning their new roles.”

Senior star Hailey Jackson averaged 23.3 points per game at the festival, earning MVP honors in each game.

“She wasn’t very aggressive that first game (against Sapulpa),” said Berry. “We’ve been talking about her being extra aggressive each and every game this year.”

“She did a great job of just staying aggressive the whole game while we were down there and hopefully she can continue to do that for us.”

On Thursday the Sandites won 63-60 against Boswell (5-6) behind a 24-point effort from Jackson, a career-high 18 points from Sakauri Wilson, and a career-high 16 points from Kiaryn Taylor.

Jackson scored 24 again in a 42-25 rout of Austin Westlake (6-9) on Friday.

On Saturday the Sandites rolled to a 60-26 win over Medgar Evers (0-2) behind a 22-point performance from Jackson. Freshman Calla Fueshko also had a breakout performance with 9 points.

“Kauri Wilson did a great job early on, especially that first game, of scoring the ball and finishing. We had a lot of production from different players throughout the weekend.”

“I know Kiaryn Taylor had a good game the first game where she was able to finish. Yanni (Morris) that last game where she got to see the ball go in the hole some.”

“I think that’s just kind of what it’s going to take is for some of our ones that aren’t used to doing those things consistently to just be more consistent. I thought defensively we got better.”

The Sandites lost their season-opener 61-21 to Sapulpa (2-0, 2-0) in conference play but will get a rematch in February.

Sand Springs was outgunned by a Sapulpa lineup that shot 43.6% in the field with nine players in the scorebook. Mataya Hall scored 15 and Taylor Bilby added 12 for the home team, while Jackson led the Sandites with 5 points and 8 rebounds.

The Lady Chieftains have now won four straight in the Highway 97 Rivalry series.

Sapulpa’s boys team (1-1, 1-1) snapped a three-year losing streak to the Sandites with a 60-51 victory.

Freshman Fabian Harris led the Chieftains with 18 points and Kylen Edwards added 14. The Sandites were led by seniors Michael Foster and Kade Holland with 12 apiece.

In junior varsity action, the Sapulpa girls won 38-37 despite a 21-point performance from Fueshko. The Sand Springs boys triumphed 38-35 on a buzzer-beater three from Krus Smith to avoid overtime.

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday with conference home games against Muskogee. The girls will play at 6:30 p.m. and the boys will play at 8:00.