Pennington scores 22 as #12 Lady Sandites avenge week 2 loss to Bixby, 60-48

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Darrian Myles (Bixby) guards Jessica Collins (Sand Springs).

Darrian Myles (Bixby) guards Jessica Collins (Sand Springs).

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Three Sandites doubled in a 12-point conference win over the Bixby Lady Spartans (7-12) Friday night at Ed Dubie Field House (13-5). Sydney Pennington led the No. 12 ranked Charles Page High School girls' team with 22 points, trailing by 1 to the Lady Spartans' Addison Richards. Gloria Mutiri added 13 and Destiney Johnson had 11. 

The Spartans were the second opponent of the season for the Sand Springs girls who were dealt a 61-51 upset loss in their first Frontier Valley Conference game to then No.17 ranked Bixby. Friday night's Homecoming game was not only a victory, but a moral victory as well as it snapped a three-game losing streak.

The home girls took a quick 6-0 lead before Richards sank her first of three threes. From there the Lady Spartans battled back to take a 12-10 lead. Johnson hit a three, followed by Dariann Myles with a three of her own. Pennington was fouled and sank both free throws, but Myles hit yet another three to ride an 18-16 lead into the second quarter.

The next period would not be as kind to the Lady Spartans as Mutiri hit a pair of layups to take the Sandite lead back once and for all. The Lady Sandites outscored Bixby 18-6 and Pennington scored a transition layup right at the buzzer for a 34-24 haltime lead. 

The Sandites won the next two periods as well, by close scores of 13-12 and 13-10 respectively. The closest Bixby would come to the Sandites would be eight points down early in the third, and by the time it was over Sand Springs had more than avenged their conference-opening loss. 

The Lady Sandites are now fifth in Frontier Valley with a conference record of 5-4 with five games left before Regionals. The girls will next see action Tuesday night at No. 1 Sapulpa. 

Varsity girls stats

The JV girls posted a 31-27 victory to improve to 8-3 this season. 

Haddock, Keener lead #13 Sandites to third straight victory

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

For the third straight game, the Sandites pulled off the win with Brooks Haddock at the helm. 

The current Sandite of the Week scored 25 against Broken Arrow and 21 against Bartlesville last week. This time he scored 19, but he wasn't the only hero for the home team.

Junior Kyle Keener paced the Sandites with 14 points and 7 blocks and scored the first basket of the game for Sand Springs. Coincidentally, Keener wears jersey #33 and spent most of the night matched up against the Roughers' #33, Keondre' Davis.

Roger Lewis and Tavian Davis ran up an 8-2 lead for the #16 Muskogee Roughers (10-7) before Haddock was sent to the line and sank four free throws to narrow the score. 

The 9-6 Rougher lead would quickly evaporate in the second quarter, however, as the Sandites outscored their conference foe 13-4 for a solid 19-13 half-time break.

Muskogee wouldn't let things carry on like that for long, namely Tyreece Berry. 

Berry scored 16 in the third period alone with four three-pointers.

Keondre' and Tavian Davis kicked off the fourth with a pair of buckets to tie things up at 39. Haddock briefly took the lead back before Lewis sank a three to take the first Rougher lead since the second quarter.

The teams exchanged the lead as Keener and Keondre' Davis exchanged free throws. Mack Thompson sank a basket then went two-for-two from the line to make it 47-45 with 0:45 left. Colt Savage added two more with 0:19 left, but Tavian Davis hit a three for a one point deficit.

Finally, with 0:07.6 left, Haddock hit two freebies and the Sandite defense held strong for a 51-48 win. 

The Sandites (13-5) will next take on the #20 Bixby Spartans (9-9) Friday night at Homecoming. Sand Springs beat Bixby 50-45 in their season opener and are currently third in conference standings with a 7-3 record. 

The JV boys won their game 53-40 and improved to 4-6 for the season.

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