Sandite soccer shuts out Muskogee but drops losses to Metro Christian

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By: Virgil Noah, Marketing Director and Sports Journalist

Photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Bobby Behrens's Lady Sandites stormed into Tuesday night's matchup with Metro Christian (3-1) having shut out their last two opponents by a combined score of 15-0. The Lady Patriots would prove to be too much for the Lady Sandites, winning by a final score of 1-0. 

Offensively the girls made a multitude of well timed runs and executed some well-placed passes, but could never quite make it to the ball before Metro junior goalkeeper Olivia Gordan snatched up the ball. The two teams took the game into the second half scoreless as both Gordan and Abigail Banks, Sandite sophomore goalie, made some impressive saves. 

Gordan would continue to stop everything that came her way in the second half. 14 minutes in Brooklyn Eardley passed to Kayla Foster in the box who then dribbled to the left and took a shot towards back post, but Gordan was all over it. After a couple of shots went just wide for the Lady Patriots, Freshman forward Chloe Tregoning took a pass up the right line, cut inwards, and scored a goal just past the diving arms of Banks.

Sand Springs, who defeated East Central 10-0 and Muskogee 5-0 in a very physical game the week prior, was held scoreless for just the second time all season. The loss puts them at 2-1 for the year. 

The Sand Springs boys came in on a high note, after notching their first victory of the season in a shutout of Muskogee 4-0. Metro Christian Academy (3-0) got off to a very quick start scoring in 1:08 as Sandite keeper Edgar Soberano came out of goal in pursuit of a pop up. Soberano lost track of the ball and Patriot Junior midfielder Nick Mckee was able to tap in an easy goal to get things going. The leading scorer however was Senior Riley Mayes who scored on a pair on goals later in the half, one of which was assisted by fellow forward Tyler LaCourse. The final goal for the visiting Patriots came off of a free kick by LaCourse in which there was a cluster of players blocking Soberano's vision allowing the ball to squeak by unseen. 

Soberano and the Sandite back line were able to keep Metro off the board in the second half, but were unable to net a goal. The loss will drop them to 1-2 for the season. Both Sand Springs squads will look to get back into the win column as they play Enid at home on Friday. 

Sandite of the Week: Kayla Foster

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Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize Charles Page High School senior Kayla Foster for her outstanding performances in last week's shutout victories over East Central and Muskogee.

Foster scored a pair of goals in the first minute of the East Central game and added another before the 23 minute mercy-rule game was over. Foster and Megan DeShazo each scored hat tricks in the 10-0 victory.

Against Muskogee she added two more to lead the team alongside Brooklyn Eardley who also had two.

Foster recently signed to play collegiate ball for Missouri University of Science and Technology. 

Undefeated Sandites win third straight with 6-2 victory at OneOK Field

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Jake Ward pitched 9 strikeouts in a win over Booker T Washington Monday night.

Story by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Jake Ward had one heck of a night on the mound. The Charles Page High School pitcher won his second game of the season with nine strikeouts and only allowed two walks and four hits while throwing 49% strikes. 

The Sandites started their season last week and have racked up wins against Tulsa NOAH, Sapulpa, and Booker T Washington thus far to remain one of only 14 undefeated 6A teams. Monday night the Sandites took on the Hornets at OneOK Stadium in downtown Tulsa, the home of the Drillers, and easily handled their opponent.

The team batted just under .400 and Treyce Tolbert lead the team with two runs (coming from walks) along with cousin Trevor Tolbert who batted in two runners in two at-bats. 

Ward started on fire, striking out the first four batters before Cole Mendenhall finally got off a single in the top of the second. With one out on the board, Hunter Greathouse was the first Sandite to get on base with a left field single in the bottom of the second. Treyce Tolbert was walked and Jake Terry hit a sacrifice fly to advance the runners on base. Trevor Tolbert brought Greathouse home with a line drive single into right field, then Ty Fain brought home Treyce with a bunt and a fielding error. Trevor was put out at third and the Sandites went to field with a 2-0 lead.

The Hornets failed to get off a hit in the third and the Sandites scored another run as Rhett Rutledge was hit by a pitch and walked, then stole second and advanced to home on a single by Joey Montgomery. 

Booker T finally got on the board in the fourth inning as Davin Gummere was walked, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice hit by DJ Hall, and stole home on a catcher's error with Mendenhall at bat. 

Sand Springs wouldn't take that lying down, however, and scored three more that inning. Treyce Tolbert was walked once more and stole second, then came home on a triple by Trevor. The elder cousin would come home soon after on a groundball single from Josh Taber. Taber then took second on a left field fly from Rutledge and stole third, then home on a catcher's error. Rutledge stole second and third in pursuit of Taber, but was left stranded along with Ward (walked) after Montgomery was put out at first. 

The fifth inning was devoid of hits from either team. Booker T put one runner on base in the sixth after a catcher's error, but he would be left stranded. Mack Thompson hit a double for the Sandites in his first and only at-bat, but was put out at third after a groundball by Taber. Taber, who plays wide-receiver for the State Runner-Up football team, continued to show off his quick feet as he stole second and third, but was left stranded along with Phillips who was walked.

The Hornets finally scored again in the seventh as Mendenhall was hit by a pitch and found his way home on a single by Ben Curry. Curry would be left stranded however as Ben Curry was put out at second on a single by Connor O'Malley. Their rally attempt fell short and the Sandites retained their standing as one of the teams to beat and brought home a memorable experience from a minor league field. 

Baring a weather delay, the Sandites will next take on Enid (1-1) Tuesday night at 5:30 at the Sandite Athletic Complex. 

Carter Young wins Jr. High State Championship, 3 other Sandites place in top 4

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs sent four wrestlers to the 2016 Junior High All State Tournament in Oklahoma City last month and all four placed. 

Carter Young pinned his way through his first three opponents in the 6th & 7th Grade 80 pound bracket, taking down Brady Benham (Collinsville) in 0:28, Aiden Godbehere (Blackwell) in 1:00, and Cooper Evans (Bristow) in 2:34. In the semifinals he was pitted against Cotton Bowl National Champion Jordan Cullors of Collinsville and prevailed by way of 14-3 major decision. The championship match would be a lot closer and Young went into a sudden victory round with Blazik Perez of Broken Arrow, tied 6-6. The Sandite came out with the takedown, however, and claimed his second consecutive Junior High State Championship title.

Blake Jones competed at 92 pounds in the 6th & 7th Grade division and pinned Noah Ballard (Blackwell) in 2:43. He defeated his next opponent, Nathan Dekker, by 8-2 decision, but went down in the quarterfinals 10-2 to Bryce Dauphin of Tuttle. In the consolation bracket he pinned Grant Bunten (Owasso) in 3:45, then repeated his victory over Dekker by a narrow 2-0 decision. In the semifinal he edged out Shaun Muse 8-7, but lost in the finals to Jacob Wright of Southmoore by 2-0 ultimate tie-breaker and took 4th place. 

Seth Jones pinned his first two opponents in a combined 49 seconds. Competing at 101 pounds in the Junior High division, he took down Jacob Burdette (Bixby) in 0:24 and Alex Oquinn (Wagoner) in 0:25, then scored a 9-3 decision over David Boucher (Bartlesville) and a 4-0 decision over Ryder Ramsey (Tuttle). In the semifinals he was edged out 2-1 by Branden Elrod (Jenks) but he recovered in the consolation bracket with a 6-4 decision over Cade Waltman and a 5-2 decision over Luke Surber (Tuttle) for a third place finish. 

Irwin Portillo, who also saw action on the varsity mat this season, competed at 118 in the Junior High division. He pinned Gye Roedel (Kingfisher) in 1:13, then majored David Mendoza (Catoosa) 13-1. The next few matches were a lot closer as he edged out Timothy Trigg (Deer Creek) 3-2, then took down Josh Parks (Blanchard) 3-1 in a sudden victory round. His streak came to an end in the semifinals when he was pinned in 4:39 by freshman 6A State-Qualifier Spencer Schickram (Ponca City) who would go on to win the tournament. Portillo rebounded quickly with a 16-1 tech fall over Zack Mayes (Comanche), then defeated Roarke Simpson (Southmoore) by 7-4 decision for a third place finish.

Undefeated Sandite baseball easily handles Highway 97 rival Sapulpa, 7-2

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By: Scott Emigh and Deena Tolbert

The Charles Page High School baseball team won their second game of the season Saturday afternoon at Sapulpa (0-2), easily handling their Highway 97 rivals.

Gunnar Phillips and Jake Ward each drew walks to start the game and made their way around the bases for an early lead. Hunter Greathouse hit a line drive down the third baseline and was batted in by Treyce Tolbert who nailed the left field fence. The Chieftains came in to bat soon after, trailing 3-0.

Jake Terry (1-0) got the start on the mound for the Sandites and struck out two batters in the first inning, only giving up a single. 

Rhett Rutledge drew a walk in the top of the second but was caught in a pickle with Phillips at bat for the third out after Terry was outed on a pop fly to right field and Ty Fain was put out with a hit to right field. Sapulpa got off a single but stranded the runner with a strikeout on the fourth batter.

The third inning was more of the same for the Sandites as Jake Ward got the lone hit and Phillips, who was walked, was put out at second. Ward was picked off at first and Joey Montgomery hit the ball to second and was put out. Sapulpa got off a single and the runner stole second on a throwing error by Terry. The next two batters were struck out, however, and Rutledge threw out the final batter at first.

The fourth inning saw Hunter Greathouse hit a double to centerfield and stole third off an errant pitch. Trevor Tolbert was walked and the Chieftains switched pitchers. Treyce Tolbert was walked and Sapulpa switched pitchers again. Terry hit a pop fly to center for a single by catching error and Greathouse made it home for a 4-0 lead with the bases still loaded. Fain struck out but Rutledge was walked and Trevor Tolbert came home. Phillips bunted and was put out along with Treyce Tolbert in a double play and Ward was outed on a pop fly to right field.

Sapulpa put two on base with a walk and a single but both were left stranded and the Sandites took a 5-0 lead into the fifth. 

Montgomery hit a single off a fielding error and made it to second on a sacrifice bunt by Trevor Tolbert but was put out after Treyce Tolbert hit a line drive to third. Sapulpa got off another single but Trevor Tolbert put the runner out in a double play off the next batter's hit.

Terry doubled to start the sixth and was replaced on base by courtesy runner Mack Thompson who advanced to third on a sacrifice fly hit by Rutledge. Phillips batted him in on a line drive over second, then Ward smacked a double into the centerfield wall. Montgomery hit a line down third to score Phillips, but Ward was caught in a pickle and the Sandites improved to a 7-0 lead.

Josh Cordell relieved Terry on the mound and Sapulpa finally managed to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. The seventh saw Treyce Tolbert and Josh Cordell walked and stranded. Sapulpa got off a double but was unable to score. Cordell pitched his first strikeout of the season and the Sandites pulled in a 7-2 victory to remain undefeated.

The Sandites will next take on Booker T Washington Monday evening at OneOK Field in downtown Tulsa at 5:30. The Hornets are 0-2 for the season after giving up an 8-0 shutout to Broken Arrow today and being edged out 10-9 by Muskogee earlier this week. 

Winningest Lady Sandite Basketball season in years comes to end with Area loss to Owasso

/ Catoosa High School/

Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No.11 Lady Sandites (17-9) fell in an early hole to No. 9 Owasso (19-8) after Leiloni Culley hit a two to draw first blood. Freshman Holly Kersgieter was not far behind her, tying it up, but then Terryn Milton hit back to back baskets for a 7-2 lead that the Rams would hold for the duration of the first.

Freshman Isabella Regalado hit a two to for the Sandites to start the second period down 11-10, but the Rams began pushing their lead as Mya Bhinhar and Rachel Skalnik hit baskets to make it 16-10. Junior Oklahoma State softball-commit Sydney Pennington hit a two to get the Sandites back into the game, but then it was Milton and Bhinhar with back-to-back baskets.

Pennington, freshman Destiny Johnson, and senior Cierra Scott ran up four from the charity stripe over the course of the second period, but that was all the Sandites would manage as Owasso increased their lead to 29-16 by half time.

Despite being in a heavy hole, the Sandites had already proven once this season their ability to rally against the Rams in their first meeting of the season when the girls exploded for a 16-5 second-quarter and ultimately won that game.

Sand Springs came into the half firing on all pistons as Gloria Mutiri hit a two and sank her “and-one” free throw, followed by a three-point basket by Cierra Scott to put the game back within single digits.

Milton sank the first Ram basket of the half, then Pennington hit a free throw and Cierra Scott forced a turnover on the corresponding possession getting in some great defensive coverage for a jump ball call. Unfortunately Sand Springs also gave up a turnover and Jordan Kunka and retook a 10-point lead.

Bhinhar added a free throw, but missed the second and Pennington rebounded it and returned it for a layup. Bhinhar retaliated with a two-pointer, but Mutiri hit one of her own then Kersgieter sank a three to make it 37-30.

Bhinhar hit the basket again, Scott added a pair from the charity stripe, then Kunka and Skalnik hit three freebies of their own before Kersgetier hit a two to finish off the period within single digits at 43-34.

Milton scored first to start the fourth, going 1-1 from the free throw line off a foul by Pennington. Kersgetier had a three-pointer fall short, but Bhinhar was right on line to retake a significant 46-34 advantage.

Sand Springs went on a run as Pennington and Scott each hit layups and Scott got the “and-one” to make it 47-39. It was Owasso’s game from there however as Pennington sent Milton to line for a 1-1 and the Lady Ram sank both. Bhinhar hit a two, Milton hit another free throw, then Culley added a basket for their biggest lead of the game at 54-39.

Kunka sent Mutiri to line for a 1-1 and the Lady Sandite sank both. The clock was too low for a realistic return by that point, however, and ultimately the Rams prevailed to State with a 58-42 victory.