CPHS Basketball: Girls Upset No. 2 Union, Boys Routed

/

The Union High School girls’ basketball team managed an impressive feat Tuesday night at the UMAC. It didn’t give up a single field goal to Sand Springs senior star Journey Armstead.

Unfortunately for the RedHawks, Armstead put in work from the free-throw line instead, going 10-of-13 with eight points in the fourth quarter to lift her team to a 38-34 upset.

6A-East No. 4 Charles Page High School (13-3) won a war of attrition against No. 2 Union (12-4), taking advantage of three RedHawk foul-outs in the final two minutes to jump from fourth to second in the Frontier Valley Conference.

“I just love it for my girls,” said Sand Springs head coach Josh Berry. “They went out there and fought hard.”

The Sandites have been through a rough patch lately, losing three of their last four games against top-ranked foes Edmond North, Bixby, and Sapulpa. 

“They’re going out there against a well-coached team in Union,” said Berry. “But you know, we’re a good team too. So to be able to finally come out with a win against one of those top teams shows that we are a top team as well.”

“I think that’s huge. I think they responded, they learned from some of the losses that we had, and they bonded together today.”

The Sandites were held to their lowest scoring total of the season in the first half and trailed 17-13, but came storming back in the third quarter. 

Armstead drew her fourth foul two minutes into the third quarter and spent much of the half on the bench. Layne Kirkendoll scored four points in that stanza and three-pointers from Sakauri Wilson and Taiona Morris lifted the visitors to a 27-24 advantage.

“We had some big contributions with Journey being in foul trouble and some people stepped up today,” said Berry. “That’s what you need to advance and survive from here on out.”

TK Pitts scored through a foul from Hailey Jackson and hit the free throw for one final Union lead at 31-30 with 1:40 left to play, but it was all Sand Springs from there. 

Sydni Smith fouled out with 1:31 to play and sent Armstead to the line for two. Then Aubrey Hishaw fouled out with 1:05 to play and sent Armstead to the line for two more. Finally, Pitts fouled out with 41 seconds left and sent Wilson to the line.

Pitts, an SMU commit, led all scorers with 12 points, but was the only RedHawk in double digits. Jackson and Armstead scored 10 apiece for the Sandites. Kirkendoll finished with 6 points and 10 rebounds, and Wilson added 7 points.

Sand Springs also benefited from the brief return of 5’10” sophomore Kiaryn Taylor, who has been out with injury since early in December.

“That’s big for us,” said Berry. “She gives us another versatile person. She’s still struggling right now, but as she gets better, she’s only going to help us more.”

A 58-52 Bixby win over Sapulpa helped lift Sand Springs to second place in conference standings, but the Sandites don’t control their own destiny. With no rematch against Bixby on the horizon, it’ll take the Spartans stumbling against some other conference foe for the Sandites to climb the totem pole further.

Either way, winning the conference isn’t that important to Berry and his Sandites.

“We focus on trying to get better each and every game,” said Berry. “We want to continue to play together and just advance. We don’t worry about that. If we’re winning, it’ll come.”

The RedHawks will return to action Friday in a rematch at 5A-East No. 1 Sapulpa (12-5, 5-3). Union won the first meeting this year 40-36 in the season opener.

Sand Springs will travel to No. 10 Owasso (8-10, 3-6) Friday. The Sandites previously beat the Rams 54-37 in the season opener.

Boys Basketball

Coming off back-to-back losses in Frontier Valley Conference action, the 6A-East No. 7 RedHawks needed a win, and they got a big one Tuesday night against No. 14 Sand Springs.

6’3” sophomore Dalen Fuller scored 28 points in a 79-38 rout of the Sandites as the RedHawks improved to 9-8 overall and 5-4 in the conference. 

The Sandites (5-11, 1-7) led 20-16 early in the second quarter but soon fell out of pace with the taller, faster RedHawks. Union stormed to a 44-25 halftime advantage and had the game safely locked away after outsourcing the Sandites 23-7 in the third.

Chris Mason added 16 for the RedHawks and Trent Pierce had 14. JD Dickson led the Sandites with 12.

Union will travel to 5A-East No. 14 Sapulpa (4-14, 0-9) Friday. The RedHawks previously beat the Chieftains 91-45 in December. Sand Springs will get a rematch with No. 5 Owasso (12-6, 7-2) on Friday, who won the first meeting 47-44 in overtime.

Girls Statistics

CPHS 38 Union 34
1Q: All 8-8.
2Q: Union 9-5.
3Q: CPHS 14-7.
4Q: CPHS 11-10.
Free Throws: CPHS 14-of-21, Union 10-of-14.
Field Goals: CPHS 11-of-34, Union 11-of-38.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 6, Union 4.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 20, Union 20.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 26, Union 24.
Steals: CPHS 2, Union 3.
Blocks: CPHS 2, Union 0.
Fouls: CPHS 16, Union 21.

Scoring: (CPHS) Armstead 10, Jackson 10, Wilson 7, Kirkendoll 6, T. Morris 3, L. Morris 2. (Union) Pitts 12, S. Smith 8, Malham 5, Hishaw 5, Marshall-Penny 3, Coleman 1.

Boys Statistics

Union 79 CPHS 38
1Q: Union 16-15.
2Q: Union 28-10.
3Q: Union 23-7.
4Q: Union 12-6.
Free Throws: Union 11-of-14, CPHS 6-of-9.
Field Goals: Union 30-of-53, CPHS 14-of-55.
Offensive Rebounds: Union 8, CPHS 9.
Defensive Rebounds: Union 29, CPHS 15.
Total Rebounds: Union 37, CPHS 26.
Steals: Union 9, CPHS 4.
Blocks: Union 6, CPHS 1.
Fouls: Union 10, CPHS 14.

Scoring: (Union) Fuller 28, Mason 16, Pierce 14, Mims 7, Madrid 6, Dixon 5, McQuarters 3. (CPHS) Dickson 12, Clark 9, Oakley 8, Johnson 4, Kelly 3, Foster 2.

Wrestling: No. 1 Stillwater routs Sandites 68-6

/

The Class 6A No. 12 Charles Page High School wrestling team (6-3) suffered a 68-6 setback at No. 1 Stillwater (9-0) Thursday, winning only one of the fourteen matches.

The defending State Champions took a 62-0 lead before Mason Harris pinned Silas Camp at 220 pounds to avert the shutout.

Sand Springs will host No. 11 Owasso (8-3) in the final home dual of the season before traveling to No. 3 Broken Arrow (5-4) on Thursday. The Sandites will then compete at the Glenpool tournament over the weekend.


Boys Basketball: Sandites get first conference win, 62-46 against Sapulpa

/

In a battle for last place in the Frontier Valley Conference, Sand Springs finally got a much-needed 62-46 win against Sapulpa, Friday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

The 6A-East No. 14 Sandites (5-10 overall, 1-6 conference) out-shot and out-rebounded 5A-East No. 14 Sapulpa (4-12, 0-7) to win their third-straight Highway 97 Rivalry meeting.

“It feels good,” said Sand Springs head coach Eric Savage. “We’ve been close several times this year and we just haven’t been able to finish.”

“Sapulpa’s kind of having a year similar to ours, and we knew this was going to be two teams that were really hungry for a win. I thought from the tip we came out focused and executed, and really controlled the game.”

The Sandites took a 6-0 lead out of the gate and never trailed, though the score stayed close till midway through the fourth quarter.

“We had a few lapses in there and Sapulpa kept coming at us, but overall I thought they followed the game plan and we were able to keep them at bay,” said Savage.

Sand Springs took a 31-23 lead into the half and a 44-32 lead into the fourth quarter, with its biggest advantage being a 16-point lead early in the final stanza.

The visiting Chieftains then mounted a comeback attempt, scoring ten in a row, kicked off by a Gavin Read layup through contact. Read missed his and-one opportunity, but Kylen Edwards made the putback and drew a foul of his own, sinking the free throw.

Charles Hobbs scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to 48-42, but it was all Sand Springs from there. 

“We just had to keep attacking,” said Savage. “A couple of times we got slow and quit running. I tried to tell them, ‘we’re playing to win, we’re not playing not to lose.’ I thought we got a little tentative there with what to do with the ball.”

Edwards led all scorers with 20 points, but Jaymason Lindsey was the only other Chieftain in double digits with 12 points.

Jason Clark and JD Dickson led the Sandites with 12 points apiece, followed by Kooper Kelly with 10. Ethan Oakley, Cale Askew, and Costen Brockman added 8 points apiece, and Oakley had 15 rebounds.

“We’re making improvements,” said Savage. “It’s hard to see in our conference sometimes because of how top-heavy and good it is, but we’re making improvements, we’re shooting the ball better, we’re passing the ball better. We struggled early in the year when people would press us, and we’re doing a much better job of that.”

The Sandites will embark on another tough week on the road with a Tuesday game at No. 5 Union (8-8, 4-4) and a Friday battle at No. 6 Owasso (11-6, 6-2).

Sapulpa will host Bixby (6-10, 1-6) on Tuesday and Union on Friday. 

In junior varsity action the Sandites won 65-40 behind 17 points from Alijah Roper and 11 from Kade Holland.

CPHS 62 Sapulpa 46
1Q: CPHS 19-9.
2Q: Sapulpa 14-12.
3Q: CPHS 13-9.
4Q: CPHS 18-14.
Free Throws: CPHS 10-of-14, Sapulpa 10-of-14.
Field Goals: CPHS 22-of-39, Sapulpa 15-of-49.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 6, Sapulpa 5.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 27, Sapulpa 12.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 33, Sapulpa 17.
Steals: CPHS 8, Sapulpa 11.
Blocks: CPHS 2, Sapulpa 0.
Fouls: CPHS 17, Sapulpa 13.

Sand Springs (Unofficial) Stats

Scoring: Clark 12, Dickson 12, Kelly 10, Askew 8, Oakley 8, Brockman 8, Roper 4.
Offensive Rebounds: Askew 2, Clark 1, Kelly 1, Oakley 1, Roper 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Oakley 14, Kelly 4, Dickson 3, Brockman 3, Clark 2, Askew 1.
Total Rebounds: Oakley 15, Kelly 5, Clark 3, Askew 3, Dickson 3, Brockman 3, Roper 1.
Steals: Clark 4, Roper 2, Askew 1, Kelly 1.
Assists: Oakley 3, Kelly 2, Clark 1, Askew 1, Brockman 1.
Blocks: Kelly 1, Dickson 1.
Fouls: Oakley 4, Brockman 4, Askew 3, Kelly 3, Dickson 2, Roper 1.

Sapulpa Stats

Scoring: Edwards 20, Lindsey 12, Read 5, Hobbs 5, Lewis 2, Abbuge 2.
Fouls: Lindsey 3, Hobbs 3, Edwards 2, Abbuge 2, Willoby 1, Read 1, Lewis 1.

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

/

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

/

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.