9 Sandites remain at State, only slightly behind Broken Arrow and Choctaw

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The remaining Sandites have about an hour long break before the next round begins at the 6A State Championship in Oklahoma City. 

Charles Page wrestling qualified eleven for the tournament with seven Regional Champions, more than either Broken Arrow or the Dual State Champions from Choctaw. Unfortunately 220 pound junior and Regional Champion Delvin Jordan was unable to participate dropping the number to nine. 

106 freshman Riley Weir (20-12) came in third at Regionals and was pitted against Choctaw's Colt Newton (40-3) in the first round and was pinned in 0:41. From there he was majored 14-4 by Yukon's Braden Fowler and eliminated. 

113 Regional Champion Michael Ritchey (22-16) was defeated in round one by Westmoore's Wes Hardin (31-11) by a narrow 5-2 decision but managed to hold the lead in the next match for a 5-3 victory over Spencer Schickram (14-9) of Ponca City. 

120 Regional Champion Blake Sargent (36-10) went into overtime with Zackery Bibb (24-5) of Capitol Hill and lost 4-2 in the tie breaker round. He fell in an early hole to Justin Gundlach (29-11) of Moore and trailed 3-2 going into the final period, but rallied for a takedown and pin at 5:14 to stay alive in the consolation bracket. 

126 two-time undefeated State Champion Daton Fix (44-0) pinned Bobby Robinson (30-13) of Deer Creek in 1:37.

132 Regional Champion Jack Karstetter (38-7) breezed through his first match with a 17-2 tech fall over Norman's Jeffrey Adams (23-12) in 5:42.  

138 Regional Champion Beau Bratcher (40-6) pinned Choctaw's Jeff Speer (23-10) in 4:48. 

145 Regional Champion Payton Scott (18-4) pinned Westmoore's Trey Painter (32-10) in 3:52.  

160 Regional Runner-Up Zane Basma (32-11) scored an 8-3 decision over Sam Hensley (31-13) of Edmond Memorial.  

170 Trace Fleischman (10-4) placed fourth at Regionals but rebounded big time at State with a 3-1 upset of West Regional Champion Jacob Schimmels (23-6) of Edmond. 

The top three teams are as close now as they have been all season with Broken Arrow at 25.5, Choctaw at 25, and Sand Springs at 23.5.  

The semi finals will begin at 7:15.  

Savage scores 24 as Sandite streak comes to a stop at Sapulpa

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

Stat source: Scott Emigh and Morgan Miller, Staff

The No.14 ranked Charles Page High School varsity basketball team (14-6) won four games straight before seeing that streak come to an end at Sapulpa High School Chieftain Center Tuesday night.

Earlier this season Sand Springs defeated the No.11 Sapulpa team (16-4) 69-60 at home. Since then, both teams have given up losses to Owasso and Jenks, but where the Sandites fell 57-52 to Union, Sapulpa pulled off a two-point win. 

Perhaps it was the home field advantage, but this time around it was Sapulpa with the 9 point rivalry win.

Sand Springs started in the hole from the get-go with Sapulpa senior Alex Ogunseye hitting two free throws and a layup for a 4-0 Chieftain advantage. The Sandite hero of the night, sophomore Colt Savage, put up two, but Sapulpa freshman Julian Smith sank a three soon after.

The biggest problem of the night for Sand Springs was accuracy. While Savage impressed with a 67% field goal rate, when you remove him from the equation the team accuracy drops to only 32%. 

Junior Kyle Keener missed back-to-back point blank field goals before sophomore Brooks Haddock finally sent the rebound in for two. Julian Smith and Sandite senior Arvionte Nichols each added two, then Keener had back to back layups for the first lead of the game for Sand Springs.

That's when junior Keenan Ballance showed up with a pair of threes and Ogunseye slammed a dunk at the buzzer to carry a 19-13 lead into the second quarter.

Savage hit the first basket of the second period, but Ballance scored 8 straight and Sapulpa held a double digit halftime advantage at 35-25.

At one point Sapulpa led by a much as 18 before Sand Springs went on a 9-0 run by Savage and Haddock. Smith hit a free throw and a layup to break the streak, but Sand Springs went right back at it with a freebie by Nichols, a layup by Fort Hayes State football commit Jacob Taber, and back-to-back threes from Savage to narrow it to 48-45.

Haddock sent senior Khaleel Marshall to the line to shoot two. Marshall shot one-for-two, but Savage sank a two to make it a two-point gap for the first time in three periods. 

The Sandites were on the verge of rallying for an incredible come-from-behind victory when Savage fouled out with 1:52 left to play. Without their top player of the night, Sand Springs slipped back into the deficit as their rivals avenged themselves with a final score of 58-49.

Sand Springs will return to action Friday night at No.5 Union (16-4) with only three games left before Regionals. 

#11 Lady Sandites upset by Bartlesville 46-41 in overtime

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller, Staff

The Sand Springs girls led for the entire game, often by double digits, until a late rally from senior Lauryn Washington put the Lady Bruins back in the game.

The 11th-ranked Charles Page High School varsity Lady Sandites (12-4) hadn't been tied since 0-0 and for all appearances they had an easy win over #17 Bartlesville (9-8). 

Bartlesville was like a pesky gnat, however, and wouldn't go away. Sand Springs jumped to a 7-0 lead to start, but the Bruins fought back within a single possession to end the first period 9-7. 

The Sandites went on a run to start the second quarter, with Holly Kersgieter, Sydney Pennington, and Destiney Johnson scoring back-to-back-to-back to double the Bruins 15-7. 

Jena Williams, Ronni Gilliard, and Washington sank a series of free throws to narrow it to 22-15 at the half. Free throws would prove to be one of the most crucial points of the game for both teams. 

Sophomore Gloria Mutiri scored seven in the third period en route to a thirteen-point advantage and it was beginning to look more and more like the Lady Sandites had this game all wrapped up. 

Then Washington showed up, scoring thirteen points in the fourth quarter to cut the gap to 2. With seven seconds left, Gilliard drew a foul and sank both of her free throws to tie the game up for the first time since tip-off.

At 39-all, the girls were headed into overtime for the first time this season. 

Bartlesville won the tip-off and Washington sank a two to give Bartlesville their first lead of the game. Pennington tied things up at 41, but Bartlesville went on a free throw spree to ice their cake 46-41. 

Despite their (at times) heavy lead, the Sandites had a rough time scoring, shooting only 35% on field goals and 5-of-17 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Bartlesville scored 14-of-16 on freebies. 

Mutiri shot 6-of-8 on field goals and tacked on a pair of freebies for a team-high 14 points, making her the lone Sandite to double in the low-scoring affair. Washington had the game-high, however, with 24 points. 

This marks two-straight losses for the girls who have ran up an impressive tournament record with wins over 5A #4 Shawnee for the Bishop Kelley Invitational Championship, and a tough Life Prep Academy team for the Interstate Classic Championship. When it comes to Frontier Valley, however, the girls have had a tough time with upset losses to Bixby and now Bartlesville. 

The girls are 5th in conference with a 4-4 record and big games looming against #5 Muskogee and #1 Sapulpa. They've more than proven they can take on tough foes, however, upsetting #8 Owasso and leading Sapulpa for much of that game before the Chieftains finally rebounded. 

The next game for the girls is this Tuesday with the Muskogee Lady Roughers (14-2) visiting Ed Dubie Field House at 6:00 pm. 

The Lady Sandites also lost their Tuesday night match-up against #4 Broken Arrow, 54-47.

Jack Karstetter takes first in Bobby Lyons Invitational

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Despite sitting out several key starters, the Charles Page High School wrestling squad was still more than capable of finishing third at their home tournament behind the #1 teams in 6A and 5A. After upsetting the #1 Broken Arrow Tigers Thursday night, the most important thing for the Sandites to do now is remain healthy for Regionals, State, and Dual State. #8 Riley Weir, John Jiminez, #2 Trace Fleischman, #7 Lane Lettich, and Delvin Jordan all set out the tournament to rest and recover, and several backups got to see their first varsity action of the season. 

(Part Two of Five...)

The Sandites had two wrestlers at 126. Wrestling unattached and making his season varsity debut was Ian Baustert (0-2) who was pinned in 3:27 by Grapevine, Texas's Samuel Hodges, and defeated by 6-2 decision by Kyle Jones of Oologah. 

Also at 126 was #1 Jack Karstetter (21-6) who made quick work of Sapulpa's Tanner Frew, pinning him in 1:12, then beating that time with a 0:33 pin of Jones. His next match was a lot closer, only a 6-3 decision over 3A state qualifier and fellow Team BIG member Louden Akin of Sperry. It was more than enough to earn him his way to the finals, however, where he would get a rematch against Broken Arrow's #4 Brady Mattioda. Mattioda came ready to battle, and tied him 1-1 to force overtime. The two had met thrice before, each time Karstetter came out on top by major decision. This time it was a close 3-1 sudden victory, but Karstetter still got the win and the first place finish. 

See Related: 

http://www.sanditepride.com/wrestling/160117sargentsstourney

http://www.sanditepride.com/wrestling/160117fixsstourney

http://www.sanditepride.com/wrestling/160118bratchersstourney

 

#20 Jenks Trojans upset #10 Sandites

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity dribblers still hold their #10 ranking, but have been going in the opposite direction from where they started.  

After starting the season 7-0, the boys have given up four straight and gave up a close loss to the #20 Jenks Trojans whom they should have handled easily. 

The Sandites got on the board first with a layup by Arvionte Nichols, but TJ Washington shot three from three-point range, broken up by a Kyle Keener free throw, to make the score 9-3. Once more it would appear the Trojans were having difficulty at the score table, however, and the score was only updated to 7-3--a mistake that would not be corrected.  

The Trojan scoring frenzy continued till they had worked up a 22-9 first quarter lead.

The second quarter belonged to Sand Springs, however, as the Sandites found their mojo and doubled the home team 16-8 by half time. The visitors still trailed by 5 (three according to the scoreboard) but they were clearly on the up-and-up.  

The Sandites won the third quarter as well, but only by 12-11 and still trailed by four going into the final period.  

Both teams battled valiantly but ultimately it came down to a series of desperation fouls and the Trojans came out on top for a 53-48 finish with Washington sinking a pair of freebies for an incredible 28 point game high. 

Keener and Haddock both doubled but it was a shortage of rebounds that ultimately did the Sandites in.  

Jacob Garbey scores 21 in JV loss to Jenks

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The JV Sandite boys got off to a great start against the Jenks junior Trojans Friday night at Frank Herald Stadium, battling back and forth before taking a 19-17 lead at the end of the first.

The boys led by as much as 27-19 at one point before the home team went on a scoring streak nearly catching up 29-27 at the half.  

At some point during halftime the score was changed to 27-27 and the opposing teams were unable to reach a consensus on the score and the home team had their way. 

Not that those two points mattered in the end however, as the Trojans out scored the Sandites 23-8 in the third with 16 unanswered points before Josh Taber sank a pair of free throws.

Riding a 13 point advantage into the final period, the Trojans added another 11 to finish 61-44, or 61-42 according to the scoreboard. 

The boys fall to 1-5 on the season, despite a great performance from Jacob Garbey who scored an outstanding 21 points.