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.

Sandite Boys place fourth at Port City Classic, beat Catoosa 47-44

The Sand Springs boys’ basketball team (4-9) snapped a three-game losing skid Thursday, taking down Catoosa 47-44 en route to a fourth place finish at the Port City Classic.

The Sandites fell 54-37 to 4A No. 2 Victory Christian (13-3) in the semifinals, however, and 47-46 to No. 19 Tahlequah (10-5) in the placement round. 

Jason Clark scored 15 and Ethan Oakley had 13 points to guide their team to its first win of 2022. 

Catoosa took a 32-31 lead into the fourth quarter, but freshman Kooper Kelly came alive and scored all seven of his points in that stanza, while Oakley and Clark went a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line in crunch time. 

Clark scored ten more on Friday, but was the only Sandite in double digits against the Conquerors, who went on to win the tournament.

Saturday’s game was a real heartbreaker, as the Sandites had it all but locked away late in the fourth quarter. 

With only 23.3 seconds remaining, Clark laid up on a steal for a 46-41 Sandite lead. 

The Tigers wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, and Braylon McDowell hit a three with nine second remaining, then Shaun Young sent Kelly to the line for a one-and-one.

After the freshman missed his free throw, Hayden Smith snagged the rebound and the Tigers took a timeout to dial up a three-point buzzer beater from Brycen Smith for the win.

Clark once again led the Sandites with 14 points in the loss.

Up next for the Sandites is a return to conference action with a Frontier Valley road game at Bixby (5-9, 0-5) on Tuesday. Both teams are still looking for their first conference win of the season.

1/20/2022 - CPHS 47 Catoosa 44
1Q:
CPHS 11-7.
2Q: Catoosa 13-10.
3Q: Catoosa 12-10.
4Q: CPHS 16-12.
Free Throws: CPHS 10-of-17, Catoosa 19-of-26.
Penalties: CPHS 18, Catoosa, 16.

Scoring: (CPHS) Clark 16, Oakley 13, Kelly 7, Dickson 5, Askew 3, Jones 2, Brockman 1, Lair 1. (Catoosa) Brown 12, Miller 10, Lewallen 10, McCawley 6, Oxford 5, Hamilton 1.

1/21/2022 - VCS 54 CPHS 37
1Q:
VCS 16-7.
2Q: CPHS 10-6.
3Q: VCS 20-10.
4Q: VCS 10-10.
Free Throws: VCS 14-of-18, CPHS 5-of-13.
Penalties: VCS 15, CPHS 16.

Scoring: (VCS) Udoumoh 15, Patton 11, Doctor 8, Granderson 8, Malhi 6, Banner 2, Convington 2, White 2. (CPHS) Clark 10, Brockman 9, Kelly 8, Askew 3, Foster 2, Dickson 2, Oakley 2, Hayes 1.

1/22/2022 - Tahlequah 47 CPHS 46
1Q:
Tahlequah 10-8.
2Q: Tahlequah 11-11.
3Q: CPHS 12-11.
4Q: Tahlequah 15-15.
Free Throws: Tahlequah 3-of-7, CPHS 7-of-12.
Penalties: Tahlequah 12, CPHS 11.

Scoring: (Tahlequah) H. Smith 16, Joice 11, Young 9, Matlock 5, McDowell 3, B. Smith 3. (CPHS) Clark 14, Kelly 9, Askew 8, Oakley 8, Brockman 3, Johnson 3, Dickson 1.