Sand Springs Sports Roundup: Girls Basketball wins first playoff
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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.
Inclement weather couldn’t stymie the Sandites for long, and the Charles Page High School girls basketball team rolled to a 70-50 win against Muskogee in the first round of the regional playoffs Saturday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.
In a game that was originally scheduled for Thursday, the 6A-East No. 2 Sandites (20-3) won their eighth consecutive game to extend their season by an extra week against No. 15 Muskogee (2-14).
“They’re a good team,” said head coach Josh Berry. “They make shots and they don’t quit. You look at their record and you don’t see what they really are. They’re well-coached and they’re going to play hard.”
The Roughers held pace with the Sandites throughout the first half, entering the second quarter 12-12 and leading by as much as 23-19.
Journey Armstead and Kiaryn Taylor hit back-to-back three pointers to end the first half with a 35-29 advantage, however, and the Sandites never trailed again.
“We had everybody in foul trouble in the first half, but once we got in and got settled down, I think everything took care of itself,” said Berry.
The two teams combined for 37 fouls overall and 22 in the first half, with 45 free throw opportunities. Muskogee made the most of their trips to the charity stripe, shooting 14-of-18, while the Sandites went 18-of-27.
Zhayn Mayes scored 17 to lead the Roughers, followed by Akira Eubanks with 16, but the Sandites had three double-digit scorers.
Armstead led all scorers with 20 points, followed by Hailey Jackson with 15 and Taiona Morris with 10. Morris also collected a team-high five steals, and Layne Kirkendoll added 9 points with 9 rebounds.
“Layne did good tonight,” said Berry. “Kiaryn played well, Yanni (Taiona Morris) played well. It’s about that - different people stepping up and finding a way to win and I think we did that tonight. I think that’s a team effort.”
Next up for the Sandites will be a rematch with No. 7 Putnam City North (12-10), who won its game 53-47 in double overtime against No. 10 Ponca City (9-12).
The Lady Sandites previously beat the Panthers 50-33 at the Jenks/Union tournament in January.
“Hopefully we guard and don’t let them shoot some open shots, and make some shots,” said Berry.
“Tonight we made some shots and we haven’t done that in a long time either. We made quite a few threes. We need to continue to do that, continue to share the basketball, and play for each other.”
The regional championship will be played Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Sand Springs, and both teams will advance to the area playoffs.
Boys Basketball
The No. 14 Sand Springs boys (5-17) had their Regional playoff game postponed to Monday at 8:00 p.m. The Sandites will play No. 3 Putnam City West (17-5) in an elimination game.
Wrestling
Mitchell Smith (30-7) placed third in the 145-pound bracket at the OSSAA 6A State Championship on Saturday. It was the junior’s third trip to state but his first medal, and he was the only Sandite to earn a medal.
Smith won his first match 2-1 but gave up a 7-4 decision to West Champion Layton Schneider in the semifinals. In consolation he won 6-3 against Bixby’s Caden Kelley and 3-2 against Yukon’s Boston Powell.
David Ritchey and Zander Grigsby both won their wrestle-in matches, Carter Goodman won his quarterfinal, and Blake Jones won a consolation match to help the team to a 13th place finish overall.
Six of the Sandites’ state qualifiers will return next year, with Jones being the lone senior. Jones wrapped up his career with an 82-42 record as a four-time State qualifier.
Track and Field
Several Sandite alums competed in the Summit League Indoor Championship for Oral Roberts University on Saturday.
Aden Baughman placed 8th in the 800 meter run. Joel Mackey placed 14th in the 60 meter and 15th in the 200. Mitchell Mefford placed 14th in the weight throw.
Soccer
The Lady Sandite soccer team is off to a strong start in preseason action, winning 4-0 against Sapulpa before sweeping the Skiatook scrimmage tournament and outscoring their foes 11-0. They suffered their first loss 1-0 at Owasso.
The season will officially begin March 1st at home with non-district matches against Tulsa NOAH. The girls will play at 6:00 p.m. followed by the boys at 8:00 p.m.
Baseball
Sandite baseball took its first preseason loss, 13-5, at Owasso. The Sandites previously routed Glenpool 16-5, Tahlequah 8-0, and Lawton MacArthur 11-0, and tied Westmoore 2-2. Their season will begin March 1st at Guthrie.
