Hailey Jackson Scores 26 as Sandites Defeat Union

For the second straight year, the visiting Lady Sandite basketball team defeated the Union RedHawks behind Hailey Jackson’s scoring prowess.

Last season the senior only needed 10 points to guide her team in a 38-34 affair. On Tuesday she put up 26 to lead all scorers in a 50-42 nailbiter at the UMAC.

“I was a little off tonight, but I was able to keep it somewhat moving,” said Jackson, who exploded for 14 in the fourth quarter to stave off a Union rally.

No. 11 Sand Springs (9-4) improved to 2-2 in Frontier Valley Conference action against the unranked RedHawks (2-7), who dropped to 1-3.

Jackson surpassed 1,000 career points last weekend and her leadership has helped push the team forward while it struggles with injuries and sickness.

“She’s doing what she’s supposed to be doing,” said head coach Josh Berry. “She’s a special talent and she’s a special person.”

“We’re finally getting some pieces back that’ve been out. That’s another thing is just getting everybody healthy and getting everybody back and this thing in late February.”

Sand Springs opened on an 11-0 run and never trailed in the game, leading by as much as 13 in the third quarter, but could never fully pull away from a balanced RedHawk attack.

Yonae’ Edwards bookended a 12-3 Redhawk run to cut it as close as 16-13 midway through the second quarter before the Sandites ended the half with 9 unanswered points.

Union won the third quarter to make it 33-25 but Jackson’s fourth-quarter theatrics were too much to overcome.

Edwards scored 12 to lead the RedHawks and Vanessa Colemand and Jamiya Woodard added 10 apiece.

Sand Springs will host No. 14 Owasso (6-4, 1-3) Friday in a rematch of the Bishop Kelley Invitational finals, which Sand Springs won 51-49.

Boys - Union 60, CPHS 49

The No. 19 Union boys (5-5, 3-1) won their fifth straight meeting with No. 18 Sand Springs (6-4, 1-3) Tuesday behind a 19-point effort from Cedric Dixon.

Dixon’s three-point shooting combined with his team’s inside height advantage proved too much for the visiting Sandites, who fell 60-49 after leading through most of the first half.

“He’s our guy that we look for to make shots for us,” said head coach Rudy Garcia. “He does a pretty good job. He hit some big ones there late when we needed some shots.”

The Sandites went on an 11-3 run to close the first quarter up 14-11, but Miles Flemmons scored three buckets in a 7-point second-quarter streak to take a 23-20 lead and the RedHawks never relinquished it.

Union never led by more than eight in the third quarter and didn’t take its first double-digit lead till a bucket from Korbin Gunn with under four minutes in the game.

“Sand Springs has been playing well and we struggled a little bit early,” said Garcia. “I was happy with our defense for the most part. I thought our guys defended pretty well.”

Flemmons scored 12 and Gunn added 11 to put three RedHawks in double digits but the Sandites’ Kooper Kelly led all scorers with a career-best 20.

“I was proud of my guys,” said Garcia. “I thought they played hard tonight.”

The teams will get a rematch on February 14th at Sand Springs. Union will return to action Friday on the road at 5A No. 16 Sapulpa (5-8, 1-3)

(Girls)
CPHS;13;12;8;17;--;50.
Union;6;7;12;17;--;42.

CPHS: Jackson 26, Wilson 7, Martin 5, Morris 4, Taylor 4, Butler 2, Fueshko 2.
Union: Hishaw 12, Coleman 10, Woodard 10, Bettis 4, McSwain 4, Stith 2.

(Boys)
CPHS;14;8;13;14;--;49.
Union:11;16;14;19;--;60.

CPHS: Kelly 20, Roper 10, Johnson 6, Foster 5, Holland 4, Allen 4.
Union: Dixon 19, Flemmons 12, Gunn 11, Madrid 8, Gilayard 3, Chappelle 3, Miller 2, Bowen 2.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Kelsi Hilton wins Diamond State Tournament

The Sand Springs girls varsity wrestling team took 25th place at the Inola tournament over the weekend with two medalists. Kelsi Hilton took second place at 130 pounds with three pins while Kreedence Behnke placed sixth at 100.

The junior varsity boys placed 10th at Inola with two medalists. Ayreson Reiss scored two pins and a technical fall in a runner-up performance at 106. Preston Callis was runner-up at 165 with four pins.

Hilton took first place at the Diamond State Lady Invitational over winter break, pinning three opponents for her first regular season title.

Laila Mirza and Madison Chambers placed third, Gracie Young was fourth, and Addilly Shotwell and Kreedence Behnke were sixth in Springdale.

The Keystone Kids crowned seven champions and 10 runners-up at the Bedlam Battle in Stillwater.

Brackton Upton, Maddix Spencer, Bryson Pope, Kasen McAffrey, and Trey Tunnell all won their divisions while Kydon Harness won in two divisions.

Jett Galloway, Na’Kya Canady, Caemon Young, Ryker Dawes, Jayce Parks, Eric Foust, Hudson Waag, Carsten Reiss, Wes Wilson, and Samuel Moore all took second place.

Boys Basketball

The Sand Springs varsity boys (6-3) have already matched last season’s win total with a third-place performance at the East Central Classic in Ada over the weekend.

On Thursday the Sandites won 51-42 against Ardmore (4-7) behind a 13-point performance from Michael Foster and 11 points from Blake Johnson.

They slipped against host Ada (8-3) on Friday, however, in a close 46-43 battle after leading 26-18 at halftime and 34-29 to start the fourth. Kooper Kelly scored 11 to lead the Sandites.

In the placement round Kelly was once against the team leader with 11 points in a 53-45 win over 3A No. 8 Hugo (10-4). Kelly was named to the All-Tournament team.

Girls Basketball

Hailey Jackson became the second player under Josh Berry to join the 1,000 point club at Sand Springs as the Lady Sandites (8-4) placed sixth at the Putnam City Invitational.

The senior star scored 28 in a 50-46 loss to No. 17 Norman North (6-5) on Thursday and added 17 in a 49-34 win over Muskogee (2-6).

In Saturday’s placement match with 4A No. 7 Harding Prep (12-2) Jackson scored 25 and put herself over the 1,000 mark with a third-quarter free throw. The Sandites lost that game 57-47.

Sakauri Wilson scored 13 and Kiaryn Taylor added 12 in the win over Muskogee, and Wilson added 17 against Harding.

Sandite basketball will return to action with conference road games at Union on Tuesday and will host Owasso on Thursday.

Football

Several Sandite football players are receiving college offers. Jacob Blevins, Kyle Morrall, and Ryley Kester have all been recruited by Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

Former Sandite offensive line coach Jason Medrano has been hired as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at NWOSU.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Softball Places Third at Bixby Tournament

The Charles Page High School softball (15-9, 5-3) started a successful week with a pair of perfect games and ended it with a third-place finish at the Bixby tournament.

The Sandites celebrated Senior Night with a perfect double-header Tuesday against the combined team of Tulsa Memorial and Booker T. Washington (0-15, 0-7).

Kelsi Hilton (7-1) struck out 10 and the Sandites totaled 15 hits in a 20-0 game-one rout. Addie Hughes (8-8) struck out 10 and the Sandites recorded 13 hits in the 10-0 second game. 

The Sandites rode that momentum into a crucial 8-3 district win Thursday against Bartlesville (11-8, 3-4) behind a six-strikeout performance from Hughes. 

On Friday the Sandites rolled to a 14-0 shutout of Union (6-18) in the first round of the Bixby tournament. Hughes pitched a one-hitter with six strikeouts and Mikenna Stephens went 3-of-4 at the plate with four RBI.

Hilton struck out seven in a 4-2 win over El Reno (4-9) while also recording three RBI in the second game of the tournament.

The win streak came to a close in a 6-0 loss against Perry (24-5) Friday evening but the Sandites got back in the win column with a 5-1 victory over Raymore Peculiar (7-6) Saturday morning. 

To cap off the week, Hilton hit a walk-off RBI single to prevail 5-4 over Coweta (16-7) and pay back an August defeat. 

Hilton batted .583 on the week with a team-high 14 hits, three triples, 13 RBI, and 11 runs. Morgan Rector was .565 at the plate with 13 hits, six RBI, and 12 runs.

Hilton went 3-0 in the circle with a 1.44 ERA and Hughes was 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA.

Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. with a key district game at Jenks (19-3, 10-0), then will travel to Stillwater (14-6, 6-3) Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

Cross Country

Josie Grona led the Sandite elementary with a fourth-place finish at the Sapulpa Chieftain meet, Saturday, September 3rd. She ran the one-mile race in 6:23.36. Kellen Adkins was 18th to lead the boys in 6:47.05.

Kelsi Hilton led the varsity girls with a ninth place finish, running the two-mile in 13:29.31. Taigh Wright led the boys in 12:23.49.

Chloe Grona was runner-up in the junior high girls’ one-mile run, finishing in 5:59.85. Dax Wilcox was the top junior high boy, placing 14th in 5:54.46. 

On September 10th the Sandites took a depleted roster to Broken Arrow. 

Wright led the boys with a 50th place finish, running the 5K in 19:38.80. Gracie Gifford led the girls, finishing in 26:11.92 for 57th place. Melany Lamb led the junior high girls, placing 63rd in 37:08.79. 

Volleyball

The No. 15 Sandite volleyball team (7-6) snapped a five-match skid with a 3-0 sweep of Pryor (2-15) Tuesday night on the road. Sand Springs won 25-14, 25-10, and 25-14.

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with a conference rivalry game at 5A No. 7 Sapulpa (13-10, 1-3). Sand Springs is 0-4 in conference action.

Football

The Sandite freshman class (2-0) continued an undefeated streak stretching back to its seventh grade season, winning 34-0 against Bartlesville. The eighth graders also moved to 2-0 with a 48-14 win against the Bruins. 

Wrestling

The first-year Lady Sandite wrestling program had a successful first meeting with prospective athletes. New coach Ty Bowling hopes to have as many as 20 girls in the program this season.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup:

Softball

The Charles Page High School fast-pitch softball team (8-7, 2-2) picked up an 11-3 road win at Union (3-12) but stumbled in district action, falling 7-0 to Stillwater (10-2, 3-1) and 5-3 to Bartlesville (7-5, 3-1) last week.

Olivia Alexander hit two doubles, Jaden Jordan hit a triple, and the Sandites combined for 12 hits Monday against the RedHawks. Ashlyn Clark scored a team-high three runs, while Jordan brought in four RBI. Kelsi Hilton (4-1) struck out four for the win, surrendering seven hits.

Addie Hughes (4-6) struck out an impressive nine batters in Tuesday’s home game against the defending district champions, but surrendered 10 hits while the Sandites only accounted for three.

Sand Springs had a strong offensive showing at Bartlesville, out-hitting the Bruins 10 to six, but stranded nine in the loss. Abby Glasglow was 3-of-4 at the plate and Jordan hit her sixth home run of the season.

The Sandites will host Bixby (6-5, 3-3) on Monday at 5:30 for Youth Night. Any students wearing their youth team jerseys or softball camp shirts will receive free admission.

On Tuesday they will host Jenks (11-2, 6-0) at 5:30 for Alumni Night. Former players will receive free admission and will be recognized during the game with a group photo immediately following the game.

Volleyball

No. 14 Sandite Volleyball (6-4, 0-3) is still looking for its first conference win after a tough 3-0 loss to No. 6 Bixby (8-3, 3-1) on Tuesday.

The Spartans won sets of 25-17, 25-23, and 25-12 behind 21 kills and 8 aces from senior star Olivia Vance.

Leading the Sandites were Payton Robbins with six kills, Hannah McKelvey with 10 assists, and Olivia DeWitt with 12 digs.

Sand Springs will travel to No. 3 Broken Arrow (11-2, 3-0) on Tuesday before hosting 4A No. 1 Regent Prep (15-3) on Thursday.

Cross Country

The Sand Springs cross country teams competed in the Owasso Ram Relays Thursday at Mohawk Park.

Chloe Grona placed third in the junior high 1.5-mile run, finishing in 9:56.02, followed by Josie Grona in 13th place in 10:42.89.

The varsity teams ran in a relay-style 6-mile competition. The girls placed 34th out of 44 teams with a time of 50:43.42. The boys placed 35th out of 72 teams in 39:00.09.

The Sandites will return to action Saturday at the Sapulpa Westside Sports Complex at 8:15 a.m.

Volleyball Wins 2022 Sandite Invitational

Courtesy.

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Sandite volleyball team didn’t win its first match of the Skylar Jackson era, but it did win the next six in a row.

After falling 3-0 to Union (1-1) in Tuesday’s home opener, the Sandites bounced back with a 3-1 victory Thursday at Glenpool (4-2) before winning their home tournament over the weekend.

Sand Springs lost close sets of 27-25, 25-19, and 27-25 to Union but won 28-26, 23-25, 25-20, and 25-16 against the Warriors. 

“Union’s really good this year,” said Jackson. “To be new to a program but to have the girls buy in so much and be so close with such a good team, I think showed them that they really are capable of doing a lot of good things.”

Good things indeed. The Sandites won their home tournament for the third time in the past four years, and this time it was against all 6A teams.

Sand Springs (6-2) defeated Ponca City (3-3), Enid (1-6), Southmoore (4-3), Choctaw (5-2), and Lawton (0-7) before falling to Yukon (3-5) in the final match of the round-robin tournament.

“To come out ahead (at Glenpool) and then come in our own home gym and play four matches in one day and win all of those was a good testament to how hard the girls are working and how much they’re buying into what we’re doing,” said Jackson.

Jackson is in her first year at Sand Springs after taking over for her husband, Derek, who left for Claremore. She was previously an assistant coach at Broken Arrow. 

“We served really well yesterday,” said Jackson. “We received really well yesterday also. Today our middles really were able to get involved and when they were, we were firing on all cylinders.”

On Friday Sand Springs won 25-7 and 25-10 against Lawton and beat Ponca City 25-23 and 25-17. The matches against Enid and Choctaw were far closer.

Enid won the first set 26-24 before the Sandites rallied 25-23 and 25-21. They defeated the Yellowjackets 25-22 in set one before falling 25-17 and rallied to win the third 25-17.

On Saturday the Sandites won 2-1 against Southmoore, 25-19, 19-25, and 25-23, to clinch the tournament title by virtue of head-to-head against Choctaw, who also finished 5-1. 

In the final match, Yukon won the first set 25-19, Sand Springs won the second 25-21, and the Millers rallied to a 25-20 victory to spoil the home team’s streak.

“I still think we struggle a little bit with some confidence at times,” said Jackson. “Size-wise, we’re middle of the road 6A and I think just not having the winningest record all the time can be a confidence buster.”

Historically, the Sandites have been one of the lesser teams in 6A, but have finished with winning records in two of the past three seasons.

“I think playing so close with Union and then beating Glenpool and then playing as well as we did shows the girls that we can do those things. But I think that we had a little bit of a slip of confidence there in that first set.”

Senior middle blocker Layla Lenex was named the tournament MVP and senior libero Olivia DeWitt also made the All-Tournament team.

Payton Robbins, a senior outside hitter, was also one of the top contributors for the Sandites. 

“She gets the ball often and she does a good job not only swinging but also in defense and service too,” said Jackson. “She’s really stepped up her defensive game this season and that’s huge for her.”

Knocking off a bunch of 6A teams from the west side of the state should help the Sandites earn a decent place in the rankings next week, but more importantly it’ll help sharpen them up before a busy Week 2.

Sand Springs will travel to Owasso (1-0) for a conference battle on Tuesday before competing at the Muskogee tournament over the weekend.

“We’re going to really work on blocking,” said Jackson.”I think if we’d have been a little bit sharper up at the net today in that Yukon match we would’ve shut them down a lot sooner and gotten them a little bit more frustrated. So we’re going to definitely work on blocking, which will be a big deal against Owasso.They’ve got some big hitters.

“And then working our middles in transition. If we can get them involved, it’s a good day. So we’ve got to be able to get them involved a little more often, even on not the best passes.”

Sand Springs will look for its first win against the Rams since 2017 when the match kicks off Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Sand Springs weekly roundup: Eli Buxton pitches perfect game in 20-0 shutout of US Grant

View fullsize

Left to right: Abbie Dunn, Daffaney Snyder, Caitlin Shipman. Courtesy of Dana Peacock.

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Charles Page High School baseball team (26-5, 9-3) started last week with a pair of run-rule district shutouts, 18-0 and 20-0, at U.S. Grant (1-14, 0-7) before taking on Oologah-Talala, Bixby, and Tahlequah in non-district play.

Jabe Schlehuber (5-1) threw a five-inning one-hitter with seven strikeouts in the first game and Keaton Campbell went 4-for-4 at the plate with two runs and five RBI to lead a slugging crew that amassed 15 hits.

Eli Buxton (2-0) pitched a perfect game in the nightcap, tossing 11 strikeouts as the visitors recorded 14 hits. 

Keaton Campbell continued his dominant night at the plate, going 2-of-3 with three runs, three RBI, and a triple. Ty Pennington was 2-of-2 with three runs, three RBI, and a home run, and Jace Arnold was 2-of-2 with two runs, three RBI, and a triple. 

On Thursday the Sandites traveled to Oologah (15-9) and won 11-4 while out-hitting the Mustangs 12 to six. 

Kayden Campbell (3-0) tossed eight strikeouts with five hits and two walks in five innings, while Gage Elliott threw one hit, one strikeout, and one HBP in two innings of relief. 

Keaton Cambpell led at the plate, going 3-of-5, while Schlehuber scored one run and three RBI.

The Sandites’ six-game win streak came to an end on Senior Night in a 17-7 run-rule loss to Bixby (27-5).

The Spartans scored five runs in the first, second, and third innings and out-hit the Sandites 17 to eight with nine home runs.

John Keim (4-1) took his first loss of the season, tossing two hits, five walks, and three strikeouts in two-thirds of an inning. Elliott threw 10 hits, one strikeout, and one walk in two innings, and Wyatt Rutledge threw five hits and one walk in 2.1 innings.

The Sandites also had strong offensive performances in the second and fourth innings, but couldn’t stymie the Spartan bats that combined for nine homers.

Pennington went 2-of-3 with two runs, three RBI, and a home run, and Keaton Campbell hit a solo homer.

Prior to the game the Sandites celebrated seniors Carson Seabolt, Jacob Shields, Cale Askew, Keaton Campbell, Jason Clark, Brooks Dudley, Nathan Gibson, Gabe Glenn, Keim, Ethan Norton, Pennington, and manager Avery Tanner.

Sand Springs wrapped up the busy week with a high-noon showdown at Tahlequah (9-19) and won 16-3 in five innings.

Arnold (6-0) got the win on the mound, tossing three hits, six strikeouts, and no walks in four innings. Buxton threw two strikeouts and one walk, surrendering one hit in an inning of relief.

Glenn and Dom Ornelas both hit home runs and the team amassed 11 hits overall.

Sand Springs will wrap up the regular season with a district home-and-away series against Putnam City North Monday and Tuesday, followed by home games against Sapulpa Thursday at 6:00 p.m. and Westmoore Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Softball

The No. 15 Sand Springs slow pitch team (7-12) picked up an 11-8 upset win against No. 8 Union (15-16) Tuesday but fell 8-0 to Bixby in the evening game and 16-7 to No. 5 Jenks (23-8) in Thursday’s regular season finale.

The Sandites will travel to Jenks for a three-team Regional tournament on Wednesday, April 27th, with a first-round game against No. 14 Guthrie (12-8) at 10:00 a.m. 

Sand Springs has yet to play the Bluejays this season, but they’re 1-2 against Jenks, upsetting the Trojans 7-5 at the Haskell tournament in March.

Golf

Gina Foster shot a 103 and Madison Chambers shot 116 at the Frontier Valley Conference Championship in Bartlesville on Wednesday. Chambers scored 108 and Foster scored 110 at the Skiatook tournament on Thursday.

The boys’ Skiatook tournament was rescheduled for Wednesday, April 27th.

Track and Field

The Sand Springs varsity girls placed ninth and the boys took 13th at the Terry Due Track Classic in Collinsville on Friday. The freshman girls and boys both placed eighth and Sandites won four total events.

Layne Kirkendoll won the high jump with a mark of 5 ft. 6 in. and the long jump with a distance of 17 ft. 0.75 in. Jestin Rawlins won the discus throw with a mark of 162 ft. 9 in.

Jazmin Lopez placed fifth in the 800-meter run in 2:32.42.

In freshman action, Gracie Gifford placed third in the 1600 in 6:37.39 and won the 3200 uncontested in 14:37.93. Briona Searcy was second in long jump at 14 ft. 9 in.

Caleb Goodman ran the 110 hurdles in 17.51 seconds for fourth place, Preston Kennedy ran the 100 in 11.8 for fifth, Jacob York ran the 400 in 1:00.56 for sixth. Kennedy also placed third in the high jump at 5 ft. 4 in. and was sixth in the long jump at 17 ft. 8.5 in.

The freshman boys placed third in the 4x100 relay in 48.01 and fourth in the 4x200 in 1:43.68.

Tennis

Kira Shipley placed seventh in No. 1 Singles, Abbie Dunn placed sixth in No. 2 Singles, and Caitlin Shipman and Daffaney Snyder placed seventh in No. 1 Doubles at the Broken Arrow tournament on Friday, April 15th.

On Monday, April 18th the girls won the consolation bracket at the Bartlesville tournament with Dunn defeating Muskogee and Ponca City in No. 1 Singles, while Shipman and Snyder defeated Edison and Ponca City in No. 1 Doubles.