Sandite Volleyball Throttles Will Rogers, Shope Ties School Ace Record

After a tough three-match skid, the Lady Sandite volleyball team is back on track following a dominant 3-0 sweep of Will Rogers High School (8-16) Thursday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

The Sandites stormed out to a 17-0 start in the first game before the Ropers finally got on the board.

No. 16 Charles Page High School (11-10) won game one 25-5 before easing up and winning the next two 25-13.

“It was good to start with,” said head coach Skylar Jackson. “We let up quite a bit there but it was fine.”

Sand Springs dominated all aspects of the match from start to finish, totaling 36 kills while only allowing four. Most of the Ropers’ points came from Sand Springs mistakes.

Sophomore Brooklyn Shope tied the known school record for aces in a single match with 10, matching Madison Burris’s 2019 performance against McLain. Eight of those aces came during the 17-0 start to game one.

Freshman Adelynn Ray impressed on all sides of the ball, leading the team with 10 kills while also recording 11 assists, nine digs, and four aces. Hannah McKelvey led the team in assists with 23 while Shope led the defense with ten digs.

“It was a good time for that match to take place,” said Jackson. "We lost to Bixby (on Tuesday) but took a set from them and the girls feel pretty good about that.”

The Sandites lost a close first game on the road at Bixby, 25-20, before tying the match up with a 25-23 win.

Sand Springs stormed out to a 9-2 lead early in game two and never trailed, though the Spartans tied it twice at 17-17 and 23-23. A double hit gave the Sandites match point and Averi Tippit served an ace to steal the set.

Bixby (6-15) is unranked due to its strong strength of schedule but the Spartans are 4-1 in Frontier Valley Conference play and have stolen sets from many top teams this season.

The Spartans used a four-point run midway through the third set to break a 9-9 tie and never relinquished the lead. Sand Springs stayed close till 16-14 when a service error kicked off a 9-1 run for the Spartans and a final score of 25-15.

The final game was much closer thanks to a late Sand Springs rally. After falling behind 19-10, the Sandites found a rhythm with Jacelyn Smith scoring three kills in a row with assists from Ray.

Sand Springs was unable to tie it back up but the girls held close before falling 25-19.

Smith led the team with nine kills in that match, followed by Ray with eight. Tippit and Alia DeBerry scored seven apiece. McKelvey had a team-high 17 assists while Ray had 11. Evyn Morrow led the defense with 20 digs, followed by Shope with 16.

“Our girls just continue to work hard and continue to buy in,” said Jackson. “They’re a good, close team. We don’t have a lot of drama, they show up for each other and they work hard for each other. They’re a fun team to coach.”

Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday with a conference home match against Jackson’s former team - No. 5 Broken Arrow (15-7, 4-1). The Sandites are still looking for their first conference win of the season after an 0-5 start with four matches left.

CPHS 3 Rogers 0
(25-5, 25-13, 25-13)
Kills: CPHS 36, Rogers 4.
Blocks: CPHS 1, Rogers 0.
Aces: CPHS 18, Rogers 4.
Errors: CPHS 23, Rogers 20.
Service Errors: CPHS 10, Rogers 5.

(Sand Springs Stats)
Kills: Ray 10, DeBerry 9, Tippit 5, Smith 4, Shope 3, Pearce 3, H. McKelvey 2.
Assists: H. McKelvey 24, Ray 11, Morrow 1, Shope 1.
Assisted Blocks: DeBerry 1, Pearce 1.
Digs: Shope 10, Ray 9, Tippit 6, Morrow 5, H. McKelvey 4, DeBerry 2, F. McKelvey 1, Pearce 1.
Aces: Shope 10, Ray 4, Morrow 2, H. McKelvey 1, DeBerry 1.

Bixby 3 CPHS 1
(25-20, 23-25, 25-15, 25-19)
Kills: Bixby 48, CPHS 34.
Blocks: Bixby 9, CPHS 4.
Aces: Bixby 14, CPHS 11.
Errors: Bixby 35, CPHS 27.
Service Errors: Bixby 9, CPHS 5.

(Sand Springs Stats)
Kills: Smith 9, Ray 8, Tippit 7, DeBerry 7, Shope 3.
Assists: H. McKelvey 17, Ray 11, Morrow 2, Shope 1.
Solo Blocks: Tippit 1, DeBerry 1.
Assisted Blocks: Tippit 1, Shope 1, Pearce 1, DeBerry 1.
Digs: Morrow 20, Shope 16, DeBerry 6, F. McKelvey 4, Smith 4, H. McKelvey 3, Tippit 2, Pearce 1, Casey 1.
Aces: H. McKelvey 3, Tippit 3, Morrow 2, Smith 1, Shope 1, F. McKelvey 1.

Hughes & Hilton Pitch Perfect Games on Senior Night - Sandites Shut Out Hornets

There’s no telling how many hundreds of players Shelli Brown has coached in her 27 years at Charles Page High School, but she still got teary-eyed when she reflected on her current class Thursday evening on Senior Night.

“Senior Night is a tough one,” said Brown, after her team won two perfect games in a double-header against Booker T. Washington (1-14, 0-11).

“They’re all special, all bring back memories. We had some former players come back tonight and that’s always special to me when I get to see my kids that have graduated come back.”

Sand Springs (15-8, 6-4) celebrated four seniors between games: Kelsi Hilton, Morgan Rector, Gracey Massey, and Natalia Delgado.

Before the ceremony, Addison Hughes (9-4) pitched her second perfect game of the season, tossing nine strikeouts in the 16-0 five-inning run-rule win.

After the ceremony, Hilton (4-2) threw 11 strikeouts in a 15-0 five-inning perfect game.

Morgan Rector was the hot hand at the plate, going 4-for-4 in the first game with one run and five RBIs. Kenzie King was 3-for-3 with three runs and an RBI.

In the second game Hilton was 2-for-2 with a run and two RBIs while Massey was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs.

As a team, the Sandites went 19-of-31 at the plate in game one and 7-of-15 with 18 walks in the nightcap.

Of Washington’s 30 at-bats on the night: 20 were retired at the plate, nine were put out in the infield, and the outfield only had to make one play on the whole night.

“We’ve been working with this group because we’re so young,” said Brown. “We’ve been doing a lot of teaching. This group - I feel like they’re kind of like sponges. Everything we tell them and talk to them about, they really absorb it, take it in, and try to do it out here.”

“Seeing a lot of positive things, and for them to come out here and stay focused, sometimes that’s hard to do.”

The games pushed the Sandites’ win streak to six as they enter the final two weeks of the regular season. The winning momentum is a nice change of pace after a tough 1-6 run in the middle of the season.

“What I tried to do is get a good mix of teams that we can compete with, and play a lot of the good teams,” said Brown.

“Whether we win or lose, they’re going to make you better down the road. And I think this group realizes that.”

The Sandites have been battled tested against the likes of Edmond Deer Creek (18-4), Southmoore (16-9), Owasso (23-0), Edmond Memorial (17-8), Moore (24-3), and Broken Arrow (23-3) - all of which are likely to be in the State Tournament this October.

Through many of their toughest games they were without Hilton in the circle due to a throwing arm injury that appears to be mostly behind her.

“It feels good to get Kelsi back,” laughed Brown. “She’s been a great player for us all four years she’s been a varsity player. She carries that well and she’s a great leader for the team.”

The girls will wrap up district action with another home double-header on Monday at 4:30 p.m. when they host Yukon for Youth Night. Students who come in their softball jerseys or summer camp shirts will get free admission to that game and will get to join the team on the field during the national anthem.

“Yukon is going to be tough,” said Brown. “They have a great program. So Monday, even though it’s a double-header, we just take it one game at a time.”

Sandites Survive Wildcats 27-14 Behind Strong Secondary and Sturdy Backup QB

Caleb Goodman hauled in 6 catches for 88 yards and a TD against Ponca City. (Photo by Charity Emigh).

After rallying from a 21-0 halftime deficit with two third-quarter touchdowns, momentum was on the side of the Ponca City Wildcats.

But Sand Springs had an answer. After rushing the ball for only 64 yards through the first three quarters, the Sandites finally put together a methodical 15-play, 95-yard march to chew up more than seven minutes of clock in the fourth quarter.

The three-pronged attack of Ali McCoy, Kenneth Page, and Jace Arnold combined for 63 yards on the ground, capped by a four-yard plunge from Page to restore the two-score lead with only 2:12 remaining.

Then it was time for the defense to do what it had been doing all night.

Wildcat star quarterback Tay Moore juked and jived his way as far as the Sand Springs 22-yard line before the magic ran out. Owen Floyd and Hudson Sheppard combined on one sack, then Waylon Jeffers wrapped up another.

Moore tried to dump a pass off on Brody Wicker, but Dallas Elifrits drilled the senior receiver to make it 4th and 13. Finally, under pressure from Sheppard and Marcum Sims with nowhere to go but Elifrits’s open arms, he chucked the ball out of bounds for the turnover on downs and the game was secure.

Final score 27-13 - the Sandites earned their fourth consecutive win against the Wildcats (0-3).

6A-II No. 5 Sand Springs (2-1) entered the game on uncertain footing after losing starting quarterback Easton Webb to a shoulder injury last week against Bixby, but senior backup Jace Arnold showed his moxie, going 9-of-10 for 153 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

“I felt pretty good,” said Arnold. “I wasn’t nervous coming in. I felt way more prepared this week. We got a good game plan - couldn’t have done it without the coaches’ game plan and everything worked out how we wanted it to work out.”

Arnold, an Allen County Community College baseball commit, ended the night 13-of-23 for 207 yards with another 17 yards on four carries.

“That’s a young man that played as a freshman, quit as a sophomore to concentrate on baseball, but decided he missed it too much and came back,” said head coach Bobby Klinck.

“And now he’s able to come out here and help us win a football game. That kid’s an outstanding young man - I’m so proud of that kid.”

Arnold’s first touchdown pass of the season came on a 40-yard wheel route by Page on the Sandites’ opening drive.

Early in the second quarter he connected on a 56-yard toss to Caleb Goodman to set up a 1-yard dive from McCoy. Then he added a 22-yard dime to Goodman to go up 21-0 with 1:05 in the half.

“I played (quarterback) fairly often when I was younger, so I know a lot of these guys on the starting lineup,” said Arnold. “We’ve had that (connection) for a while, so I feel pretty good getting out there again and throwing it around.”

His primary target was Goodman, who had six catches for 88 yards, followed by Page with four catches for 66 yards. Wyatt Rutledge had 41 yards on a single reception.

Page also had 76 rushing yards on 21 carries.

While the effectiveness of the offense with a new general was a pleasant surprise, it was the defense that often stole the show, coming away with eight tackles for loss, three sacks, three interceptions, and six pass deflections.

Moore ended the night 15-of-26 passing for only 151 yards after throwing for over 250 last year against the Sandites.

The Sandite secondary effectively shut down his passing game with three picks in the first half, including two from sophomore Alex Dudley, who was elected as a defensive captain by his team this year.

“I’m glad that the team can count on me,” said Dudley. “As a sophomore, it really means a lot.”

Dudley made his first interception at the Sandites’ 7-yard line to prevent a potential game-tying drive early in the second quarter. His second came in the endzone and he returned that as far as the 30-yard line before being tackled.

“Coach Klinck calls great plays and puts me in a great position to make plays,” said Dudley. “When it comes to me, I’m going to try and make a play, no matter what.”

Dudley wasn’t the only playmaker in the Sandite secondary. Landyn Barnes broke up a fourth-down pass attempt early in the second quarter and Gatlin Gunn picked off Moore to end the half.

“It’s easy to play with those guys,” said Dudley. “It’s like a brotherhood. It’s amazing. I think we just click so well it makes everything easy.”

“They stepped up today,” said Klinck. “They were playing with a bunch of confidence…they’ve been working their tails off and it’s starting to show.”

The dual-threat Moore punished the Sandites with his legs, however, carrying the ball 15 times for 143 yards.

On a fourth-and-three early in the second half he got loose for a 44-yard touchdown run, then connected on a 15-yard touchdown toss to Wicker with 3:18 in the third.

The Wildcat defense was highly effective in the third, with Teegan Hodgson getting an interception and Hudson Haas breaking up a fourth-down pass attempt.

Penalties also derailed the Sandites throughout the night. Sand Springs totaled 135 yards on 13 penalties, though Ponca didn’t fare much better with 10 penalties for 80 yards.

“We’ve got to do a much better job of not killing ourselves as a team,” said Klinck. “We’ve been making that a priority. We’ve just got to figure that out.”

“But with Coach (Scott) Harmon, it’s always going to be a difficult game, especially here. These guys aren’t going to quit. They’re well coached, they’ve got good football players. That quarterback’s outstanding.”

“I was proud of our kids for handling adversity. When it got down to 21-14, that was a big-time championship drive at the end of the game.”

Defensively the Sandites were led by Gunn and Sheppard with seven tackles apiece, followed by Jeffers, Christian Freitus, and Floyd with six each. Gunn, Jeffers, and Sheppard had two tackles for loss apiece and Barnes had a team-high three pass deflections.

Sand Springs will really be put to the test next week as it travels to No. 1 Muskogee (2-1) to open district action at Rougher Village.

Last year’s meeting was a wild one as the Roughers took a 27-0 first quarter lead. Sand Springs rallied to 27-26 before Muskogee pulled away to win 48-26.

Jamarian Ficklin passed for 235 yards and six touchdowns in that game while Ondraye Beasley ran for 103 yards and another score. Both of those two are back this year as juniors.

Whether or not Webb will return to lead the Sandites is uncertain as he continues to work through an AC joint sprain, but if Arnold is called back up, he’s ready.

“I’m feeling really comfortable,” said Arnold. “We had a good game this week.”

The defense is also ready to prove itself on an even bigger stage.

“We’re ready,” said Dudley. “We want that. Everyone’s doubting us, don’t think we’re going to win. I’m ready for it. We all are.”

Box Score

CPHS 27 Ponca 14
1Q: CPHS 7-0.
2Q: CPHS 14-0.
3Q: Ponca 14-0.
4Q: CPHS 7-0.
C-A-Y-I: CPHS 13-23-207-1, Ponca 15-26-151-3.
Rushing: CPHS 35-129, Ponca 26-183.
Offense: CPHS 58-336, Ponca 52-334.
First Downs: CPHS 14, Ponca 13.
Fumbles-Lost: CPHS 1-0, Ponca 3-0.
Penalties: CPHS 13-135, Ponca 10-80.

Scoring Summary

1Q - Page 40-yard Reception from Arnold, Puckett Kick (7:59).
2Q - McCoy 1-yard Run, Puckett Kick (7:52).
2Q - Goodman 22-yard Reception from Arnold, Puckett Kick (1:05).
3Q - Moore 44-yard Run, Perez Kick (7:06).
3Q - Wicker 15-yard Reception from Moore, Perez Kick (3:18).
4Q - Page 4-yard Run, Kick Blocked (2:12).

Halftime Report: Sandites Lead Ponca City 21-0

The lack of starting quarterback Easton Webb, who is out with an injury, hasn’t slowed the Sandites down at all in their non-district conclusion at Ponca City.

Sand Springs leads 21-0 at halftime behind situationally suffocating defense and a breakout performance from senior backup quarterback Jace Arnold.

Arnold is 9-of-10 passing for 153 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, connecting with Kenneth Page 4 times for 66 yards and a touchdown, and with Caleb Goodman 4 times for 83 yards and a touchdown.

The defense has come away with 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 5 pass deflections, and 3 interceptions in the first half.

Gatlin Gunn has 4 tackles, 2 for loss, and an interception. Dallas Elifrits has 4 tackles with 1 for loss. Alex Dudley has 2 tackles, 1 pass deflection, and 2 interceptions.

The two teams have been very close in total offense with the Sandites leading 176 yards to 147, but the defense has come up clutch in key moments to preserve the shutout.

Arnold put the Sandites up 7-0 in the first quarter with a 40-yard pass to Page.

Ali McCoy punched in a one-yard TD run, set up by a 56-yard toss from Arnold to Caleb Goodman midway through the second quarter. Then Arnold tossed a 22-yard scoring dime to Goodman shortly before intermission.

Cole Higgins and Junior High Boys Win Ponca City Cross Country Meet

Cole Higgins led the Sand Springs junior high boys to a first place finish out of six teams at the Kelly Chaney Cross Country Invitational in Ponca City on Tuesday.

Higgins ran the two-mile run in 11:08.67 to take the gold with a nearly four-second lead on the runner-up. Corbin Wesson and Wyatt Shaw also finished in the top-five with times of 12:21.51 and 12:27.06, respectively.

According to coach Chris Corbin, it was only the second team win in school history for the junior high boys.

The varsity boys took seventh place in the field of ten teams, led by Rafi Huff with a 5K time of 18:03.68 for 17th place out of 62 runners. The JV boys placed ninth, led by Jaxon Perry in 21:28.21.

The Lady Sandites have struggled to field a full team this year and didn’t compete in the varsity run. Laila Mirza led the junior varsity girls to a 15th place finish in 25:29.78, with freshman Blakelee Meeker just three seconds behind her.

The junior high girls had a strong finish, however, placing third out of six teams in their two-mile run.

Chloe Grona placed third in 12:29.03, closely followed by Josie Grona in 12:55.04. Mya Wagers placed sixth in 14:01.1.

Sand Springs will return to action on Saturday at the 38th annual Holland Hall Cross Country Invitational. The meet will be held on the school campus with varsity boys kicking things off at 9:00 a.m.

JV Girls 5K
15th - Laila Mirza - 25:29.79
16th - Blakelee Meeker - 25:32.95

Junior High Girls 2-Mile
3rd - Chloe Grona - 12:29.03
4th - Josie Grona - 12:55.04
6th - Mya Wagers - 14:01.10
24th - Lexi Boone - 15:47.14
30th - Vivian Burr - 16:21.28

Varsity Boys 5K
17th - Rafi Huff - 18:03.68
26th - Dallas Potter - 18:30.40
36th - Anshun Syong - 19:28.26
49th - Jessen Cox - 20:25.71
51st - Kordel Hartmann - 20:30.39

JV Boys 5K
37th - Jaxon Perry - 21:28.21
42nd - Gavin Corbin - 21:31.09
77th - Malachi Waldrup - 23:24.35
78th - Gabriel Baker - 23:26.06
90th - Rhys Foster - 24:24.65

Junior High Boys 2-Mile
1st - Cole Higgins - 11:08.67
4th - Corbin Wesson - 12:21.51
5th - Wyatt Shaw - 12:27.06
20th - Daniel Stuckey - 13:27.06
30th - Canyon Carnahan - 13:49.79
32nd - Rowen Hull - 14:01.92
37th - Presley Gunnery - 14:27.09
69th - Dean Ernest - 18:18.96

Sandite Recruiting: Jace Arnold Commits to Allen County & More

Sophomore QB Easton Webb received his first Division I offer from UNLV.

Charles Page High School senior Jace Arnold recently announced his commitment to play baseball at Allen County Community College in Iola, Kansas.

“I’m excited to announce I’m committing to play baseball at Allen County,” tweeted Arnold. “I’d like to thank my family, coaches, and teammates for all their support!”

The right-handed pitcher went 3-1 last season on the mound as the Sandites won their first district championship in school history and finished the season 29-9 overall.

The Red Devils compete in the NJCAA and went 25-29 last season under now-seventh-year head coach Clint Stoy.

Senior Taiona “Yonnie” Morris announced she has received two offers to play basketball - at Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton and at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas.

Eastern competes in the NJCAA and went 17-13 last season, going 1-1 in the playoffs under fourth-year head coach Al Davis.

Coffeyville went 21-13 in the NJCAA last season, also going 1-1 in the playoffs. The Red Ravens are in their fifth season under Tony Turner

Sophomore quarterback Easton Webb, currently an Oklahoma State University baseball commit, recently received his first offer to play Division I football.

Webb announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he has been offered by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. UNLV competes in the Mountain West Conference of the FBS and is in its first season under head coach Barry Odom.

Notably, UNLV Director of Player Personnel Brad Odom was formerly the head football coach at Charles Page from 2004-2006, leading the Sandites out of a 28-game losing streak. He went 12-18 during his time at CPHS.

UNLV went 5-7 last year and is 1-1 thus far under Barry Odom with its only loss coming to No. 2 ranked Michigan.

Sophomore lineman Ryley Kester was also offered by UNLV, as well as by the University of Houston.

Houston is currently 1-1 in its first season as a member of the Big 12. Last year the Cougars went 8-5 overall while competing in the American Conference. Houston is coached by Dana Holgorsen in his fifth season

Kester also holds previous offers from Tulsa, Georgia Tech, and Texas Tech.