Sandite Basketball Pummels Crossover Prep 98-47

All 15 members of the Sand Springs boys’ basketball team saw substantial playing time, 13 made their way into the scorebook, and four scored in double digits Friday night as the Sandites pummeled Crossover Prep 98-47 in the second round of the Tulsa Memorial Veterans Invitational.

It was the highest-scoring game and largest margin of victory for the Sandites since 2020, and the second-highest scoring game of Eric Savage’s Sand Springs coaching tenure.

“I was more worried about stopping them after that first quarter,” said Savage. “They were hitting everything. We didn’t have as much intensity coming out of the gate probably as we needed to.”

Crossover was probably feeling fairly confident after taking a 26-22 lead into the second period, but Blake Johnson kicked off an 18-point run for the Sandites, who shut out the Lions for the first five minutes of the quarter.

Augustine Pickard hit a three-pointer to stop the streak, but the Sandites just started another, scoring 19 in a row through the end of the half and into the third.

“This is new for a lot of these guys,” said Savage. “Learning how to handle and take that next step on being a quality team is what we’re trying to learn.”

“Second quarter, everything changed. Held them to three points. That kind of got us rolling and after that we got to go deep in the bench. Everybody contributed and got to play valuable minutes.”

The Sandites didn’t wait till the fourth quarter to start substituting, with 12 different players seeing action in the first quarter alone. Once Crossover started to make a game of it, the starters saw more playing time in the second period until the double-digit lead was established.

“We’re trying to develop some depth and trying to see some guys with some different lineups and see what works best,” said Savage.

“The guys that we subbed in played well and so those starters got to sit over there for a little bit in the first half.”

Johnson established himself as a threat in the paint early on, ending the night with a career-best 16 points and 9 rebounds. He had 8 points and 6 boards in the first quarter alone, scoring all four buckets on putbacks.

The junior power forward missed two games after suffering a concussion early in the first game of the year, but the Sandites have won three in a row since he rejoined the lineup.

“We had a rough start to the year but we’re really figuring it out and meshing as a team,” said Johnson. “One game at a time, one win at a time, that’s all it takes.”

“It drove me crazy sitting on the bench watching us, but you’ve got to control what you can control. I knew God had a plan for me, I knew He had the perfect timing, so it is what it is.”

Deke Thompson III led the Sandites for the fifth time this season, scoring 23 points through the first three quarters. The junior transfer from Jenks is averaging 19.7 points per game thus far on the season.

“He’s a proven scorer,” said Savage. “He’s a good athlete and a good defender as well. He’s kind of got what we’ve been missing the past few years.”

“He provides a lot of energy and that’s contagious to everybody around him. Right now I would say he’s probably more of our emotional leader as well. Him and Blake Johnson probably take that on the most.”

Kason Evans, another Jenks transfer, scored 6 points with 5 rebounds, with most of his playing time coming in the middle two quarters.

“They’ve been game changers,” said Johnson. “They’ve been great teammates, great team chemistry. Deke brings a new scoring aspect, Kason brings a little bit of a dog mentality…they’ve been real huge for us.”

Khalil Allen had a big night as well, matching his career-high with 14 points while collecting 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Kooper Kelly added 12 points and is averaging 11.5 as the team’s number-two scorer this season.

The Sandites (3-3) will wrap up the Memorial festival with a 3:30 p.m. game against KIPP (1-9). That game also figures to be a high-scoring affair as the Bulldogs lost their first two games against Memorial and Collinsville by a combined score of 187 to 73.

Crossover (6-7) will play Memorial (7-2) at 2:00 p.m.

CPHS 98 Crossover 47

1Q: Crossover 26-22.
2Q: CPHS 26-3.
3Q: CPHS 29-7.
4Q: CPHS 21-11.
Free Throws: CPHS 10-of-15, Crossover 3-of-8.
Field Goals: CPHS 43-of-80, Crossover 17-of-59.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 16, Crossover 3.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 37, Crossover 22.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 53, Crossover 22.
Steals: CPHS 14, Crossover 4.
Blocks: CPHS 7, Crossover 2.
Fouls: CPHS 12, Crossover 10.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Thompson 23, Blake 16, Allen 14, Kelly 12, Roper 8, Evans 6, Mitchell 4, Ketcher 4, K. Smith 3, Fueshko 2, Young 2, Shope 2, T. Smith 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Johnson 5, Allen 4, Thompson 3, Evans 1, K. Smith 1, Collins 1, Kethcher 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Allen 6, Roper 5, Johnson 4, Evans 4, Collins 4, Young 3, K. Smith 3, Thompson 2, Kelly 2, Shope 2, Mitchell 1, Betchan 1.
Total Rebounds: Allen 10, Johnson 9, Thompson 5, Roper 5, Evans 5, Collins 5, K. Smith 4, Young 3, Shope 2, Kelly 2, Mitchell 1, Betchan 1, Ketcher 1.
Steals: Roper 3, Kelly 3, Thompson 2, Johnson 1, Evans 1, Mitchell 1, Shope 1, T. Smith 1, Ketcher 1.
Assists: Roper 4, Young 2, Allen 1, Thompson 1, Johnson 1, Kelly 1, Fueshko 1, Mitchell 1, K. Smith 1.
Blocks: Allen 2, Thompson 2, Kelly 1, Shope 1, Collins 1.
Fouls: Young 3, Johnson 2, Roper 2, Kelly 2, Allen 1, Evans 1, Shope 1.

Crossover Prep Statistics

Points: Pickard 17, Terrell 12, Laird 5, Cowans 4, Shaw 3, McBee 2, Oliver 2, Perry 2.
Fouls: Downing 3, Terrell 2, Pickard 2, Cowans 1, McBee 1, Perry 1.

Sandites Roll OKC Storm 69-47 Behind Thompson's 20

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On Tuesday night, Sand Springs boys basketball coach Eric Savage said he thought the Oklahoma City Storm (0-7) would be the toughest team that the Sandites would play at the Tulsa Memorial Veterans Arena Invitational.

If he’s right, then it should be an easy weekend for the Sandites, who pummeled OKC 69-47 in Thursday’s opener.

Sand Springs (2-3) jumped out to an 8-0 lead behind three pointers from Deke Thompson III and Kooper Kelly and never once trailed, maintaining a double-digit lead for most of the evening.

Kason Evans scored three buckets in the final two minutes of the first quarter to take a 16-6 lead.

A five-point run from Corbin Hamilton cut the gap to 18-11, but Thompson responded with a pair of treys and a dunk to double up on the Storm at 26-13.

Sand Springs took a 31-19 lead into the locker room and led 43-33 after three quarters. The Storm cut things as close as 43-37 to open the fourth before the Sandites finally ran away with things.

A pair of layups from Evans sparked a 17-2 run and the Sandites led by as much as 66-42 late in the game.

Thompson led all scorers with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, followed by Evans with 15 points and 7 rebounds. 12 of the Sandites’ 15 players saw action and 8 made their way into the scorebook.

Ayomide Adenle-Pinder led OKC with 13 points, followed by Hamilton with 12.

Sand Springs will return to action Friday night at 7:30 p.m. against Crossover Prep (6-5). OKC will look for its first win of the season Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Collinsville (4-0).

CPHS 69 OKC 47

1Q: CPHS 16-6.
2Q: CPHS 15-13.
3Q: OKC 14-12.
4Q: CPHS 26-14.
Free Throws: CPHS 12-of-17, OKC 4-of-6.
Field Goals: CPHS 25-of-61, OKC 19-of-56.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 17, OKC 11.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 21, OKC 14.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 38, OKC 25.
Steals: CPHS 8, OKC 9.
Blocks: CPHS 3, OKC 6.
Fouls: CPHS 14, OKC 13.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Thompson 20, Evans 15, Kelly 8, Shope 7, Johnson 6, Fueshko 6, Allen 5, Young 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Johnson 6, Evans 5, Thompson 3, Allen 2, Fueshko 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Kelly 6, Thompson 4, Allen 3, Mitchell 3, Evans 2, Roper 1, Young 1, Shope 1.
Total Rebounds: Thompson 7, Evans 7, Johnson 6, Kelly 6, Allen 5, Mitchell 3, Roper 1, Fueshko 1, Young 1, Shope 1.
Steals: Mitchell 2, Roper 1, Thompson 1, Allen 1, Johnson 1, Young 1, Shope 1.
Assists: Kelly 3, Thompson 3, Johnson 2, Roper 1, Evans 1, Fueshko 1.
Blocks: Allen 2, Roper 1.
Fouls: Fueshko 3, Allen 2, Johnson 2, Evans 2, Roper 1, Kelly 1, Thompson 1, Fueshko 1, Shope 1.

OKC Statistics

Points: Adenle-Pinder 13, Hamilton 12, Sejour 6, Sykes 6, Harland 3, Edens 3, Steele 2, Farrington 2.
Fouls: Sejour 2, Farrington 2, Sykes 2, Mills 2, Hamilton 1, Harland 1, Steele 1, Edens 1, Eichman 1.

Freshmen Tianna Butler and Aaliyah Simone Lead Sandites to Win over Putnam City

One of the biggest strengths for the Sand Springs girls basketball team coming into this season was its depth of size and talent.

That depth was on full display Tuesday night as No. 7 Charles Page High School (5-2, 3-1) rolled to a 68-51 district victory over Putnam City (4-3) despite being down two starters.

“Coming into this year I thought we had quite a bit of depth,” said head coach Josh Berry. “I didn’t want to test that, but that’s where we are right now.”

With Abigail Martin and Kiaryn Taylor on crutches, Hope Bump waiting on OSSAA clearance, Calla Fueshko still recovering from an ACL tear last season, and Sakauri Wilson out till the new year, it was the underclassmen’s time to shine.

The freshman class combined for 45 points and 31 rebounds, led by an astounding double-double from Tianna Butler with 22 points and 18 rebounds.

“That’s a good deal for her to have that coming into the break,” said Berry. “I think she’s got more in her personally. I’m going to expect more out of her. I think the sky’s the limit. She’s got to go and keep playing harder and keep making plays.”

Aaliyah Simone also had a career night with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals, while Neveah Garrison scored 4 points and Kadynce Young scored 2 on the first possession of her career.

“We’ve got a long ways to go,” said Berry. “We’ve got to get some of those freshmen up to speed, but they did a good job making plays and the end of the day it’s about making more plays than the other team and tonight I think we did that.”

Simone scored a layup and a trey to open the game and ensured the Sandites would never trail. Butler added a three-pointer soon after and was 4-of-6 on the evening, showing she’s as much of an outside shooting threat as she is an inside big.

The Pirates opened the second quarter on a 4-0 run to cut it to 15-11 but Yonni Morris went off for eight points in the quarter and the Sandites took a 31-20 lead into halftime.

Putnam City only got within double digits once in the second half, on a free-throw from Kayla Hill at 38-29, but the Sandites went on a 10-2 run and entered the fourth up 48-34.

Butler’s final bucket off the night gave the Sandites their biggest lead at 63-40 midway through the final stanza.

“Kadynce did a great job…scored on her first possession, applied some great pressure for us,” said Berry.

“Neveah did some great things off the bench as far as just walling up and making it hard for them when they were driving. They were getting anything they wanted to early on. I thought she kind of helped set that tone along with Jordan (Gilton).”

Morris put together her sixth consecutive double-digit game with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 6 assists. Tayja Butler also had a strong performance with a career-best 8 points and 4 boards.

“We’ve got a lot of different people that can score the basketball in many different ways,” said Berry. “We’ve just got to find ways for them to do that and be efficient with it. As long as we can do that, I think we’ve got a chance to continue to grow.”

Sand Springs will take the rest of 2023 off before returning to action at the Putnam City Invitational on January 4th.

“That’s a good deal with us missing so many people,” said Berry. “It gives us time not only to rest up but to practice. We’re going to have to play a way different style and we’re just going to have to figure that out over the month.”

Kayla Hill led the Pirates with 22 points, followed by Destinee Hunt with 12. The Pirates will host No. 4 Owasso (6-1, 3-1) on Tuesday to conclude the year.

CPHS 68 PCO 51

1Q: CPHS 15-7.
2Q: CPHS 16-13.
3Q: CPHS 17-14.
4Q: CPHS 20-17.
Free Throws: CPHS 10-of-12, PCO 15-of-24.
Field Goals: CPHS 25-of-59, PCO 17-of-76.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 14, PCO 16.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 33, PCO 18.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 47, PCO 24.
Steals: CPHS 6, PCO 14.
Blocks: CPHS 6, PCO 5.
Fouls: CPHS 19, PCO 15.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Ti. Butler 22, Simone 17, Morris 15, Ta. Butler 8, Garrison 4, Young 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Ti. Butler 3, Simone 3, Young 3, Garrison 2, Morris 1, Ta. Butler 1, Gilton 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Ti. Butler 15, Morris 5, Gilton 4, Ta. Butler 3, Garrison 2, Simone 2, Pearce 1, Young 1.
Total Rebounds: Ti. Butler 18, Morris 6, Simone 5, Gilton 5, Ta. Butler 4, Young 4, Garrison 4, Pearce 1.
Steals: Simone 3, Morris 2, Gilton 1.
Assists: Morris 6, Young 2, Ti. Butler 1.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 4, Morris 1, Garrison 1.
Fouls: Ta. Butler 3, Ti. Butler 3, Simone 3, Pearce 3, Gilton 3, Garrison 2, Morris 2.

Putnam City Statistics

Points: Hill 22, Hunt 12, Wright 9, Young 4, Booker 2, Aze 2.
Fouls: Booker 4, Young 4, Hunt 3, Hill 2, Williams 1, Aze 1.

Deke Thompson Leads Sandites to First Win of the Season

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The return of Blake Johnson from injury combined with a 7-of-9 first-half shooting performance from Deke Thompson III helped the Sand Springs boys basketball team coast to a dominant 71-56 win against Putnam City (3-4, 2-2) Tuesday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

It was the first win of the season for Sand Springs (1-3, 1-3), who started the year with a tough district slate and lost its starting power forward to a concussion in the very first game.

“We had a week to prepare after those three hard games and we knew we had to come out with some emotion and intensity,” said head coach Eric Savage.

The Sandites never once trailed, going on an 11-2 run to end the first quarter up 22-10 and by halftime they led 41-23.

“Defense was really good in the first half,” said Savage. “That kind of set the tone early. We kind of coasted and traded buckets in the second half.”

“When you’re up and can hold a double-digit lead, we’ll take that.”

The Sandites built their dominant lead behind Thompson, who scored a season-high 24 points with five three-pointers.

“He showed his shooting ability,” said Savage. “Same thing with him and Kason (Evans), they’re both getting more comfortable shooting. He’s a talent shooting the ball. When he gets going, he can score in bunches.”

Thompson and JaColby Williams traded treys to open the game, then Johnson scored three buckets in a row to make it 9-3 and the Pirates never tied it again.

Johnson scored all 8 of his points in the first quarter and ended the night with 3 assists, 1 rebound, and 1 steal despite seeing limited action for the rest of the game.

“Blake does all the little things that maybe don’t show up on the stat sheets all the time,” said Savage. “He’s kind of our glue guy. Everything moves a lot better when he’s in the game".”

Putnam held closer in the second half, only losing the third quarter 11-10, and won the fourth quarter 23-19, but never got within 10 points of the home team, even as the Sandites went 12 deep on the bench.

Fouls were a big difference maker as the Sandites had a season-low 13 penalties and none of their players got in trouble till late in the game.

Evans had a season-best performance with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Sandites’ first double-double of the year.

Kooper Kelly added 11 points and Alijah Roper had 10 to put four Sandites in double digits.

Sand Springs will return to action Thursday at the Tulsa Memorial Veterans Arena Invitational against the OKC Storm (0-5) at 4:30 p.m.

Putnam City will host No. 3 Owasso (6-1, 4-0) next Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.

CPHS 71 PCO 56

1Q: CPHS 22-10.
2Q: CPHS 19-13.
3Q: CPHS 11-10.
4Q: PCO 23-19.
Free Throws: CPHS 16-of-23, PCO 8-of-14.
Field Goals: CPHS 24-of-47, PCO 21-of-45.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 9, PCO 5.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 20, PCO 15.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 29, PCO 20.
Steals: CPHS 4, PCO 5.
Blocks: CPHS 4, PCO 1.
Fouls: CPHS 13, PCO 18.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Thompson 24, Evans 14, Kelly 11, Roper 10, Johnson 8, Allen 4.
Offensive Rebounds: Evans 4, Allen 3, Thompson 1, Kelly 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Evans 6, Kelly 4, Thompson 3, Roper 2, Fueshko 2, Mitchell 1, Johnson 1, Allen 1.
Total Rebounds: Evans 10, Kelly 5, Allen 4, Thompson 4, Roper 2, Fueshko 2, Mitchell 1, Johnson 1.
Steals: Kelly 1, Johnson 1, Fueshko 1, Young 1.
Assists: Roper 4, Johnson 3, Thompson 2, Fueshko 2, Kelly 1.
Blocks: Kelly 1, Thompson 1, Evans 1, Allen 1.
Fouls: Kelly 4, Thompson 2, Allen 2, Evans 2, Johnson 1, Fueshko 1, Young 1.

Putnam City Statistics

Points: Thompson 21, Williams 13, Stephens 12, Osborne 6, Locke 4.
Fouls: Perry 3, Thompson 3, Osborne 3, Williams 2, Denson 2, Stephens 2, Lloyd 2, Locke 1.

Lady Sandites Enjoying Successful Inaugural Dual Season

The Charles Page High School girls wrestling team (3-1) is enjoying a successful first dual season and picked up its third win of the season Tuesday night, 42-30 against Claremore a dual that came down to the final match.

Bailey Copeland, Ambrielle Chambers, and Laila Mirza all pinned their opponents to help the Lady Sandites bounce back from a 42-30 loss at 5A No. 12 Skiatook (2-0) last week.

Sand Springs wrestled two duals at Skiatook last Tuesday, winning 60-24 against Glenpool (1-3) before falling to the Bulldogs.

Copeland, Mirza, and Tessa Urrey pinned their opponents in the Glenpool dual.

Kenzie Johnson and Kelsi Hilton secured pins against Skiatook while Mirza recorded a 14-1 major decision.

The Lady Sandites will return to action Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in the first-ever Highway 97 Rivalry dual at No. 14 Sapulpa.

Journey Armstead Offered by Queens University at Charlotte

Photo by Andrew Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information.

An undefeated start to her sophomore season has earned Journey Armstead an offer to play at the Division I level.

The 2022 Charles Page High School alum announced on X Wednesday that she had been offered by Queens University of Charlotte, a private school in North Carolina.

The Royals are an NCAA Division I program competing in the Atlantic Sun (ASUN) Conference. Queens is 5-5 in the current season but has yet to begin conference play. Last year the Royals went 8-21 under now fourth-year head coach Jen Brown.

'Queens is in a rebuilding effort and has improved its win total each of the past two seasons despite moving up to the Division I level for the first time last season. They were previously in the Division II South Atlantic Conference.

Armstead is averaging 10.6 points per game while shooting 45.4% in the field this season at Hutchinson Community College. She also averages 4.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists.

The Blue Dragons are 12-0 at Christmas break and ranked No. 11 in the NJCAA. Hutchinson also benefits from another former Sandite in freshman Hailey Jackson. The Dragons will return to action on January 3rd at No. 3 Butler (12-0).