Hot Streak Continues for Sandite Boys Basketball

A 61-49 victory over Raymore-Peculiar (6-8) in the Jenks-Union Invitational opener Thursday evening gave the Charles Page High School boys’ basketball team its ninth consecutive victory, their longest win streak since the 2019-2020 season.

That streak came to a close on Friday in a close 76-72 loss to No. 4 Union (13-2) in the semifinals, but the boys bounced back with a 60-37 upset of No. 12 Jenks (10-5) for third place.

After opening the season 0-3, Sand Springs is now 10-4 and ranked for the first time this year at No. 14. Next up for the Sandites is a rematch with Union Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. at the UMAC, this time in district play.

Winter weather postponed two of the Sandites’ recent games. A January 9th home game against U.S. Grant (0-10, 0-6) was rescheduled for February 3rd and a January 16th road game at No. 5 Edmond Memorial (10-4, 5-2) will be rescheduled for a later date.

In between the two, Sand Springs improved to 2-3 in district play with a 77-50 romp at Bartlesville (2-9, 1-6) on Friday the 12th.

Deke Thompson III led the Sandites for the tenth time this season with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals.

Kason Evans scored 16 points with 9 rebounds and Khalil Allen matched his career high with 14 points, shooting 6-of-7 from the field.

Against Raymore-Peculiar on Thursday the Sanditse had four in double-digits: Thompson with 16, Allen with 12, Evans with 11, and Alijah Roper with 10.

It was the Deke Thompson show against Union on Friday with the junior going off for a career-high 33 points, followed by Evans with a double-double 13 points and 10 rebounds.

On Saturday the team took a more balanced approach with Evans scoring 12, Roper and Kooper Kelly scoring 11 apiece, and Thompson scoring 10 to defeat the Trojans.

Sandite Wrestling Routs Enid, Owasso & Union for District Championship

View fullsize

Sand Springs is headed back to Dual State after winning its 19th overall District Championship Thursday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

Sand Springs has now won back-to-back district titles under second-year head coach Ty Bowling, who has won five in a row including his days at Glenpool.

“I love Dual State,” said Bowling. “It’s an honor to be able to compete there. I’ve been on both sides. Having to stay home isn’t very fun. Having the opportunity to give ourselves a chance is special.”

The No. 5 ranked Sandites improved to 10-0 for the first time since 2017 after winning 77-6 against Enid (1-8), 46-18 against Owasso (1-7) and 53-16 against No. 15 Union (3-4).

“I think we all wrestled good, battled hard, and even if we lost, we did our job to not get pinned or whatever,” said junior middle-weight Preston Reyna.

The Sandites started off with a dominant win against Enid, jumping out to a 36-0 lead with six pins before the Plainsmen earned their one and only victory.

Dawsen Briscoe (6-5), Ayreson Reiss (4-3), David Ritchey (5-3), Colt Hood (10-6), Matthew Moore (16-7), and Jackson Burdge (1-2) all pinned their foes before Steven Brooks broke up the run by pinning Jesse Moore (13-4) at 144 pounds.

Reyna (15-4) got the home team back on track with a 17-1 technical fall in 4:44, followed by first period falls from Brody Ensten (17-6), Zander Grigsby (19-0), Jaxon Trotter (20-5), Peyton Callis (20-5), Jaden Allen (7-7), and Ryley Kester (2-0).

It was at least the 14th consecutive win against Enid in a streak dating back to before any of the current Sandites were alive.

Sand Springs got in an early hole against Owasso and trailed through the first eight matches before rallying to their third consecutive win over the Rams.

Dallas Thorpe pinned Reiss to open the dual and returning State placer Bryson Humphries won an 8-2 decision against Ritchey before Hood got the Sandites on the scoreboard with a 5-0 decision against Jaxon Truitt.

Matthew Moore picked up a big 7-5 decision against State qualifier Jaxson Humphries at 132, but Burdge suffered a pin by Ryder Seago and Jesse Moore lost a 6-2 decision to Mason Moore to make it 18-6.

Finally, Reyna kicked off an eight-match win streak with a close 4-3 decision over Derek Lockridge at 150. Lockridge scored a takedown in the opening period, but gave up a penalty point in the second and Reyna tied it with an escape in the the third before scoring a takedown.

“He was getting in his own head and I kind of felt that, so I just kept pushing it,” said Reyna.

“That was a good win,” said Bowling. “That kid was one match away from being a State qualifier last year. Preston was wrestling up to 150. Every time we’ve bumped him up to 150, he’s won every one of those matches so he’s done well for us.”

Ensten followed it up by pinning Kam Miller on a second period reversal and Grigsby gave his team their first lead with a 46-second pin of Corbin Smith.

Trotter pinned Ari Davis in 48 seconds, Callis received a forfeit, and Allen won a 6-0 decision against Chris Turner at 215 to clinch the dual.

Mason Harris (20-2) had the fastest pin of the night in just 29 seconds against Alijah Hills and Briscoe wrapped it up with a 13-5 major decision against Chace Hill.

In the Union dual Kase Skaggs (17-3) started things off with a bang, working up a 17-2 first-period technical fall against Jaraett Sims, then Hood pinned Ben Mielcarek to make sure the Sandites never trailed.

Matthew Moore lost a close 1-0 decision to State qualifier Dariuz Black and Burdge was pinned by State qualifier Thomas Toteh to make it 11-9, but Sand Springs won the next five matches.

Jesse Moore kicked off the streak with a pin of Asher Davidson and Reyna won a 2-1 decision against Reyon Williams.

“Those last two were tough kids,” said Reyna. “I can’t wait to wrestle them again. I love matches that are close like that.”

Ensten added a 7-3 decision against Uriah Delonia and Grigsby continued his undefeated season by working up an 7-1 lead against State qualifier Tanner Jarvis before pinning him in 2:33.

Trotter also played with his food before eating it, taking an 11-2 advantage against Ethan Kimrey before pinning him in 2:48 to make it 35-9.

State qualifier Wura Yinusa won a 17-5 major decision against Allen at 190, but Callis pinned Ezequiel Palos to clinch the dual at 215.

Harris added a 35-second pin of Contrell Richardson and Briscoe pinned Mason Mitchell in 2:23 for a 40-point advantage before Derrick Elmore won an 11-6 decision against Nathan Feather (0-1) to wrap up the night.

It was the Sandites’ fourth consecutive win against Union.

Technically there are no All-District accolades in wrestling, but if there were they would go to Briscoe, Hood, Reyna, Ensten, Grigsby, Trotter, and Callis who all went 3-0 on the day. Harris went 2-0 and Kester and Skaggs both won the only matches they wrestled.

Sand Springs has just one dual left in the regular season and will travel to No. 3 Broken Arrow (4-0) next Thursday, but first it will host the 56th annual Bobby Lyons Invitational Friday and Saturday.

“We’ve wrestled a good schedule,” said Bowling. “Each time we’ve wrestled they get tougher and tougher and we’re going to finish with probably the toughest one yet with Broken Arrow next week.”

Laila Mirza Crowned Homecoming Queen, Lady Sandites split with Ponca City & Westmoore

For the first time in Sandite history, the wrestling Homecoming queen was an actual wrestler. Laila Mirza was crowned in between a pair of victories as the Sandites hosted Westmoore and Ponca City on Thursday.

No. 9 ranked Sand Springs (4-2) won 42-36 against No. 13 Ponca City (0-4) before falling 54-30 to No. 6 Westmoore (3-0).

“We’ve been trying to take one dual at a time and handle Ponca City first, but we knew Westmoore was going to be tough,” said head girls coach Trent Cleveland.

“They battled us tough and ended up getting the better of us. We did have a couple of girls out of the lineup tonight. That probably played a factor but it is what it is, just got to roll with the punches.”

Sand Springs never trailed against the Wildcats, though the visitors tied things up twice and held close till the end.

Bailey Copeland took an 8-2 lead on Camila Bohon before pinning her at the 5:17 mark. Caryss Upton received a forfeit at 105 to take a 12-0 lead.

Ponca City tied things up with pins from Marli Arbona against Ambrielle Chambers and Toutie Bales against Trinity Owens.

Mirza responded by pinning Oakly Hunt and Gracie Gifford pinned Kaylie Thomas to make it 24-12, but Porscha Kreger pinned Audree Robinson and State placer Adisyn Ivers pinned Mia Bruns at 135 to tie it once again.

Kelsi Hilton gave her team its final lead by pinning Caitlin Cooper in 3:38, then Kayla Arnold and Tessa Urrey received forfeits to clinch the dual.

Fiona Schalk pinned Kadence Grant at 170 and the Wildcats received a forfeit at 190, but neither team had a heavyweight, resulting in a double forfeit.

In the second dual the Sandites never led but clawed back from a 24-0 deficit to keep things close before the Jaguars ran away with the final three weight classes.

Returning State qualifiers Kyrain and Krystan Perez pinned Copeland and Chambers, the Sandites forfeited 110, and Michaela Pinley pinned Owens to start the dual.

Mirza snapped the Jaguars’ streak by pinning Paula Galindo in just 42 seconds, then Gifford and Robinson received forfeits. The teams traded pins from there.

Zusette Arellano pinned Bruns at 135, Hilton pinned Ashlyn Hyde in 2:49, Izzy Galindo pinned Arnold, Urrey pinned Kaysie Gallope in 4:48, and Pearl Galindo pinned Grant to make it 42-30. Sand Springs forfeited 190 and 235.

Sand Springs came into the night with momentum, ranked the highest in school history after winning the Diamond State Invitational last weekend.

“We’re definitely coming off a high, going a state over and representing Oklahoma wrestling,” said Cleveland.

“It’s all kind of coming together at the right time. I couldn’t be luckier to have such a great coaching staff, support group, and wrestlers. The girls are really just coming out of the hallways just to try it out. We’ve officially got a full lineup.”

“It’s the first team title. There’s a lot of firsts going on this year and so now we’re really searching for that first State qualifier and that first State placer.”

Sand Springs also competed at the Supergirl 64 tournament at Union High School over the weekend, taking 15th place out of 46 schools.

Hilton took second place at 140 pounds, winning her pool with three pins. In the gold bracket she won two more pins, beating Bixby State qualifier Jay’la Ford in the semifinals before dropping a 5-1 decision to Yukon State qualifier Trysten Rittberger.

She was the only Lady Sandite to place in the loaded tournament.

“We try to give our girls a tough schedule so Regionals is not a shock when they go in there,” said Cleveland.

Sandites Crown Six Champions at Union Open

The Sand Springs wrestling team crowned six champions at the Union/Pryor Ice Fighter Open Saturday in Tulsa, including three high schoolers and three junior high wrestlers.

High School Boys

Preston Reyna won the 144A bracket with three pins, taking out Broken Arrow’s Robert Miller in the finals in 2:41.

Zander Grigsby won the 175A bracket, outscoring his opponents 25-2 with two decisions and a 13-0 major decision against Stillwater’s Noah Perkins in the finals.

Jaxon Grigsby was runner-up at 132BA, outscoring his first four foes 47-1 with three major decisions and a technical fall before falling 1-0 to Coweta’s Toby Shipman in the finals.

Peyton Callis was runner-up at 190, pinning his first two opponents and winning a 7-5 decision against Broken Arrow’s Braden Jones in the semis before falling 6-2 to Stillwater’s Parker Brown in the finals.

Kase Skaggs placed third at 120B, pinning his first two foes before falling to Broken Arrow’s Hudson Beckley. In consolation he won a pair of decisions.

Jaxon Trotter placed third at 175B, with a major decision, a technical fall, and a pin. He fell 11-0 to Edmond North’s Jude Randall in the semifinals but pinned Union’s Jeremiah T’eo in the consolation finals.

Ayreson Reiss placed fourth at 113A, winning three decisions in the consolation bracket, with both of his losses coming to the same wrestler. Broken Arrow’s Bradley Lazzerini pinned Reiss in the first round and received a medical forfeit in the placement match.

Matthew Moore placed fourth at 138A with two pins and a decision, only losing a pair of decisions including a close 7-6 finale against Poteau’s Jake Fredrickson.

Colt Chambers finished with a winning 3-2 record at 132BA, pinning his first three foes in the first period before being eliminated one round short of placement.

High School Girls

Ambrielle Chambers won the 105 bracket with three first-period falls, taking down Enid’s Kadence Fuksa in the finals.

Trinity Owens placed third at 115, losing her first match to Broken Arrow’s Kristen DeLaRosa before pinning her next two opponents in the first period.

Laila Mirza placed third at 120, pinning her first opponents in 0:24 before giving up a fall in the semifinals to Broken Arrow’s Emily Beckley. In consolation she won a 7-0 decision before pinning Union’s Ma’Kadrian Titus in 18 seconds.

Audree Robinson placed fourth at 130, winning a 12-3 major decision in the consolation semifinals before falling to Henryetta’s Kiley Haywood.

Kayla Arnold went 2-2 at 140 with a decision and a pin, but was eliminated one round short of placement.

Junior High Boys (8th/9th Grade)

Kaden Pope won the 132-pound bracket with four pins and a 10-2 major decision over Owasso’s Jaxon Truitt in the finals.

Hunter Fields placed third at 155 with four pins and an 11-0 major decision, only falling 7-0 to Booker T. Washington’s Maximus Houston in the semifinals. In the consolation finals he pinned Fort Gibson’s Kolt Stevens in 2:52.

Brody Wilson went 4-2; Caleb Childers and Joshua Compton went 3-2; and Andrew Price, Kellen Foster, Conner Mcentire, Elijah Hadley, Camryn Ewing, and Blake Norton all went 2-2, but were eliminated short of placement.

Junior High Girls

Kenzi Johnson took first place at 89 pounds with an 18-3 technical fall and a pin of Ponca City’s Jaycee Wardlow in 1:02 in the finals.

Savannah Taylor was runner-up at 102 pounds, outscoring her first two opponents 19-2 before falling to Broken Arrow’s Jaylyn Lazzerini in the finals.

Lyla Waldren placed fourth at 102 with a sudden-victory decision and a pin, with both of her losses coming to Cleveland’s Hannah Stephenson.

Faith Humble went 2-2 but was eliminated short of placement.

Boys Middle School (6/7th Grade)

Brody Flores was runner-up at 73 pounds, going 2-1 in a round robin with a decision and a forfeit.

Gage Buchanan went 2-2 at 119 but was eliminated short of placement.

Girls Middle School

Kambyr Lee won the 145-pound bracket with two pins.

Chloe Strawn placed third at 82, pinning McAlester’s Lily Dykens in 1:56.

Liz Cline placed third at 126 with a decision and a forfeit.

Baylin Maynard placed third at 138 with two first-period falls.

Brylee Smith placed fourth at 155.

The Lady Sandites also recently held the program’s first ever junior high dual meet at Cleveland, falling 48-30.

Griffin Sensintaffar & Kaden Pope Win Broken Arrow Open

The Charles Page High School boys wrestling team took fourth place and the Lady Sandites placed ninth at the 32nd Annual Joe Zamora, Skyler Holman Open in Broken Arrow this weekend.

The junior high girls placed eighth, the sixth/seventh-grade girls placed sixth, the junior high boys placed sixth, and the sixth/seventh-grade boys placed seventh.

High School

Junior Kase Skaggs placed third at 120 pounds with a pin, a tech fall, and two decisions. In the quarterfinals he won a 6-1 decision over McAlester’s Kam Hutchison, a returning 5A State finalist. Skaggs’s only loss was a semifinal fall against Broken Arrow State qualifier Hudson Beckley.

Freshman Kasen Mcaffrey placed third at 144 pounds, pinning his first opponent before losing a close 9-6 decision to Broken Arrow’s Robert Miller. He bounced back with a pair of decision in consolation, edging out two-time Sapulpa State qualifier Ethan Peterson 4-2 in the finals.

Freshman Corbin Wooley placed fourth at 150 pounds with two pins. His only losses were pins by two-time Arkansas State Champion Benjamin Smith and Broken Arrow State qualifier Kadence Roop.

Junior Peyton Callis placed fourth at 190 pounds with two pins and two major decisions, only falling 4-0 to Union State qualifier Wura Yinusa before getting pinned by Broken Arrow’s Braden Jones in the finals.

Junior High

Griffin Sensintaffar took first place at 86 pounds, dominating his bracket with two pins and a 16-0 technical fall.

Kaden Pope won the 132-pound bracket with three pins, including a fall in the finals.

Kenzie Johnson took second place at 70 pounds with one pin.

Rylee Allen placed third at 121 pounds with five pins, all in the first period.

Stefanie Ortiz placed fourth at 172 pounds, winning three decisions, including back-to-back sudden victories in overtime.

Middle School

Gage Buchanan was runner-up at 119 pounds with one fall and an 11-0 major decision.

Rowdy Ash placed third at 80 pounds with one pin, outscoring his opponents handily while only falling 4-2 in the semifinals in sudden victory overtime.

Zailyn Garland placed third at 80 pounds with two first-period falls and a 12-6 decision in the consolation finals.

Kambyr Lee placed third at 142 pounds with two pins.

Baylin Maynard placed fourth at 129 pounds with one pin.

Undefeated Sandite Freshmen Win Frontier Valley Conference, Beat Sapulpa 42-24

For the third time in the past four years, the Sand Springs Class of 2027 football team has laid claim to a conference championship after wrapping up a 9-0 freshman campaign.

The Sandites ended their junior high careers with a 42-24 rout of Sapulpa in a Highway 97 Rivalry game Tuesday night at Memorial Stadium to secure the Frontier Valley Conference National West League Championship for the second straight year.

“What we’re trying to build here at Sand Springs is a winning culture,” said head coach Thomas Parks.

“With these kids winning these conference championships and the team before them winning the conference championship - when they get into high school, all they’re going to be used to is winning, and that’s a good thing for the varsity Sandites.”

This class of Sandites also won the Indian Nations Football Conference AA Division during their sixth grade year.

“Sixth grade we went all the way undefeated,” said kicker Kaidyn Cowan. “That was a sight to see.”

But in seventh grade the Sandites were split into two separate teams and neither was able to make the postseason after dividing their top players.

“Eighth grade we came back, we were still trying to get used to each other again,” said Cowan. “There wasn’t that much teamwork in it, but we got it done.”

The Sandites went 7-1 last year, losing only to Carver Middle School, with whom they split games and shared the conference title.

This time around, however, they finished alone atop the throne after winning 20-0 against Muskogee, 12-6 at Bartlesville, 14-6 against Booker T. Washington, 26-8 at Sapulpa, 30-6 against Union, 44-22 at Muskogee, 28-0 against Bartlesville, 26-14 at Booker T. Washington, and 42-24 against Sapulpa.

“They’re tough and they’re resilient,” said Parks. “There’s been times where things didn’t go our way but we never got too down, we always came back, we always had an answer.”

“We weren’t going to back down from anybody, no matter who we played. We always showed up and played Sandite football. If we play good Sandite football, it’s good enough to beat anybody we come across.”

In the season finale against Sapulpa the Sandites took an 8-0 lead to open the second quarter on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Dom Forbes to Boston Kissee and a two-point run by Kendell Page.

After Kaden Pope recovered an onside kick for the Sandites, Gabe Harris cashed in a 39-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0, but Sapulpa would soon respond.

After putting together a six-play, 74-yard scoring drive, the Chieftains forced a quick turnover on downs and were driving downfield again with the potential to tie things up. But Gabe Harris had other plans, intercepting Sapulpa for a 74-yard pick six.

“Gabe’s been a really good player for us,” said Parks. “Early in the year he faced a little adversity but he kept showing up, kept working hard, and became a dynamite running back and a dynamite player in our secondary. I love Gabe Harris and everything about him.”

Page converted a two-point run and the Sandites averted the momentum shift, taking a 22-6 lead into the half.

The Sandites opened the second half with an onside kick recovery and cashed in immediately. From an empty backfield with a five-receiver set, Forbes shocked the Sapulpa defense with a 60-yard touchdown draw on the first play from scrimmage.

Sapulpa responded with a 56-yard scoring run of its own on the very next play, but Dawson Jamison stuffed the quarterback draw to prevent the two-point play.

Joseph Farmer returned the ensuing kick 73 yards to set up a two-yard touchdown dive by Page and once again the momentum stayed with the Sandites.

“This year is (Farmer)’s first year in Sand Springs,” said Parks. “He’s been an absolutely amazing addition to this team. He can play offense, he can play defense, return kicks, cover kicks - he does everything. He’s a coach’s dream as a player.”

Page added another two-point run to make it 36-12.

“Kendell didn’t get as many carries as he would probably like,” said Parks, “but whenever he was in there he did his job, he did it right, he ran the ball hard, and there are definitely more carries coming that kid’s way if he keeps showing up and doing what he’s supposed to do and producing the way he did for us.”

The Sandite defense came up big on the ensuing possession with Nikyllien Crisp and Hunter Fields getting a tackle for loss, followed by a tackle for loss and a sack from Grady Harris to back the Chieftains up to fourth-and-23.

“Grady’s the type of kid that shows up every day, does what’s right, does his job,” said Parks. “He’s not looking for the accolades, he’s not looking to get noticed, he just wants to do right by the team. He’s the ultimate team player.”

The Sandites shifted Kissee to quarterback and brought Christian Headley into the backfield late in the third and the two methodically worked their way downfield for a two-yard touchdown run by Headley for the final Sandite points of the game.

Sapulpa added a 45-yard touchdown pass on their next drive but Charles Palmer sacked the Chieftain quarterback on the two-point attempt. The Chieftains ended the game with a 73-yard hook-and-ladder for a touchdown as time expired.

Forbes ended the game 2-of-5 passing for 62 yards and had five carries for 78 yards and two total touchdowns.

Pope had two receptions for 45 yards, Gabe Harris had four carries for 62 yards, and Kissee had four carries for 62 yards to go with his 56 receiving yards.

“Boston Kissee is another one of those players that’s a coach’s dream,” said Forbes. “He can play offense, he can play defense, he plays on both of our special teams, he comes to every meeting, he shows up and works hard. I never have to worry if Boston Kissee is doing the right thing. When he gets in at quarterback I have complete trust that our offense is not going to take a step back at all.”

Defensively the Sandites were led by Grady Harris with seven tackles while Caiden Ruhland and Crisp had three apiece.

After the game Cowan gave one last postgame speech to his team reminding them of the bond they forged over the past several years.

“We’re closer than brothers, closer than best friends, closer than anything,” said Cowan, who expects big things from his teammates in the coming years.

“I just hope it’s going to be great and we can get some more championships.”