Sandites Beat Enid, Putnam City, and U.S. Grant in Perfect Week
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A 77-23 rout of U.S. Grant capped a perfect week for the Charles Page High School boys’ basketball team (13-6, 5-5), which has now won three in a row since a 61-43 loss to No. 2 Owasso last Friday.
All 14 varsity players saw substantial playing time in the Saturday afternoon district makeup game that easily could have eclipsed 100 points had the Sandites not limited themselves to their third string for the entirety of the fourth quarter.
“We got back late last night after a tough win on the road,” said head coach Eric Savage. “We just knew we had to come out early with some emotion and some intensity. Didn’t want to be flat.”
“I thought we came out and shot the ball well early and everybody got off to a good start, then we were able to get up and down the lineup and give everybody some significant minutes today.”
Kason Evans scored back-to-back buckets to open the game and Deke Thompson added a trey for a 7-0 lead before Dontay Phillips got the visitors on the board. The Sandites responded with a 17-0 run and took a 29-4 advantage into the second quarter.
After Phillips’s second bucket late in the first, Sand Springs went on a 24-0 streak and ultimately took a 58-7 lead into halftime.
Things slowed down in the second half, but the Sandites still got 28 points off their bench and 12 different players entered the scorebook.
“They show up every day and they’re putting in as much time as the starters and they’re working just as hard,” said Savage. “It’s great to be able to reward them with some playing time when we get the opportunity.”
Thompson led all scorers with 20 points, followed by Evans with 11 as the only other Sandite in double digits. Khalil Allen had the best all-around performance with 7 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 assists, and 4 blocks.
Zane Fueshko, usually the first man off the bench, got the start after strong performances at Putnam City on Friday.
Allen scored 11 and Fueshko added 10 in the 51-34 district road win, trailing only Thompson, who had 22.
“(Zane) gave us a spark,” said Savage. “He’s been shooting the ball really well and I just wanted to kind of reward him for that.”
Putnam City led early, but the Sandites went on a 15-0 run from the first into the second and led 21-18 at halftime. Sand Springs held the Pirates to only two points in the third quarter and maintained a comfortable lead through the fourth.
“It was a rowdy environment,” said Savage. “We had the band right behind us. We jumped out early and then it was a little sluggish there in the second quarter.”
“We really just wanted to keep playing defense and were finally able to get some stops and run-outs and created a little space, then just kind of maintained it from there.”
Last Friday, Thompson went off for 28 points and 7 rebounds in a loss to Owasso (16-3, 9-1) that was far closer than the final score.
The Sandites only trailed 24-23 at halftime and 40-31 to open the fourth quarter before the Rams finally pulled away behind 16 points from Jax Kerr and 20 from Jalen Montonati.
But on Tuesday they bounced back with a 65-55 Homecoming win over Enid (8-9, 4-5) to pay back a December loss.
Thompson scored 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists, followed by Kooper Kelly with 12 points and Evans with 12 points and 8 boards.
Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday with a district home game against No. 4 Union (18-2, 10-1). They previously fell to the RedHawks 76-72 and 71-51 in January.
“We have a tough week ahead,” said Savage. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. We’ll go get some rest and try to put a good game plan together and just go compete.”
“Hopefully being home will maybe give us a little edge, but they’ve got some mountain guys down there and they can play both ways. They’re extremely athletic and we’ll just have to do our best to try and find a way to score with them.”
