Bump and Simone Lead Sandites to Dominant District Wins

A season-high from Hope Bump and some freshman firepower from Aaliyah Simone led to a perfect week for the Charles Page High School girls’ basketball team.

No. 6 Sand Springs (14-5, 8-2) won 69-43 against Enid (7-12, 2-7) on Homecoming Tuesday, 77-53 at Putnam City (8-12, 3-6) on Friday, and 51-36 against U.S. Grant (4-14, 0-11) on Saturday.

On Tuesday Sand Springs stormed out to a 22-4 first quarter lead and by halftime they led 43-17, their biggest such margins of the season.

Bump led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Taiona Morris with 11 as the only other Sandite in double digits. Sakauri Wilson and Simone added 9 apiece.

On Friday they had yet another dominant first quarter behind seven steals from Wilson. Morris scored the first three field goals of the game for an 8-1 advantage and by the end of the quarter the visitors were up 19-6.

They worked their lead up to 30-14 before the Pirates went on a 7-0 run to keep it within single digits at halftime.

By halftime Bump and Morris had three fouls apiece. Jordan Gilton fouled out in the third quarter, Morris fouled out early in the fourth, and Wilson fouled out with more than three minutes left to play, but it didn’t slow the visitors down as they still won the second half 47-32.

“It was a different atmosphere for us,” said head coach Josh Berry. “It was kind of a little wild so I’m just proud we got the win and we were able to come out of there unscathed and able to move on.”

Simone scored 12 points in the third quarter alone and ended the night with a career-high 23 points to lead all players, shooting 9-of-14 in the field and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe.

Wilson scored 19 points, Morris had 15, and Bump had 11 points with 9 rebounds in the win.

Against Grant on Saturday the Sandites were able to open the game on an 18-0 run over the first five minutes before the starters were benched and the visitors finally got on the board.

The starting five went back in the game to open the second quarter and worked their lead up to 33-7 before a full swap at the 4:00 mark. The Generals trailed 33-10 at halftime.

“We were just trying to make sure that nobody got hurt, we still do things the right way, and we get a win,” said Berry.

After taking a 28-point lead into the fourth quarter, the second string played out the duration of the game and the Generals whittled it back down to a more respectable 15-point loss.

Simone led all scorers for the second straight game with 20 points.

“She has had a couple of big games and that’s good for her,” said Berry. “I think it’s going to be good for us going forward. We know what the seniors can bring to the group and so now we get some more consistency from everyone else and it just depends on the night and how they’re guarding us on who’s going to have a good night for that night.”

Bump added 10 points to go with 6 rebounds and 5 steals while Tianna Butler had 7 points and 8 rebounds.

Now the winners of four in a row, the Sandites can put themselves in a position to win the district title this next week when they host No. 14 Union (12-7, 7-4) on Tuesday before traveling to No. 4 Edmond Memorial (15-3, 9-1) on Thursday.

Sand Springs was upset by Union 49-47 on the road in their last loss.

“That wasn’t our team that showed up the last time we played them,” said Berry. “If we play our game, I think we’ll be alright. We’re going to be in a dog fight. They’re playing good and it’s for district placement, so anytime you have that, you’ve got to get ready.”

Lady Sandites Upset Owasso on Morris's Buzzer Beater

The third time was the charm for the Lady Sandites, Friday night at the Ed Dubie Field House, as No. 6 Sand Springs paid back a pair of losses with a 40-38 upset against No. 5 Owasso.

After a game-tying layup from Makenna Yokley, the Sandites had just seven seconds to respond. Instead of calling a timeout to set up a play, head coach Josh Berry just trusted the connection between his two senior stars.

“If we call a timeout, I feel like we let them set up,” said Berry. “I think we’ve got the speed advantage so I just trusted our senior guards.”

It paid off as point guard Sakauri Wilson found Taiona Morris on a long bounce pass for the win. The Rams brought full pressure on Wilson, leaving Morris unguarded downcourt, and the NEO-commit made them pay.

“Kauri got the ball out so I just needed to run,” said Morris. “She found me and I just made the layup.”

Sand Springs led twice early in the game before the Rams rode a 12-0 run into the second quarter for a 10-point advantage. The home team played catch-up for the rest of the night, cutting its deficit to 23-21 by halftime.

“I think we started rushing it,” said Berry. “This is the first time we’ve been home in a very long time, so I think when we got settled down we just made some tough plays and played hard.”

A Freshman Phenom

Aaliyah Simone gave the Sandites their first lead of the second half with a pair of free throws but Sarah Yokley’s trey put the visitors back on top and the Rams took a 29-27 lead into the fourth.

Simone tied it again to open the fourth, then Seldon Stover and Wilson traded blows to a 31-31 tie. Makenna Yokley gave the visitors their final lead before Simone tied it a third time on a lefty layup off a steal from Wilson.

The freshman starter ended the night with a team-best 10 points and followed that play by picking off a long inbound and passing it to Wilson who hesitated long enough for a pair of would-be blockers to float by, then hit the go-ahead tap-in with 2:36 to play.

Hope Bump added another basket to make it a two-score game, though Makenna Yokley drained a three soon after to keep the Rams close.

Morris went 1-of-2 on a trip to the free throw line for a two-point advantage, followed by Makenna Yokley’s game-tying layup and Morris’s buzzer-beater for the win.

“We can finally say that we beat Owasso,” said Morris. “And on top of that, I feel like this will put us forward in our season and help us develop a better part of our team.”

Morris ended the night with 9 points, followed by Wilson and Bump with 8 apiece. Wilson added 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 steals.

A New Hope

One of the key difference makers between this game and the first two meetings with Owasso was junior Hope Bump, a transfer from Claremore, who was still waiting on OSSAA clearance till after the new year.

Bump brings some much needed size to the Sandites, who lost one of their only bigs when Kiaryn Taylor tore her ACL in December’s Bishop Kelley Invitational.

“It sucked because I couldn’t be out there with them,” said Bump. “But it felt good to be out there with them tonight…because it counted toward our district wins and everything.”

Bump scored 8 points with 5 rebounds, a steal, and 2 blocks. She’s averaging 10.9 points and 5.7 rebounds this season since making her Sandite debut at the Putnam City Invitational on January 4th.

“She does it all,” said Berry. “She can pass, she can shoot, she can score inside. And now she’s playing a little bit of defense, so how about that? If she keeps that up, I think great things are going to come for her.”

Bump has adjusted well to her new team since following her dad, assistant coach Jeremy Bump, to Sand Springs.

“It’s different, definitely from 5A to 6A basketball,” said Bump. “It’s faster, it’s quicker and everything, but I love it it here…I feel like God put me where I need to be.”

Homecoming is Tuesday

Sand Springs improved to 11-5 on the season and 5-2 in district play and will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on Homecoming. The queen will be crowned at halftime of the boys’ game, which starts at 8:00 p.m.

Owasso dropped to 13-4 and 6-2 and will travel to No. 5 Edmond Memorial (13-3, 7-1) Tuesday in a key district battle.

CPHS 40 Owasso 38

1Q: Owasso 13-7.
2Q: CPHS 14-10.
3Q: Tied 6-6.
4Q: CPHS 13-9.
Free Throws: CPHS 6-of-8, Owasso 5-of-6.
Field Goals: CPHS 16-of-50, Owasso 15-of-42.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 7, Owasso 8.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 12, Owasso 22.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 19, Owasso 30.
Steals: CPHS 9, Owasso 4.
Blocks: CPHS 4, Owasso 3.
Fouls: CPHS 10, Owasso 14.

Sand Springs Statistics

Points: Simone 10, Morris 9, Wilson 8, Bump 8, Ti. Butler 5.
Offensive Rebounds: Morris 3, Simone 1, Ti. Butler 1, Bump 1, Gilton 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Wilson 5, Bump 4, Simon 2, Ti. Butler 1.
Total Rebounds: Wilson 5, Bump 5, Morris 3, Simone 3, Ti. Butler 2, Gilton 1.
Assists: Wilson 3, Simone 1, Bump 1.
Steals: Wilson 5, Simone 2, Ti. Butler 1, Bump 1.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 2, Bump 2.
Fouls: Morris 3, Wilson 2, Simone 2, Bump 2, Gilton 1.

Owasso Statistics

Points: M. Yokley 15, McGarrah 8, Stover 4, Austin 4, Hill 4, S. Yokley 3.
Fouls: M. Yokley 4, Austin 3, Stover 2, McGarrah 2, Wilson 2, Hill 1.

Lady Sandites Upset at Union 49-47

Fresh off a tournament high, the Lady Sandites hit a district hiccup Tuesday night at Q. Hammons Arena, dropping a 49-47 upset to Union.

No. 6 Charles Page High School (10-5, 4-2) never once led and trailed by as much as 15 points midway through the second quarter before rallying to tie it on a three-point play from Aaliyah Simone with 1:30 to play.

The RedHawks (9-6, 4-3) played keep-away for the final minute and cashed in a pair of free throws to survive the comeback.

“They’re a good team and they might have had some fresher legs than us coming into this and it showed the first half,” said head coach Josh Berry.

“The girls fought valiantly to get back into the game. We had a chance to win it and we didn’t. We had a few things not go our way, but that is what it is and when you’re on the road, that’s going to happen.”

Sand Springs struggled with accuracy, shooting only 23.6% in the first half to the RedHawks’ 40.6% while also struggling with fouls and rebounds.

The girls trailed 15-8 after the first quarter and a four-point play by JaMiyah Woodard gave Union its biggest lead at 25-11.

Sakauri Wilson stole a rebound away from Esme’ Smith and put it up for two with 4:56 left in the second quarter to slow the Union tide and the Sandites cut the deficit to 32-21 at halftime.

Taiona Morris drained a three to open the third quarter and the Sandites trimmed their gap to 42-36 entering the fourth.

Foul trouble limited the Sandites’ defensive aggression in the fourth quarter as both Hope Bump and Wilson drew their fourth fouls.

Even so, they were able to get it back to a tie game. Butler drained a second three-pointer and Simone scored off a steal and was fouled by Whitney Smith, hitting the and-one to make it 47-47.

Isabella McSwain ran a minute off the clock before attempting a layup with 10 seconds remaining. Esme’ Smith rebounded for a putback try and also missed, but a foul was called and she made the first of her two free throws for the lead.

The second shot was no good, but Brooke Bettis rebounded, picked up a foul from Wilson, and hit the second of her two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining. Esme’ Smith picked off the inbound lob at half court to secure the upset.

“We’re still a young bunch with the exception of really two players,” said Berry. “You’ve got a couple of freshmen, you’ve got some new faces in there, so any time you have that, you’re not going to have consistency.

“But what has been consistent is this team’s effort level. So as long as that keeps up, we’re going to have chances, we’re going to stay in ball games and we’re going to be pretty good come late February.”

While the Sandites struggled offensively with one of their worst shooting performances of the season, their defense was its usual level of excellence with 12 takeaways and a season-best 10 blocks.

“Our defense gave us a lot of chances today,” said Berry. “We hit just enough shots. We didn’t hit a lot of them, but we hit just enough, we made just enough plays to give ourselves a chance but at the end of the day we weren’t physical, we weren’t tough, we didn’t box out very well, but those are all things you can correct and those are things we will correct.”

Simone, a freshman, had the best offensive performance for the team, shooting 4-of-8 in the field for 10 points to go with 3 steals and 4 rebounds.

“She’s a special player,” said Berry. “She’s got a chance to be a big-time player. She’s just got to work every day, get better, and keep that up.”

Wilson and Morris also had 10 points apiece. Wilson had 5 assists; Bump had 7 points and 10 rebounds; and Butler had 8 points, 6 boards, and 5 blocks.

Berry wasn’t too concerned about the loss and was already focused on Friday’s district home game against No. 5 Owasso (13-3, 6-1).

“I’m not worried about it at all. We’ll bounce back, we’ll figure it out, and we’ll be ready to play…I don’t think we’ve been at home for about two months it seems like, so we’ll be back at home and we’ll be ready to go.”

Union 49 CPHS 47

1Q: Union 15-8.
2Q: Union 17-13.
3Q: CPHS 15-10.
4Q: CPHS 11-7.
Free Throws: Union 7-of-12, CPHS 6-of-11.
Field Goals: Union 19-of-56, CPHS 18-of-66.
Offensive Rebounds: Union 17, CPHS 9.
Defensive Rebounds: Union 24, CPHS 18.
Total Rebounds: Union 41, CPHS 27.
Steals: Union 3, CPHS 12.
Blocks: Union 3, CPHS 10.
Fouls: Union 11, CPHS 14.

Sand Springs Stats

Scoring: Wilson 10, Morris 10, Simone 10, Ti. Butler 8, Bump 7, Ta. Butler 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Bump 4, Wilson 1, Morris 1, Simone 1, Ti. Butler 1, Pearce 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Bump 6, Ti. Butler 5, Simone 3, Wilson 2, Ta. Butler 1, Pearce 1.
Total Rebounds: Bump 10, Ti. Butler 6, Simone 4, Wilson 3, Pearce 2, Morris 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Steals: Simone 3, Wilson 2, Bump 2, Morris 2, Ti. Butler 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Assists: Wilson 5, Bump 1, Simone 1.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 5, Bump 2, Wilson 1, Morris 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Fouls: Wilson 5, Bump 4, Morris 2, Ti. Butler 2, Simone 1.

Union Stats

Scoring: Woodard 16, W. Smith 10, E. Smith 10, A. Smith 5, Edwards 4, Bettis 3, McSwain 1.
Fouls: McSwain 4, W. Smith 2, Woodard 2, Bettis 1, A. Smith 1, Edwards 1.

Lady Sandites Win Carl Albert Titan Classic, Wilson Named MVP

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Sakauri Wilson’s MVP performance and a blowout fourth quarter led the Charles Page High School girls basketball team to a 61-49 come-from-behind win over Carl Albert in the Titan Classic finals Saturday in Midwest City.

The Lady Sandites trailed 40-31 late in the third before riding a 15-0 streak into the fourth to take the lead.

“I just asked them going into the fourth ‘hey, let’s be us.’” said head coach Josh Berry.

“Let’s have some energy and let’s play with a little bit of passion and grit and toughness. They responded and they did that. I think Aaliyah (Simone) made a play to start it off with a couple of jump balls and after that the rest was history.”

The Sandites brought an aggressive press defense, coming up with five steals in the fourth quarter and tied up several jump balls while outscoring the host Titans 25-9 in the final stanza.

“I think they finally took the lid off the basket for us,” said Berry. “We’ve been having that lid on there for probably about five games now. It kind of came off.”

Sand Springs has now won four in a row since a disappointing 1-2 performance at the Putnam City Invitational two weeks ago.

The girls won 63-52 against Del City (6-8) in the first game, leading only 39-38 early in the fourth before pulling away down the stretch.

“The fourth quarter is always like a win or go home moment,” said Wilson. “Go hard or go home.”

The senior guard scored a game-high 20 points with 7 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 assists in the win. Hope Bump added 14 points and Taiona Morris had 10.

In the semifinals they won a 58-54 overtime battle with No. 5 Edmond Memorial (12-2) in a preview of a looming district battle.

After taking a 24-20 lead into the locker room, the Lady Sandites led for the entire second half until Addy Johnson scored off back-to-back steals to tie it up at 50-50 on the final drive.

Wilson was on fire in overtime, scoring the first three buckets for the Sandites to lead 56-53. The teams traded free throws from there but the Bulldogs were unable to close the gap a second time.

Wilson ended the game with a career-best 32 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, and 5 assists, followed by Bump with 10 points and 7 rebounds.

In Saturday’s finals the Sandites jumped out to a 9-2 lead against the Titans before surrendering an 11-0 run.

“I think we messed up, especially early on, on our assignments,” said Berry. “But, at the end of the day, I think that fourth quarter and end of the third quarter, they played hard. That’s all we asked them was just give us everything you got whenever you’re out there, and I believe they did that.”

A pair of free throws from Simone gave the Sandites a 15-14 lead to enter the second quarter but a five-point run from Jakary Brown put the Titans back on top 24-22 at halftime.

The teams traded blows to open the second half before Bump took a spill in the paint and hit her head. With the junior forward out of the game, the Titans went on a 10-2 run for their biggest lead at 40-31.

“When she hit her head, I heard somebody on the sideline say ‘oh, she woke up now,’” said Berry. “I’m not saying it’s a good thing, but after that, she responded and played the way that we know she can play.”

Bump drained a three shortly after reentering the game to break up the Titans’ run and scored five points in the fourth quarter to go with some aggressive defense.

“Our mindset was just go, go go,” said Wilson. “The more we speed them up, the more they turn over the ball and that’s in our advantage.”

Wilson ended the game with 18 points, 3 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals, while Morris matched her career-high with 17 points, 4 boards, and 3 steals. Bump added a season-best 14 points and 8 rebounds. All three were named to the all-tournament team.

Wilson was named the tournament’s MVP after averaging 23.3 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3.3 steals per game.

“It takes everybody, not just me, but everybody coming together - playing hard and guarding everybody how we’re supposed to guard and executing everything,” said Wilson.

Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with a district road game at Union (8-6, 3-2). The Lady Sandites are 4-1 for third place in district play while the RedHawks are fourth.

Tournament Box Scores

1/18/2024 - CPHS vs. Del City
1Q: 13-13.
2Q: CPHS 13-10.
3Q: CPHS 13-12.
4Q: CPHS 24-17.
Free Throws: CPHS 20-of-25, DC 9-of-17.
Field Goals: CPHS 20-of-56, DC 20-of-56.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 11, DC 12.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 18, DC 18.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 29, DC 30.
Steals: CPHS 14, DC 7.
Blocks: CPHS 16, DC 14.

Sand Springs Stats
Scoring: Wilson 20, Bump 14, Ti. Butler 10, Morris 8, Simone 4, Young 3, Ta. Butler 2, Pearce 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Bump 4, Ti. Butler 4, Morris 2, Gilton 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Wilson 7, Morris 5, Ta. Butler 3, Ti. Butler 1, Pearce 1, Young 1.
Total Rebounds: Wilson 7, Morris 7, Ti. Butler 5, Bump 4, Ta. Butler 3, Ta. Butler 1, Young 1, Gilton 1.
Steals: Wilson 5, Bump 3, Morris 2, Simone 2, Ti. Butler 2.
Assists: Wilson 3, Morris 2, Simone 2, Ti. Butler 1, Bump 1.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 4, Morris 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Fouls: Simone 4, Ti. Butler 4, Bump 3, Wilson 3, Morris 1, Pearce 1.

1/19/2024 CPHS vs. Edmond Memorial
1Q: 12-12.
2Q: CPHS 12-8.
3Q: CPHS 17-14.
4Q: EDM 16-9.
OT: CPHS 8-4.
Free Throws: CPHS 13-of-17, EDM 13-of-20.
Field Goals: CPHS 21-of-50, EDM 18-of-62.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 6, EDM 16.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 20, EDM 18.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 26, EDM 34.
Steals: CPHS 7, EDM 7.
Blocks: CPHS 6, EDM 1.
Fouls: CPHS 13, EDM 16.

Sand Springs Stats
Scoring: Wilson 32, Bump 10, Morris 6, Ti Butler. 4, Simone 3, Ta. Butler 3.
Offensive Rebounds: Bump 3, Morris 2, Simone 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Ti. Butler 7, Wilson 5, Bump 4, Morris 3, Ta. Butler 1.
Total Rebounds: Bump 7, Ti. Butler 7, Wilson 5, Morris 5, Simone 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Steals: Wilson 2, Simone 2, Bump 1, Ti. Butler 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Assists: Wilson 5, Morris 2.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 4, Bump 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Fouls: Wilson 3, Morris 3, Simone 3, Bump 2, T. Butler 1, Ta. Butler 1.

1/20/2024 CPHS vs. Carl Albert
1Q: CPHS 15-14.
2Q: CA 10-7.
3Q: CA 16-14.
4Q: CPHS 25-9.
Free Throws: CPHS 19-of-20, CA 12-of-16.
Field Goals: CPHS 24-of-52, CA 17-of-46.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 6, CA 5.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 18, CA 17.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 24, CA 22.
Steals: CPHS 10, CA 5.
Blocks: CPHS 1, CA 3.
Fouls: CPHS 17, CA 15.

Sand Springs Stats
Scoring: Wilson 18, Morris 17, Bump 14, Ta. Butler 6, Simone 2, Ti. Butler 2, Young 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Morris 2, Ti. Butler 2, Bump 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Bump 7, Ta. Butler 4, Wilson 3, Ti. Butler 2, Morris 1, Simone 1.
Total Rebounds: Bump 8, Morris 4, Ti. Butler 4, Ta. Butler 4, Wilson 3, Simone 1.
Steals: Wilson 3, Morris 3, Simone 2, Bump 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Assists: Wilson 4, Bump 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 1.
Fouls: Ti. Butler 5, Wilson 3, Simone 3, Morris 2, Ta. Butler 2, Bump 1, Young 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.

Lady Sandites Place 2nd at Bishop Kelley Invitational, Morris & Wilson Make All-Tournament Team

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Yonnie Morris and Josh Berry with the Bishop Kelley Runner-Up trophy.

In a rematch of last year’s Bishop Kelley Invitational finals, this year it was No. 8 Owasso (5-1) that came out on top, defeating No. 7 Sand Springs 49-31 to dethrone the reigning champs.

“You’ve got to take your hats off to them,” said head coach Josh Berry. “They played well, they executed. We didn’t execute as well at times, but that’s kind of what happens when you have to change some stuff on the fly.”

The Sandites bullied their way to the finals with wins of 58-24 against Edison Prep (1-4) and 50-33 against Bishop Kelley (2-3), but lost Kiaryn Taylor to a knee injury against the Comets. She will go in for an MRI Monday to find out of the extent of the damage.

“We’ve just got to play a different style of basketball and what that may look like, we don’t know yet,” said Berry. “We’ve just got to find the best five that will give us a chance to win.”

Aaliyah Simone got her first start in Taylor’s absence and finished with 8 points, second only to Taiona “Yonnie” Morris’s 10 points.

Freshman Jordan Gilton was also called up for her first varsity action to provide some size in the paint.

“This was her first varsity game,” said Berry. “I think she gave us some really good energy, she provided some good physicality and a great attitude tonight.”

Sand Springs hung tough with the Rams throughout most of the game before suffering a fourth-quarter shutout.

Although they never once led in the game, they only trailed 14-11 after a deep buzzer-beater three from Simone to end the first quarter. Morris added another late three to end the half in a 26-23 deficit.

Sand Springs only trailed 38-31 to enter the fourth quarter but went 0-for-9 on field goals in the deciding stanza.

“We didn’t make as many shots as we have in the past,” said Berry. “The ball didn’t fall for us tonight and it fell them.”

Sand Springs did a lot of things right.

In their first meeting with the Rams, the Sandites gave up 15 offensive rebounds. On Saturday they only gave up 5. Last week the Rams secured 11 steals, but on Saturday they only had 5. In their first meeting the Sandites gave Owasso 26 free throws, but on Saturday they only gave up 17 opportunities.

Owasso had one big leg up on the Sandites, and that was three-point shooting. Sand Springs was 10-of-25 outside the arc versus Owasso’s 0-for-9 performance in the first game. But in the rematch Sand Springs was 3-of-17 while Owasso was 5-of-10.

Morris and Sakauri Wilson were both named to the All-Tournament team. Morris scored 36 points with 11 rebounds, 8 assists, and 13 steals over three games while Wilson had 19 points with 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 11 steals over two games after sitting out during the tournament opener.

Oklahoma State softball-commit Jayelle Austin led all scorers with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The teams will get yet another rematch on January 26th in district action but there are many more games to be played before then.

Owasso will host No. 19 Union (5-2, 2-0) in district play on Tuesday while Sand Springs will host Putnam City (4-2, 2-1).

“You don’t take anybody lightly because you never know how the ball’s going to fall,” said Berry. “We’ve got to play our ball. We’ve got to get back to that and see what happens on Tuesday.

Owasso 49 CPHS 31

1Q: Owasso 14-11.
2Q: Tied 12-12.
3Q: Owasso 12-8.
4Q: Owasso 11-0.
Free Throws: Owasso 12-of-17, CPHS 4-of-9.
Field Goals: Owasso 16-of-42, CPHS 12-of-41.
Offensive Rebounds: Owasso 5, CPHS 3.
Defensive Rebounds: Owasso 25, CPHS 12.
Total Rebounds: Owasso 30, CPHS 15.
Steals: Owasso 5, CPHS 8.
Blocks: Owasso 1, CPHS 4.
Fouls: Owasso 10, CPHS 13.

Sand Springs Statistics

Scoring: Morris 10, Simone 8, Ti. Butler 6, Wilson 5, Pearce 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Ti. Butler 2, Pearce 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Morris 3, Ta. Butler 3, Wilson 2, Ti. Butler 1, Pearce 1, Garrison 1, Gilton 1.
Total Rebounds: Morris 3, Ta. Butler 3, Ti. Butler 3, Wilson 2, Pearce 2, Garrison 1, Gilton 1.
Steals: Wilson 4, Ti. Butler 3, Morris 1.
Assists: Wilson 1, Morris 1, Simone 1.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 4.
Fouls: Wilson 4, Pearce 3, Morris 2, Simone 2, Ta. Butler 1, Gilton 1.

Owasso Statistics

Scoring: Austin 18, Stover 9, McGarrah 9, Yokley 6, Hill 4, Wilson 3.
Fouls: Yokley 3, McGarrah 2, Wilson 2, Stover 1, Austin 1, Tease 1.