Brooklyn Eardley leads Lady Sandite Soccer to Edison Tournament finals

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Story and photo by: Virgil Noah, Marketing Director

The Charles Page High School Girls soccer team (7-1) continued their winning ways in exciting fashion on day one of the Edison Green and White Tournament. The Sandite Girls defeated the Tulsa Memorial High School Lady Chargers 4-0 to get the ball rolling. Senior midfielder Brooklyn Eardley led the way for Sand Springs with a pair of goals and an assist, with juniors Kyndal Zicker and Megan Deshazo accounting for the other scores. 

As a result of the Sandites win and the Booker T. Washington High School Lady Hornets victory over the Regent Preparatory School Lady Rams, the two teams met for the second time in three days. BTW came in seeking to avenge the 2-0 loss they were dealt on Sand Springs's home turf. 

After a scoreless first half, things got going early in the second. Two minutes in, Lady Hornet midfielder Jae Harris crossed in a corner to Lauren Cousins whose shot deflected off of a Sand Springs defender and scored. Booker T. would hold the lead for a very short time though, as Eardley would spin around a defender and place a pass perfectly in stride to Deshazo who tapped the ball just past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Lauren Ketchum. The Sandite girls would dominate possession for the rest of the half, but were unable to come up with another goal despite a few solid opportunities. Charles Page keeper Abigail Banks would stop the only shot that came her way in the second half, sending the game to penalty kicks tied 1-1. 

BTW led things off with a successful penalty kick and Zicker quickly tied it at 1 apiece. The second Lady Hornet PK hit the crossbar and Deshazo put the Sandites on top. A diving save by Banks put Sand Springs in prime position to seal things but a save on Jae Anthony-Wilson's penalty and a miss by Marissa Doll opened things back up for Washington who tied things up at 2 heading into the final round. The final kick for BTW was saved by Banks though, and Eardley sealed things for CPHS by calmly netting her shot for the win. 

The Lady Sandites will get a one-day break while the boys' tournament goes on, then will confront Edison, the host team, Saturday evening at 6:30 pm. The Lady Eagles are 3-4 for the season after defeating Pryor and Cascia Hall each 1-0 in the early rounds of the tournament.

Sandite soccer splits with Booker T: girls win 2-0, boys fall 4-1

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Story and photo by: Virgil Noah, Marketing Director

It has been a troubling year so far for the Charles Page High School Varsity Boys soccer team, who came into Tuesday night's game with a record of just 1-4. The Booker T. Washington Varsity Boys came into the first game of district play with a much better record of 3-0 and looked very formidable coming in. 

The Hornets got off to a hot start with Senior captains Zach Canady and Joseph Cuellar each scoring a goal to put their squad up 2-0. The visiting team's defense stifled the Sandite offense for nearly the entirety of the first half, until Senior forward Cody Gurley corralled a loose ball and fired a shot that squeaked by Hornet keeper Zac Haney. The Sandite goal came in the 39th minute and cut the lead in half going into the break. 

The second half would see a more aggressive Sandite offense, as they made far more trips into the box. Sand Springs nearly evened the game in the 50th minute when a left footed strike hit the right post and shot out of bounds. That would be as close as they would get though as Max Pettett, a sophomore midfielder, netted a header in the 63rd minute and Cuellar scored his second goal of the match on a penalty in the 66th to seal things for Booker T. 

The loss puts the Sandites at 1-5 (0-1) on the year and the Hornets continue their undefeated start at 4-0 (1-0). Charles Page will play next April 1-2 at the Edison Tournament. 

The Charles Page and Booker T Washington girls soccer teams both entered the district opener with records well over .500 for the year. The Lady Hornets carried an undefeated record of 4-0 with them into Memorial Stadium to face the Lady Sandites who boasted a record of 4-1 on the season. The lone Sand Springs loss came at the hands of Metro Christian Academy by a score of 1-0, but Bobby Behrens's girls have gotten back on track beating Enid 5-0 and Bixby 2-1. 

Sand Springs took a major hit offensively coming in, as Senior captain and leading goal scorer Kayla Foster was unable to play due to injury. Foster has scored 7 goals in the first 5 games, including a pair of hat tricks. 

The Lady Hornets made a strong run at goal in the opening minute as Freshman forward Lauren Cousins played a ball in to fellow freshman midfielder McKenna Raley who took a shot that went just wide to the right of the goal. That would prove to be the only shot of the half for Booker T. as the two teams would simply trade possession for the remainder of the half. The Lady Sandites managed one shot midway through the opening 40 minutes, and it came on a Brooklyn Eardley free kick that sailed well over the top of the goal. 

Both teams seemed to really pick up the pace in the second half as they traded shots for the first 20 minutes with Sandite keeper Abigail Banks making a key stop on a shot by Cousins. Sand Springs finally found pay dirt in the 64th minute when Eardley collected a loose ball on the left sideline, cut past her defender towards goal, took a couple of touches and stroked a shot inside post past the keeper. Kyndal Zicker got in on the fun as the junior contributed with her 5th goal of the season coming in the 76th minute.  The Lady Hornets refused to give up though, as Cousins and the offense continued to press forward and get off shots, but Banks and the Sandite back line stood strong and completed the shutout. It was Banks's fourth clean sheet of the year and the girls's third straight victory. 

The victory moves the Sandite girls to 5-1 (1-0) and the Lady Hornets fall to 4-1 (0-1). Sand Springs will play this weekend, April 1-2 at the Edison tournament.

Sandite of the Week: Rhett Rutledge

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride recognizes Charles Page High School senior Rhett Rutledge as Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performance at the Bixby Tournament this past weekend. 

Rutledge averaged .267 batting, .467 slugging, with a .368 OBP, and made his season pitching debut with a Championship round victory over the host team. 

The Sandites (12-3) won their fifth straight in the tournament opener 8-5 against Hilldale (6-9). Rutledge landed the first hit of the game with a triple and came in on the next play with a sacrifice fly from Jake Ward for the first run. He was walked on his next plate appearance and scored once more on a Hunter Greathouse double. He reached first on an error in the bottom of the sixth and scored his third run of the game on a Greathouse single. 

Their sixth straight victory was a come-from-behind extra-inning win over Union. Rutledge landed one hit in the top of the fifth and stole second on a passed ball, but was left stranded. The Sandites won that one 7-6 in eight innings. 

He failed to land a hit in the next two games (a 4-1 loss to Bixby and an 8-0 run-rule shut out of Life Prep Academy), but batted .667 in the finale and won the game on the mound. He struck out one in the first and gave up an unearned double. He grounded out on a sacrifice to score Jake Terry for a 4-0 lead in the top of the second. 

He scooped a grounder to put out a batter at first in the bottom of the second and struck out another for a no-hitter. He sacrificed again to score Treyce Tolbert in the top of the third, but gave up a run in the bottom of the inning. 

He pitched a no-hitter in the fifth, striking out one and putting out another at first on a grounder. He hit a leadoff line drive single in the top of the sixth and was batted in by Josh Taber. By the bottom of the sixth the Spartans were pushing hard for a rally and loaded the bases. Rutledge gave up one single, two runs, one earned run, and two walks before being relieved by Brock Youngblood. The Sandites went on to win the game 10-6 for the tournament championship.

Sandites split at Bixby, girls win 2-1, boys fall 2-0

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Story and Photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity soccer teams are on two different paths right now.

The Varsity girls have amassed a 4-1 record this season, shutting out three opponents and mercy-ruling East Central 10-0 in only 23:00. Their only loss is 1-0 to Metro Christian (4-1). The girls rebounded from the Metro Christian loss with a 5-0 shutout of the Enid Pacers (2-1) and a 2-1 victory over the Bixby Lady Spartans (1-2). 

The boys, meanwhile, are sitting a 1-4, with their lone victory coming in a 4-0 shutout of Muskogee (0-4). From there they gave up losses of 4-0 to Metro Christian (4-1), 5-1 to Enid (3-1), and 2-0 to Bixby (1-3). 

The Spartans came into the Tuesday night match winless with losses to Bishop Kelley, Booker T, and Jenks, but finally found the win column with a pair of goals from Daniel Quiroga and Hunter Haugland. 

Like the girls game, the boys went into the second half scoreless on both sides, though it was the Spartans doing most of the pressing. Haugland got a sneaky corner shot halfway through the first half and instead of the keeper, it was Kristian Fairchild with the desperate save. 

Alex Hernandez took a shot with 19:02 left and landed it on top of the net. With 15:42 remaining, a Spartan shot narrowly swung wide and the home team continued the offensive press giving Edgar Soberano a pair of saves including a header with 0:42 left. 

Quiroga got the first goal of the game less than a minute into the second half, sending it into the top right corner for the first lead of the game. Jake Deloache nearly added another point a minute later but landed just a little bit wide. Haugland picked up where Deloache left off, however, and gave his team a 2-0 advantage four minutes later. 

There were a couple of close calls deep in the box at 28:16 from a bouncing ball that ultimately made its way over the goal. Less than a minute later Seth Ryan sent a shot high center. 

Worake Guy missed a pair of shots, one that was completely unguarded and would have been in had it not been a hair high, then another close miss minutes later. Miles Miller and Logan Cherry each took shots of their own but neither came close. 

Andrew Morrison set up Kaleb Brooks with a good look at 8:55 remaining, but the Spartan keeper snagged the save. The Sandites put forth their best offensive effort of the night in the final ten minutes, but were unable to rally despite several shots including an extremely close highball from Morrison. 

Sandite of the Week: Trevor Tolbert

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize Charles Page High School senior Trevor Tolbert as Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performance against Booker T Washington last week at OneOK field.

Tolbert is signed with Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, Oklahoma, and is the son of Jason and Deena Tolbert. His cousin, Treyce, also plays for Sandite baseball.

Tolbert, who currently owns a .250 batting average for the season, batted two-for-two last Monday for two RBIs off a single and a triple and scored one run. He sits at a .500 slugging average and a .454 OBP with five putouts and five assists for the season.

The Sandites have won their first four games by a combined score of 22-5, including a 3-1 upset of Greenway High who run-ruled them twice in a double-header last season. 

Sandite of the Week is a weekly recognition given to any one person with significant ties to the Sand Springs community who accomplishes remarkable achievements during the Sunday through Saturday week preceding the award. Prior achievements may be noted in the article, but do not bear direct influence on the selection committee which only considers prior week accomplishments. Candidates may be nominated by anyone by emailing SanditePrideNews@gmail.com. Bylaws prevent the giving of the award to anyone for two consecutive weeks, but any recipient may be nominated and awarded again in the future, so long as the weeks are not consecutive. Final selection is made by a majority vote of a three-person staff committee. 

Businesses or organizations seeking to sponsor the Sandite of the Week award may contact the above email for inquiries.

Sandite soccer shuts out Muskogee but drops losses to Metro Christian

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By: Virgil Noah, Marketing Director and Sports Journalist

Photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Bobby Behrens's Lady Sandites stormed into Tuesday night's matchup with Metro Christian (3-1) having shut out their last two opponents by a combined score of 15-0. The Lady Patriots would prove to be too much for the Lady Sandites, winning by a final score of 1-0. 

Offensively the girls made a multitude of well timed runs and executed some well-placed passes, but could never quite make it to the ball before Metro junior goalkeeper Olivia Gordan snatched up the ball. The two teams took the game into the second half scoreless as both Gordan and Abigail Banks, Sandite sophomore goalie, made some impressive saves. 

Gordan would continue to stop everything that came her way in the second half. 14 minutes in Brooklyn Eardley passed to Kayla Foster in the box who then dribbled to the left and took a shot towards back post, but Gordan was all over it. After a couple of shots went just wide for the Lady Patriots, Freshman forward Chloe Tregoning took a pass up the right line, cut inwards, and scored a goal just past the diving arms of Banks.

Sand Springs, who defeated East Central 10-0 and Muskogee 5-0 in a very physical game the week prior, was held scoreless for just the second time all season. The loss puts them at 2-1 for the year. 

The Sand Springs boys came in on a high note, after notching their first victory of the season in a shutout of Muskogee 4-0. Metro Christian Academy (3-0) got off to a very quick start scoring in 1:08 as Sandite keeper Edgar Soberano came out of goal in pursuit of a pop up. Soberano lost track of the ball and Patriot Junior midfielder Nick Mckee was able to tap in an easy goal to get things going. The leading scorer however was Senior Riley Mayes who scored on a pair on goals later in the half, one of which was assisted by fellow forward Tyler LaCourse. The final goal for the visiting Patriots came off of a free kick by LaCourse in which there was a cluster of players blocking Soberano's vision allowing the ball to squeak by unseen. 

Soberano and the Sandite back line were able to keep Metro off the board in the second half, but were unable to net a goal. The loss will drop them to 1-2 for the season. Both Sand Springs squads will look to get back into the win column as they play Enid at home on Friday.