SAND SPRINGS — Anne Blankenship scored two goals and Piper McFarlane later added the clincher to Bishop Kelley to a 4-2 victory over Sand Springs in the girls’ game Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
“She did great. Anne is an athlete. She is an all-around athlete,” Bishop Kelley girls coach Ellen Glasgow said. “She won defensive player of the year for the basketball team too. She just gets to stuff that people don’t expect her to get to and it helps us in so many different ways. So that’s why you see her playing kind of all over the field too.”
The Comets (8-4 overall, 6-1 in District 6A-4) move on to the playoffs but were waiting on the outcome of the Jenks-Union game to see if they’ll be hosting or have to travel for their first-round game.
Bishop Kelley managed to survive the absence of D-I college signees Rhiley Potteiger and Avery Aldrette, who are bound for Southern Miss. They also lost senior defender Sophia Anderson early in the game when she went down with an ankle injury.
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“On our senior night Tuesday, our D-I commits (Potteiger and Aldrette) smacked hips together and had 15 stitches between the two of them so they were out,” Glasgow said. “And then 10 minutes in (Friday night) our other collegiate commit (Anderson) rolled her ankle and was out fir the whole game without three of our like, not just starters, but like core players, and seeing the other players step up and do great work was probably the defining moment for me. I was really proud of how they handled that.”
Kelley also took the boys’ game in a 1-0 shootout, outsourcing the Sandites 4-1 in penalty kicks.
Junior midfielder Imran Khan got the clinching goal for the Comets.
In the girls’ contest, the Comets scored first when senior forward Ella Smith knocked the ball from short range with under 28 minutes to go in the first half.
Sand Springs (7-7, 2-5) tied it with 21:42 left on the clock as Ava Watts, the Sandites leading scorer, kicked into the net about 22 yards from the left sideline.
It would be a competitive 1-1 battle until the Blankenship scored the first of her two goals with under five minutes left before halftime, making it 2-1.
Blankenship, a junior forward, added her second goal three minutes into the second half. She drove the ball near the line, and as a Sandite defender attempted to deflect, the ball continued to proceed across inside the net and it was a 3-1 game.
“We were just battling,” Sand Springs girls’ coach Francisco Chavez said. “We had girls trying things, just trying to find something that works. We had Ava who took a shot from right to left side of the field and they got a lucky deflection and went in. They scored again. We came back to try to score again. We finally got another one, but at that point, there were already too many.”
Still hoping for an upset on their senior night and what was their last game of the season, Sand Springs cut the Comet lead to 3-2 on a goal by senior midfielder Evyn Morrow.
But Kelley put those hopes to rest with McFarlane’s gal with 10:11 left, bringing the score to where it would end.
It was the last game of the season for Sand Springs and the final game for Chavez as coach, who completed his fifth year at the helm. He said he plans to resign to spend time with family.
“It’s bittersweet,” Chavez said. “Wish we could have got the win, but if we battle over them, that’s all I could ask for. I’ll cherish the memories and the battles. We stuck together. This is a great group of girls. They’re in good hands.
The boys’ game was a scoreless battle in regulation with both teams under .500 and playing for pride in their final game of the season. They had to go to overtime.
There were many near scores, but neither could get into the net until the shootout came.
Junior midfielder Erick Bueno got the first goal. The Comets (5-8, 3-4 in District 6A-4) would be up 3-0, with two more goals by freshman midfielder Carson Leonard and sophomore midfielder Jace Havlik, while Sand Springs’ attempt either landed into the arms of the Kelley goalkeeper or it was deflected.
“Penalty kicks have been our Achilles’ heel over the past few years,” Kelley boys’ coach Phil Barkley said. “So it’s kind of fitting that we actually won that tonight and PKs and finish the season on. I’m so thrilled for our seniors and our boys.”
The Sandites (4-10, 1-6) got their lone goal on a kick by senior midfielder Edgar Perez.
Then Khan scored the clincher.
“I’m proud of our seniors who had leadership throughout the year,” Sand Springs boys’ coach Russell Ragland said. “They all didn’t get to play as much as the others, but they all continue to work hard all year.
“We knew tonight was going to be hard,” Ragland said.