Creek girls fall to Haxtun

CHAPPELL – To find the scorebook culprit in Friday night’s 40-33 loss to visiting Haxtun, Colo., Creek Valley High School girls basketball coach Bill Wilber didn’t have to go any further than the free-throw column.

Wilber’s Lady Storm made just 1 of 15 tries at the charity stripe, but amazingly, were able to stay in the game by hitting a half-dozen 3-point shots.

Still, CV’s shortcomings at the foul line were too glaring to overlook.

“I don’t know, but we didn’t shoot well at the foul line, and I felt like we hurried a lot of shots, too,” Wilber said. “We got down early, battled back and just came up short.”

Haxtun led 9-0 at the outset, and settled for a 10-3 command at the end of the first quarter. Creek Valley (2-5) got things going in the second period, and the issue became a matter of chipping away against the Bulldogs.

Still, Creek Valley trailed 30-23 heading into the fourth period, and a free throw by Courtney Dickerson gave Haxtun a 31-25 lead with 7 minutes, 13 seconds remaining.

CV’s Jerry Straber tried to rally her team with a steal and a layup, then knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing with 6:16 remaining, shaving the deficit to 31-30.

But try as they might, the Lady Storm could never draw even, and the score was a stalemate for the next three minutes: Creek Valley was 0 for 4 from the foul line, and Haxtun couldn’t convert, either.

“It seemed like it stayed 31-30 forever,” Wilber said. “We had chance after chance after chance.”

By the time Creek Valley scored again, Haxtun had scored seven unanswered points for a 38-31 lead with just more than a minute remaining.

CV sophomore Stefanie Mitchell, who came off the bench to score five points, knocked down a 3-pointer to account for the Storm’s final points.

Straber led all scorers with 15 points, Summer Mueller adding seven, Mitchell five.

Dickerson’s 13 points paced Haxtun, Taylor Dishman contributing 10 and Megan Gerk nine.

Creek Valley will host Minatare this evening.

Haxtun, Colo. 40,

Creek Valley 33

Haxtun 10 13 7 10—40

CreekValley 3 14 6 10—33

Haxtun: Dickerson 4 5-8 13, Dishman 4 2-2 10, Gerk 3 2-4 9, Allen 2 0-0 6, Hadeen 0 2-5 2, Wilkening 0 0-2 0. Totals 13 11-21 40

Creek Valley (33): Straber 6 0-4 15, Mueller 3 0-2 7, Mitchell 2 0-5 5, Blackwelder 1 0-0 2, JBehrends 1 1-4 4. Totals 13 1-15 33

3-point goals – Haxtun 3 (Allen 2, Gerk), Creek Valley 6 (Straber 3, Mueller, Mitchell, JBehrends). Team fouls — Haxtun 14, Creek Valley 16. Fouled out — Mitchell, JBehrends