Leyton, Creek Valley advance in girls’ MAC tourney

DALTON — Rachael Ernest finished with a double-double Monday night, scoring 15 points and hauling in 11 rebounds as the Leyton High School girls basketball team opened Minuteman Activities Conference tournament play with an easy 50-9 win against visiting Minatare.

LHS (6-4) rolled to a 12-4 lead at the first stop, and the Warriors were never tested, stretching the advantage to 25-6 at halftime and 42-8 going into the fourth period.

Kaitlyn Berner added 10 points and Katy Ernest nine.

Creek Valley also advanced by knocking off South Platte, 56-32. Summer Mueller scored 23 points and Jerry Straber put in 16 for the Lady Storm, which built a 27-16 halftime lead.

Hannah Schievelbein grabbed 11 rebounds, Mueller nine for Creek (4-7).

The final two rounds will be played at Sidney Middle School. In Thursday’s semifinals, top seed Potter-Dix will face Creek Valley at at 3 p.m., followed by Garden County against Leyton at 6:30 p.m.

MAC tournament

Girls first-round

Leyton 50, Minatare 9

Minatare 4 2 2 1—9

Leyton 12 11 19 8—50

Leyton (6-4): RErnest 15, Berner 10, KErnest 9, Lukesh 6, DWaite 4, Houk 2, Cruise 2, Rushman 1, KWaite 1

Creek Valley 56, South Platte 32

SPlatte 6 10 6 10—32

Creek 13 14 12 17—56

Creek (4-7): Mueller 23, JeStraber 16, Brown 7, Mitchell 5, Behrends 5

Regular season

Saturday

Girls

Peetz (Colo.) 44, Merino (Colo.) 34

PEETZ, Colo. — Beth Berhardt scored 16 points and tied for the team high with six rebounds as Tera Segelke’s Lady Bulldogs evened their record at 4-4.

Morgan Burns added 11 points for Peetz, which used a big second half to reverse a 20-18 halftime deficit.

Boys

Merino 75, Peetz 66

Josh Fiscus scored 23 points and foul-plagued Troy Clevenger added a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the high-scoring Rams.

“We were just out-hustled,” Bulldogs coach Bill Fiscus said. “Merino wanted it more than us.”

Peetz led 19-15 after a quarter, but was outscored 23-13 in the second quarter.

Girls game

Peetz (Colo.) 44, Merino (Colo.) 34

Merino 7 13 8 6—34

Peetz 5 13 13 13—44

Peetz (4-4): Berhardt 16, Burns 11, Schumacher 5, Harless 5, Curlee 4, Bjerke 2, Gutierrez 1

Boys game

Merino 75, Peetz 66

Merino 15 23 17 20—75

Peetz 19 13 14 20—66

Peetz (3-5): JFiscus 23, Clevenger 14, Karnik 8, Barrett 6, Crane 4, Koester 4, Heller 2

Paxton sweeps Creek Valley

CHAPPELL — Visiting Paxton defeated Creek Valley in both girls and boys varsity contests Saturday.

The Tigers knocked off the Lady Storm, 50-22, in the girls contest, while in the boys’ affair, Paxton cruised past Creek, 90-28.

Sam Behrends led the Storm with 16 points.

Girls

Paxton 50, Creek 22

Paxton 6 12 14 18—50

Creek 2 6 7 7—22

Creek (22): JBehrends 7, Mueller 7, JeStraber 5, Schievelbein 2, Blackwelder 1

Boys

Paxton 90, Creek 28

Paxton 16 28 28 18—90

Creek 9 3 9 7—28

Creek (4-6): SBehrends 16, Cavalli 6, Brott 3, McConnell 2, Koech 1