MAC boys’ girls tournament roundups

Creek Valley High School girls basketball coach Bill Wilber knew full-well his team could stay with top-seeded Potter-Dix, it was the staying ahead which summoned the unknown.

The staying ahead wasn’t an issue for Creek, which sprung a mild 37-28 upset of the Coyotes in Thursday’s Minuteman Activities Conference girls tournament semifinals.

“We knew we could come in and play with them,” Wilber said. “We played hard and we were getting really tired out there, but we hung on, and the kids are totally thrilled to be here. It’s the first time in five years they’ve even made it to (the semifinals).”

Creek’s guard tandem of Summer Mueller and Jerry Straber created havoc all afternoon for P-D (6-3) which trailed for most of the game, owning just one leading and forging one tie.

Conner Wolff and Taylor Juelfs, P-D’s top scorers, struggled through early foul trouble. Wilber also dialed up his defense to contain Wolff inside, and the ploy worked.

“Our goal was to shut down Wolff,” Wilber said. “We also wanted to shut down Maas, but couldn’t do both. So we settled on Wolff.”

P-D took its only lead at the start of the second period at 9-8 on a Regyn Hicks score and a 3-pointer from Juelfs and an inside move by Maas tied the game at 14-all with 3:15 left in the half.

CV got the lead right back on a 3-pointer from Staber, and the Storm ended the half with a 20-16 advantage, courtesy of Straber stealing a pass and assisting Mueller on a breakway layup.

“I was surprised we got as many layups as we did,” Wilber said. “Potter is usually good at trapping after allowing that first pass.”

P-D coach Jeff Einspahr said his team came out flat, and stayed that way.

“Their game plan worked, ours didn’t,” Einspahr said. “We were trying to slow them down in the backcourt and we let them have too many open shots. Offensively, we were trying to get the ball inside to Conner, but they did a good job denying her — and she got into some foul trouble.”

Creek (5-7) methodically padded its lead, almost to the point of putting the Coyotes asleep at times.

The Storm advantage rose to 30-20 on a Straber score late in the third period, and the lead was 30-22 heading into the final frame.

Creek did its best to keep P-D .in the game with less-than-impressive foul shooting, making just 3 of 9 attempts in the fourth quarter and 4 of 22 for the contest.

“They had to know we were struggling at the foul line,” Wilber said. “We were also getting tired, so we began pulling the ball out. We can’t rebound inside all night with them.”

Still, the Coyotes couldn’t make a dent in the margin, scoring just six points in the fourth period, and making just 2 of 14 foul shots themselves.

“We just didn’t get into a flow offensively with her and Amanda,” Einspahr said, “and their guards made it hard for us to foul them. They just wanted it more than we did.”

Wilber praised the play of Straber and Mueller, along with Hannah Schievelbein, who help assist defending inside before fouling out.

“Hannah has been playing great last two games” Wilber said. “Jerry and Summer are just doing what they do and tonight, it worked.”

Mueller scored 18 points, Straber eight for Creek, which will meet Leyton at 6:30 p.m. Saturday for the girls’ championship.

C. Wolff, Juelfs and Maas each had six points for P-D, which takes on Garden County in Saturday’s 3 p.m. third-place contest.

MAC Girls semifinals

Creek Valley 37, Potter-Dix 28

CREEK VALLEY (5-7)

Mueller 7 2-9 18, JeStraber 3 1-4 8, Schievelbein 0 0-2 0, Mitchell 1 0-2 2, Blackwelder 2 0-1 4, Brown 2 1-3 5. Totals 15 4-22 37

POTTER-DIX (6-3)

Harms 0 1-2 1, Lewis 1 0-1 2, CWolff 3 0-5 6, Langley 1 0-0 2, Juelfs 2 0-1 6, Long 0 0-2 0, MWolff 2 1-2 5, Maas 3 0-0 6. Totals 12 2-13 28

Creek 7 13 10 7—37

P-D 8 8 6 6—28

3-point field goals – Creek Valley 3 (Mueller 2, JeStraber), Potter-Dix 2 (Juelfs). Team fouls – Creek Valley 15, Potter-Dix 22. Fouled out – Schievelbein, Juelfs.