If at first ...

After a predominantly back-and-forth contest defined the first half, the Bulldogs (4-3) blew open a close game in the second half to win 83-45 over Creek Valley (2-6) in non-district boys baskeball action Tuesday night.

Despite having to play without starting freshman guard Brett Godfrey, the young Storm team put up a strong fight in their home gym throughout the first half. Godfrey had injured his ankle last Friday in the game against Haxtun. He expects to be back in practice within a few days and ready for play when the Storm travel to Minatare on Saturday.

The Storm gave the Bulldogs all they could handle in the first half, despite falling into a 16-7 first-quarter well. A pair of three pointers by Storm leading scorer Lane Godfrey helped keep his team in the fight. But a 6-point Peetz lead turned into 9 points when Casey Barrett beat the buzzer to end the first eight minutes.

Roy Koech drew first blood for the Storm in the second frame with a three pointer and Dane McConnell soon followed by draining a free throw. Their start to the second helped the hosts draw closer by the end of the first half.

Each team had a pair of threes in the second quarter, with Maverick Widdowson joining Koech for the Storm while Josh Fiscus and Jordan Buss stretched the twine for Peetz.

"(Creek Valley) is a young team but they're well coached and play hard so you have to contest them. You have to match their intensity and we didn't do that in the first half," said Bulldogs Head Coach Bill Fiscus.

Midway through the second quarter Fiscus pulled all five of his players off the court and replaced them with five from his supporting cast. He had first warned the starters of his intentions if he saw another uncontested shot by the Storm.

He made good on his word when Widdowson hit a three.

After the closely contested first half, the Bulldogs came out with a vengence in the third quarter. Barrett and Austin Wilson hit threes and Bradey Holtz scored on a driving layup to for an 8-0 lead to start the second half. Though Widdowson had a mini 4-point run of his own in answer, Creek Valley's responses bacame fewer and fewer. The third quarter finished on a 15-2 run by Peetz giving them a 51-28 lead.

"That first half was rough," said Josh Fiscus. "I think we needed to knock off some rust coming out in the second half."

The Bulldogs topped their 22-point third quarter performance with 35 points in the final eight minutes. That was more than double what the Strom could manage with 17. During the frame Barrett hit a pair of threes in less than a minute and Austin Wilson another. The Storm could only answer with one three by Koech.

"At halftime the coach told us we needed to knock off the Christmas rust," said Tre Lewis, who was celebrating his 15th birthday. "I think some of us just had too much ham and turkey."

The Bulldogs were led by a balanced scoring attack with four players in double Figures including Barrett (14), Cody Wilson (12), Josh Fiscus (10) and Austin Wilson (10). Tre Lewis and Corbin Heller were close behind with 9 and 8 points, respectively. Jordan Nelson added 7 points. Jordan Buss had 6 points on two threes. Holtz assisted on 5 of the Bulldogs buckets.

"I think we were just concentrating too much in the first half instead of just playing basketball," said Cody Wilson. "In the second half we were a lot freer. We just played the game."

Defensively, Peetz had 19 steals as a team lead by the 4 by Barrett. Cody Wilson stole 3. Like the scoring, the rebounds were spread out with Cody Wilson and Tre Lewis on top with 8 each.

Lane Godfrey led the Storm scorers with 14 points while Widdowson and Colin Brott each had 7. Koech and McConnell both scored 6 points. Godfrey also had 7 assists.

Defensively, Godfrey was also strong with a team leading 2 steals and 13 rebounds.

Creek Valley travels to Minatare on Saturday while the Bulldogs host Briggsdale on Friday. For the Bulldogs, their Friday contest matches two teams with undefeated records (2-0) in the district.

Boys Basketball

Peetz 83

Creek Valley 45