Top seeds fall in MAC

Sometimes underdogs don't follow the script.

For much of the first half and the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, top seeded Creek Valley held the Warriors at arm's length. But a persistent Leyton picked away until they emerged with a 54-48 win in the second round of the MAC tournament Thursday night at Sidney Middle School.

The victory sends Leyton to the championship game on Saturday against Potter-Dix.

A Katy Ernest buzzer-beater knotted things at 33-33 heading into the final period. But the Storm ripped off a 7-0 run, thanks in a large part to Summer Mueller, who hit a pair from the line then sank a three.

"When we got up, we thought we'd win," Mueller said. "But they figured out our press."

The Warriors had found Creek Valley's full court presence troubling, especially when two white jerseys converged on the point guards. In the second half, however, Leyton began to get the upper hand.

Down 40-33 with 6:25 remaining in the game, the Warriors forged a 9-1 response. Katy Ernest popped in a shot from the paint and followed up with two free throws. Diedra Waite banged one in off an inbound set play. Kelsey Waite then twisted through a wall of defenders and found herself faced with an open layup, which she converted.

"I did not think that was going to happen," Waite said, pointing out that she expected to be stripped of the ball.

The shot tied the contest at 41-all with just over four minutes remaining. Seconds later, Shaela Jenkins put Leyton on top with a free throw.

But the advantage was short lived. Straber peeled away from her mark and dropped in a three, turning things in Creek Valley's favor at 44-42.

Unbeknownst to just about everyone at Sidney Middle School, however, the turning point had already passed. Shortly before Jerry Straber's deft trey, Jessie Straber came up empty at the line. It was the last time a white jersey would take a charity shot. Meanwhile, Leyton would visit the stripe eight times over the final three minutes, picking up 8 points in the process.

"Free throws-that's what killed us," Storm assistant coach Penny BIrkel acknowledged.

Indeed, Leyton picked up 19 points from the line on the night, compared to 13 for Creek Valley-mirroring the 6-point difference in the final score.

First to the line, and most often, for Leyton in the final minutes was Kaitlyn Berner. Almost silenced from the floor over much of the contest, she piled on 7 points in the last 3:17 of play, 5 of these coming after fouls.

Her one layup was accompanied by a bonus, after banging into the Storm's Stephanie Mitchell on her way to the rim.

"I saw the girl there, I thought 'she can take the foul,'" Berner said, adding that the contact "almost takes your breath away."

Of her shot, Berner was less confident.

"I did not think it was going in," she admitted.

It did fall, however, handing the underdogs a critical 51-46 lead with just 1:34 left on the clock. Kelsey Waite tacked on two free throw tosses, cancelling out the points gained from a bank shot by Creek Valley's Shania Brown, sending the number one seed home.

Until the final moment the outcome was hardly clear, especially at the start of the contest. Creek Valley earned a first round bye thanks to their 7-3 mark heading into the tournament, and guard Jerry Straber pummeled the Warriors with 8 first quarter points.

The Storm jumped out to a 15-10 lead after one and did so with an air of confidence.

"We went in nervous," admitted Warriors freshman Diedre Waite. "But we wanted to win."

Creek Valley kept that impulse at bay until late in the game, however. They edged out to a 20 -13 advantage in the second when Straber took a pass from Hannah Schievelbein and drilled it home. After Dani McKay helped reel things back to within one, sinking a high arching jumper from the wing, Madison Blackwelder responded with a deuce.

The game might have slipped away from Leyton but for Diedre Waite's effort just before and after the halftime break.

She scored on a put back then converted one from the line just before the buzzer to keep the Warriors close at 26-24. In a sluggish third quarter, when both teams hammered at each other on the defensive end and the Warriors outscored Creek Valley 9-7, the freshman Waite hit 2 of 2 from the stripe and netted a baseline finger roll with an assist from her sister, Kelsey.

"They were fronting me," Diedra Waite explained. "Because I'm taller the guards could get me the ball."

Waite's antics-and a free throw from Jessica Houk-put Leyton on top 31-30 for a moment as the third quarter wound down. The Storm's Jill Behrends drained a three with 16 seconds on the clock to reverse the tide. However, Ernest beat the buzzer with a desperate jumper to even things at 33-33 heading into the momentous final period.

"It was a little nerve wracking," Berner said of the back and forth contest.

The usually dangerous lineup of Creek Valley shooters suffered an off night, hitting on only 23 percent of their efforts. Meanwhile Leyton managed to dominate under the boards. Led by Kelsey Waite's 10, they out rebounded the Storm 39-33--despite the powerful presence of Schievelbein.

"You gotta hand it to Leyton," Birkel said. "They were prepared. They adjusted."