Late Storm surge drowns Morrill

Fans didn't need a scoreboard to tell the winner of Tuesday night's sub-district battle between Creek Valley and Morrill. They just needed to catch the broad smiles on the faces of Storm seniors Summer Mueller and Jerry Straber as they emerged from the post-game locker room.

But what their expressions didn't reveal was how difficult a road they had just traveled.

It took 30:11 for No. 2 Creek Valley to gain their first lead of the game. From that point on, the Storm played their best basketball, taking down the No. 3 Lions 60-56 in Mitchell.

The win blows the Storm into the finals on Thursday night against top seeded Hemingford, who eliminated No. 4 Potter-Dix 65-23 in an earlier semifinal. Hemingford and Creek Valley will tip off at 6:30 p.m. in Mitchell to play for a spot in the district finals.

The Lions came out growling from the start and took a quick 9-0 lead. Throughout long minutes leading up to the final period, Morrill threatened to leave the Storm in a deep hole. Though Creek Valley tried to tame the Lions, the lead proved elusive for most of the contest.

But the Storm finally managed to tilt momentum in their favor. They seized a share of the scoreboard when Jill Behrends drained a three pointer with 2:32 left in the game to forge a 50-50 tie.

Though Behrends spent much of the game struggling offensively, she picked the most opportune time to escape her funk.

"I wasn't playing well and I didn't have much confidence," said Behrends. "When I had the open shot I just thought 'why not,' and let it go."

But Creek Valley needed more than just a portion of the lead to advance. And less than a minute after Behrends found the bottom of the twine, Straber did the same, bouncing her long bomb off the glass for a 53-50 advantage with 1:49 to play.

For Straber it was her third three pointer in less than two minutes.

Once having captured the lead the Storm never gave it away--though the Lions once came close to snatching it back. Morrill's Kiley Geuerue (31 points), a one girl wrecking crew, followed Straber with three foul shots, which were separated by a court-length drive by Mueller. The Geuerue-Mueller exchange set up a game-tying basket by Shalyn Lackey at 55-55 with 38 seconds left.

The Morrill bench picked an inopportune time to start chirping at the officials, however. When officials booked the Lions sideline for a double technical, Mueller dropped two foul shots and Behrends another to regain a three-point lead with 31 seconds on the clock.

The Lions could only manage a free throw after the bench foul while Mueller iced it with another court-length drive in the final seconds.

"After the first quarter it was a reality check and we picked it up," said Mueller. "We're just two evenly matched teams that fought each other hard all game."

The late comeback was even more impressive for Creek Valley when you consider two players, Hannah Schievelbein and Jessie Straber, fouled out. Both are valuable defenisve assets. Schievelbein, a junior, is often counted on to gobble up rebounds at both ends of the floor. The younger Straber acts like a roadblock against opposing guards.

"Jessie is probably the best defensive player on our team," said Jerry Straber of her younger sister.

There were large stretches of time when the Strabers made up 60 percent of the Storm players on the floor. Jerry is a senior, Joey a sophomore and Jessie a freshman.

"We have a great bench," said Mueller. "It's probably our best asset and they were big for us tonight."

After falling behind 9-0 Schievelbein finally got Creek Valley on the scoreboard by converting on a Mueller pass. But the Storm continued to spend much of the opening frame in an 8 to 9 point chasm.

Mueller helped narrow the gap with a late three pointer but the Lions still led by 7 after eight minutes 18-11.

"They came at us hard and it was very physical but we never starting doubting ourselves," said Schievelbein. "We just had to keep on playing our game."

Behrends hit a jumper 19 seconds into the second period that may have foretold of the comeback. But it was a slow process. Morrill continued to make it difficult.

The comeback began in earnest when Mueller twice sank both ends of a one-and-one. Joey Straber then accomplished the same feat to complete a 6-1 exchange - all from the foul line. When Jerry Straber scored the final five points of the half the Storm trailed by only one at 29-28.

Though tantalizingly close to the lead opening the third quarter the Lions - or more specifically Guerue - turned back the Storm with 6 opening points. But Creek Valley had stirred and began to respond. Mueller again made a steal which she converted for a pair and Jerry Straber hit another three.

Despite the third period resurgence, Morrill continued to do what they had all game long - they turned back the Storm. Midway through the final quarter the Lions held a 50-41 lead.

The 12-0 run which culminated in the trey's by Behrends and Jerry Straber was fueled by Straber. She sank two three pointers preceding the Behrends equalizer. Before she drained the second, she dribbled past the arc and slammed on the breaks. She then retreated behind the bend and threw up a swish with a hand in her face.

Mueller led the Storm offense with 25 points and 6 assists. Jerry Straber was a force as well with 19 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. Joey Straber put in a strong defensive effort with a team leading 11 rebounds - 9 off the defensive glass. Mueller had 8 rebounds and Shania Brown 7.

Girls Sub-Districts

Creek Valley 60

Morrill 56

Linescore

Creek Valley 11 17 9 23 - 60

Morrill 18 11 10 17 - 56

Storm Scoring

Summer Mueller 25

Jerry Straber 19

Jill Behrends 6

Jessie Straber 4

Joey Straber 2

Hannah Schievelbein 2

Shania Brown 2

Next Game

Sub-district finals

Creek Valley vs Hemingford

Thu. 6:30 p.m.

Mitchell High School