Creek Valley boys, girls sweep Banner County

It may be a little misleading to consider that a Dane McConnell layup early in the first quarter gave the Creek Valley Storm a lead it would never relinquish.

While the Storm boys were never headed and only twice tied, it wasn't until the final eight minutes that they were finally able to put away the Banner County Wildcats .

Never appearing in any real danger, however, Creek Valley cruised to a 46-36 win on home ground Saturday night. It improved to 3-3, while their district mark remained at 0-1.

"Going 3-3 is a pretty good start especially with all the young guys on this team," said McConnell. "We can go into Christmas break and relax with our friends and family and then get back to work. I think there is a lot of positive feeling on this team right now."

Sophomore guard Brett Godfrey led the Storm offense with 15 points including three swishes from beyond the bend. Junior Colin Brott rattled the twine for 10 points while McConnell added 8.

Roy Koch, despite limited minutes due to early foul trouble, finished as king of the ball hogs with 6 rebounds. Brott and Keith Everitt snatched five each off the glass.

"We really needed this win especially after losing our last three," Godfrey said. "This gives us some momentum going into the break. This will be a nice game to have in our minds when we return to practice."

Though McConnell's hoop put the Storm ahead for good, Creek Valley could never quite shake the Wildcats off their scent. Banner County was buoyed by the strong play of its senior duo of Kaden Huber (13 pts.) and Tyson Dahlgrin (15).

"The second quarter was really the difference," head coach Roger Behrends said. "(Banner County) had a lot of trouble with our 1-4 high offense and our guys executed it very well."

After one period, a late three pointer by Godfrey helped stake Creek Valley a 12-8 lead. The pivitol second quarter opened with Dahlgren cropping the Storm lead to a single bucket. From there, the home team slowly pressed its advantage. A three pointer by Brott with 2:28 left in the half was the ice breaker. The exclamation point was another long-range net bender by Godfrey at the buzzer. The Storm's halftime lead stood at 26-15.

"We had some really good looks out of the 1-4 high," Godfrey said. "We're all getting more and more comfortable with what we're doing out there."

Just as he ended the opening half, Godfrey did likewise to open the second 16 minutes. Godfrey's trey was the first of three straight long balls to open the third quarter. After the Godfrey bomb, Huber answered for Banner County before Brott settled the issue in the Storm's favor with his second three of the night.

Though the Wildcats managed to narrow the gap to 8 points (34-26) after three quarters, they were never able to get closer. Godfrey opened the fourth with a jumper and a driving layup to set the tone for the final minutes. A Godfrey to Austin Rowley long-distance scoring pass was the highlight of the final minutes.

"After the break we will be playing more district games so we need to improve to where we can have confidence going up against those teams," Brott said after having both noses bloodied in the final minutes of the game. "This was a good start and a nice way to go into break."

On Friday night, the Storm dropped a 58-32 contest to Sedgwick County in Julesburg, Colorado. Roy Koch and Brett Godfrey led the way in scoring for the visitors with 11 points each. Koch had a solid two-way game as he added 5 defensive rebounds to lead the team. Sedgwick County remains unbeaten at 6-0.

Creek Valley crosses the border into Colorado to meet the Peetz Bulldogs on Jan 6. The opening tip is scheduled for about 7 p.m. after the girls' game.

Straber scores 25 points for Storm girls

Led by a career night from sophomore Jessie Straber, the Creek Valley High girls’ basketball team topped Banner County 63-22 in a non-district contest in Chappell Saturday night. Straber’s evening included 25 points, 13 boards, 10 steals and four assists.

The win gives the Storm an overall record of 2-4, while their district mark remains at 1-1. The victory ended a three-game skid. The Wildcats slipped to 1-5, 1-4.

“I felt really comfortable tonight, but it was really a team win,” said Straber.

With a roster that includes five freshmen, five injured players and just three seniors, Storm head coach Bill Wilber has had to be patient in the early going.

“We’re finally getting to a point where we’re beginning to do what we need to do,” Wilber said. “They’re all beginning to understand now how to play together as a group.”

While Creek Valley was led in many statistical categories by Straber, the Storm was aided by a number of other strong performances. Senior Jill Behrends poured in 12 points including three buckets from downtown. She added five rebounds and a pair of steals to her nights work. Hannah Schievelbein bent the twine for 7 points and retrieved 8 off the glass.

“We’re passing the ball really well as a team right now,” Straber said. “We’ve struggled with teammwork in the early games but it’s been getting better every day.”

Freshman Allie Blackwelder gathered 9 rebounds and 4 steals while another freshman, Samantha Schmid, dropped in 6 points. In all 10 Creek Valley players scored. The others included Natalie Christofferson, Stefanie Mitchell, Madison Mcfee, Joey Straber and Jaden Criswell.

“I’ve been intermingling the freshmen into the games on a regular basis,” Wilbur said. “Up to now I’m extremely happy with what I’ve seen. With so many young players this team has the potential for a lot of improvement.”

The Storm attacked the Wildcats from the opening moments as it jumped out to a 20-9 lead after eight minutes. The lead was extended to 36-13 by halftime.

Banner County could manage just 9 points the entire second half as the Storm sealed the victory with strong two-way play.

The Lady Storm did not fare as well on Friday night as it fell to non-district opponent Julesburg, 50-31.

The Storm come out of the holiday break to do battle against its cross-state rival Peetz Bulldogs. The road contest is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start.