Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Creek Valley junior Chloe Stupka fights for two points during the Lady Storm's 38-37 victory over Paxton on Thursday. Stupka sank two free throws in the final moments to win the game for Creek Valley.
Creek Valley senior Garrett Sawyer drives the hoop on 6'10" Paxton junior Blake Brewster during the Storm's 62-43 loss Thursday.
The Lady Storm knew they would have to be at their best to get a win against the visiting Paxton Lady Tigers on Thursday, and a slow start by the Creek Valley girls in the first half put the Lady Storm behind 23-to-16.
"We were out hustled by the Tigers in the first half and I challenged the girls to step up their game and they all did", said Creek Valley head coach Missy Koenen.
The teams battled to an 8-to-7 stalemate in the third quarter with both squads playing physical defense, and this continued into the fourth quarter with Creek Valley down by eight at the six minute mark.
But then the points started to come for the Lady Storm, and they started chipping away at the Paxton advantage. Junior Catie Koenen scored seven of her 16 points in the final minutes while the teams battled for the lead. In the final minute, junior Chloe Stupka scored two to take the lead, then after a Paxton score, she drew a foul while shooting in the final seconds of regulation. She sank her first free throw to tie the game at 37, then nailed her second attempt to give the Lady Storm a 38-to-37 lead. With four seconds remaining, Paxton failed to get a shot off on an inbounds play, and Creek Valley earned the win, 38-to-37. Koenen led the scoring for Creek Valley with 16 points.
"This game was won with pure heart and determination from the whole team. They all seemed to gel together and offensively everyone contributed which helps open everyone up", said Koenen.
For the boy's team, the Storm hung in with the undefeated Tigers, battling their fast and talented squad and only being behind 31-to-28 at halftime. But the Tigers came out strong and scored 17 points in the third quarter, while their defense shut down the Storm and only allowed two points in the quarter. The deficit was too much to overcome, and the Storm fell by a final score of 62-to-43.
The girls were scheduled to face Bayard in the first round of the MAC tournament on Monday, while the boys were scheduled to face Minatare at Chappell in the first round of the MAC tournament on Tuesday.
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