Storm Drop Two Against Cody-Kilgore; Teams Split Against Minatare

CHAPPELL--Creek Valley's Storm Basketball teams hosted Cody-Kilgore Friday and traveled to Minatare Saturday, with the girls' team taking down Minatare and losing to Cody-Kilgore while the boys' team was unable to get a win against Cody-Kilgore or Minatare.

On Friday, the girls started off the action against the Cowgirls, and fell behind early. The Cody-Kilgore defense disrupted the Lady Storm offense, causing turnovers, picking off passes and giving the Lady Storm very few good looks at the basket. Both teams struggled on offense to start, and senior Anna Speirs dropped in a three pointer in the final seconds of the first quarter to narrow the Cody-Kilgore lead to 10-to-6. Senior Ella Whiting grabbed a steal and put in two points on fast break to start the second quarter, but the momentum was quickly stalled. Creek Valley started to get in good position for shots, but could not convert for points. The Cody-Kilgore offense started to pick up during the final minutes of the half, and the Cowgirls took a 28-to-10 lead into the halftime break.

During halftime, the crowd was entertained with dancing by the nursery and elementary school girls. After they were finished, the Crazy Chicken Chuck competition was held. Creek Valley junior Alvin Russell was lucky enough to have his ticket selected. He had three chances to put a rubber chicken through the hoop from mid-court. His first shot fell short, and his second shot was a bit closer, but also missed. On his third shot, he got the range right, and the chicken flew straight and true, and went right into the hoop, winning Russell $50.

The girls took the floor for the second half, and Cody-Kilgore put up another 12 points while limiting the Lady Storm to just five points in the quarter. The Lady Storm had a better offensive performance in the fourth quarter, but were too far behind to make a serious run. The Cowgirls were able to take the victory by a final of 54-to-24. Senior Anna Speirs led the scoring for Creek Valley with 12 points, and hit two three point shots.

In the boys' contest, the Cowboys took an early lead and never looked back, with their defense stifling the Storm's attack, and their offense moving the ball well enough to pull away from Creek Valley. Cody-Kilgore maintained a lead throughout, and the Storm never really challenged. The Cowboys took the victory by a final score of 68-to-43. Junior Jaxon Wickham led the Storm with 15 points in the loss. On Saturday, The teams traveled to Minatare, with the girls starting the action. The Lady Storm was able to get the better of the Lady Indians' defense, and were able to get off good shots.

Senior Samantha Marin was able to establish her presence underneath the basket, and grabbed 11 rebounds. She was also able to put up a lot of shots from her position, and led the Lady Storm scoring with 12 points. Creek Valley took the victory 38-to-18 for their second win of the year.

The boys were not as successful as they could not consistently score and Minatare was able to beat their defense often enough to open a lead and pull away with a 52-to-39 victory. The Storm are still looking for their first victory of the year, and the teams have games against Sioux County at home on Tuesday, and then travel to Paxton on Thursday and Banner County on Saturday.