Deficit dooms Storm

CHAPPELL — Highly touted Haxtun (Colo.) built a comfortable lead early Friday night, then shook off a halftime scare to post a 47-37 victory against host Creek Valley Friday night in the Storm’s Thunderdome.

“We struggled offensively,” CV coach Roger Behrends said. “We just couldn’t get anything going, and we forced a few things here and there. Defensively, I thought we played well and we matched them in scrappiness and we battled them on the boards.”

The Bulldogs’ inside-out combination of 6-foot-4 guard Kyle Pierce and burly 6-5 pivot Brandon Hinde was too much for the Storm (2-5). Both Pierce and Hinde scored 16 points for Haxtun, which held a 13-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, only to see CV make a late first-half run.

The Storm trailed 21-12 with 3 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first half, but CV center Luke Cavalli ignited a surge that saw Haxtun’s lead shrink to 22-19 at halftime when Lane Godfrey ripped a 3-pointer and Cavalli added a free throw.

“We had gotten off to such a slow start,” Behrends said, “but we were right there at the half, despite having 18 turnovers.”

The second half didn’t start off too well for CV, as the Bulldogs (7-0) put up 10 straight points to take over, 32-19. Cavalli stopped the bleeding for the Storm by hitting a 3-point shot from the top of the key, but Haxtun kept up the heat inside with Hinde, making it 39-27 after three periods.

A putback from Godfrey afforded Creek a chance to make it 41-33, but Pierce was not checked off on the missed back end of a two-shot foul by Hinde, and the rebound basket gave the Bulldogs a double-digit lead once more, with 5:21 remaining.

The teams played on even terms the terms the rest of the way. Haxtun made just 4 of 18 free throws, which enabled the Storm to keep in reach.

Cavalli had 14 points for Creek, with Sam Behrends struggling to score nine points.

“Nothing was working for Sam tonight,” R. Behrends said.

Creek Valley hosts Minatare this evening.

Haxtun 47, Creek Valley 37

Haxtun 13 9 17 8—47

CreekValley 2 17 8 10—37

Haxtun (47): Pierce 7 0-2 16, Hinde 7 2-7 16, W. Salyards 2 1-4 6, Heinz 2 1-4 5, Gerk 2 0-0 4, Brown 0 0-1 0. Totals 20 4-18 47

Creek Valley (37): Cavalli 4 4-6 14, SBehrends 4 0-0 9, Godfrey 3 0-0 7, McConnell 0 3-4 3, Garcia 1 0-0 2, Hummermeier 0 2-4 2. Totals 12 9-14 37

3-point goals — Haxtun 3 (Pierce 2, W. Salyards), Creek Valley 4 (Cavalli 2, SBehrends, Godfrey). Team fouls — Haxtun 12, Creek Valley 15. Fouled out — SBehrends.