PREP BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Peetz boys come up short in season finale against Fleming

The Peetz High Bulldogs finished their regular season by hosting the leader in 1A North Central and came up on the short end of a 60-50 final at Carlile Gymnasium on Friday night.

While the Bulldogs (11-8) would not have been able to catch Fleming (15-3) for the top spot in the league, a win would have secured them a second seed in the upcoming district tournament. Instead, they go in as the third seed and will face No. 4 Pawnee.

“It was a tough last game of the year,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Jim Gardiner. “Hats off to Fleming. They are a young, well disciplined group of kids. I was proud of my kids for battling their tails off and never giving up.”

The Wildcats built their final 10-point margin of victory in the first half and played even with Peetz over the final 16 minutes. Fleming took an eight-point advantage (15-7) after the first quarter and added a field goal to the margin at the half (30-20).

“We finally played better defense against a top-tier team and there is something we can take from that headed into districts,” Gardiner said. “Thirty-eight attempts from the field has got to increase against a good team like Fleming. Our percentage says we just needed to get the ball up more often.”

Casey Barrett paced the Bulldogs scoring attack with 22 points while Cody Wilson dropped in 13. Wilson’s strong all-around game included 10 rebounds and a pair of steals.

Creek Valley 58, Wallace 43

With junior Colin Brott having a career scoring night, the Creek Valley Storm boys’ basketball team finished the regular season on a high note with a convincing 58-43 win over the the Wallace Wildcats on Friday night in a non-district matchup.

With Brott leading all scorers with 28 points on 11-for-22 shooting, the Storm took control of the contest in the first half by taking an 11-point lead at 34-23 and never looked back. Creek Valley added an additional four points to its final margin of victory over the final 16 minutes.

Brett Godfrey and Keith Everitt also reached double figures in scoring for the Storm with 11 and 10 points respectively. Godfrey led the Storm in rebounds (8) and assists (6) while tying Everitt for the team lead in steals (4). Brott came up big on defense too as he swatted away four Wilcats shot attempts.

Minatare 63, Potter-Dix 55

The Potter-Dix Coyotes boys’ basketball team played a solid game against an outstanding Minatare team on Friday but came up on the short end of a 63-55 final in Potter.

The Coyotes concluded their regular season with a mark of 6-14 while the Indians finished up at 18-2.

Leyton 69, Garden County 49

The Leyton Warriors had a productive warmup to their upcoming subdistrict tournament as they defeated the Garden County Eagles 69-49 on Friday.

Senior Cody McKay put in a strong all-around performance with 21 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Drew Brenner had 17 points with five boards while James Rushman also hit double figures with 15.

GIRLS

Fleming 48, Peetz 28

After playing a close first half against a strong Fleming team, the Peetz Lady Bulldogs struggled through a two-point third quarter and fell to the Wildcats 48-28 at Carlile Gymnasium Friday night.