MAC tournament wraps up

Creek Valley High School girls basketball coach Bill Wilber came into this season with a design on changing the Xs and Os. Now, the Lady Storm are concerned a bit more with Ws and Ls.

“We finally learned that the girls care about winning and losing,” Wilber said after his club capped a weekend run to the Minuteman Activities Conference girls’ tournament championship at Sidney Middle School.

Creek finished things off with an impressive 53-41 victory against Leyton Saturday evening.

“We set the tone early and surprisingly, we maintained it,” Wilber said. “Of course, it helps when you have two guards like Summer Mueller and Jerry Straber playing at such a high level.’

As she had done the entire tournament, Mueller helped pave the way for Creek (6-7) creating numerous turnovers out front as Leyton’s guards at times seemed overwhelmed.

The junior scored a game-high 28 points, including her team’s first seven points, as CV edged away at the first stop, 15-10. The second quarter was all Lady Storm, as they outscored the Warriors (7-5), 15-8 to carry a 30-18 halftime lead.

“It was like we could never get going,” Leyton coach Rol Rushman said. “Creek’s plan was to come out and pressure, and that’s exactly what they did. Mueller and Straber are two solid guards that caused us problems.”

Leyton just could never get going, as leading scorer Rachael Ernest was in early foul trouble and was held scoreless for three quarters.

By then, Creek was in full command, 44-27.

“We were able to get steals and easy layups,” Wilber said. “I thought at some point, Leyton would make a run, but it really never came.”

Jill Behrends added nine points, all on 3-point baskets, Shania Brown pitching in seven.

Tessa Lukesh scored 17 points to pace Leyton.

Wilber said his team, which hadn’t even made it to the semifinal round for five years, played hard. Creek upset top seed Potter-Dix Thursday afternoon, and kept up the momentum.

“Now it’s up to the kids to maintain what we accomplished over the weekend,” Wilber said.

Third-place game

Potter-Dix 41,

Garden County 40

After losing all of an eight-point lead in the final 3 minutes, 20 seconds, the Coyotes won the game when Conner Wolff sank a foul shot with 10.5 seconds remaining. The Coyotes then had to hang on for dear life in the final seconds when Garden County’s Tileen Sullivan, who led all scorers with 16 points, had a short-range shot spin out.

Both teams struggled from the free-throw line: P-D was 11 for 24, while Garden made just 8 of 27 attempts.

Conner Wolff led the Coyotes with 12 points, Taylor Juelfs and Morgan Wolff adding eight each.

MAC girls tournament

Championship

Creek Valley 53, Leyton 41

Leyton 10 8 9 14—41

Creek 15 15 14 9—53

LEYTON (7-5)

RErnest 3 0-0 6, Berner 3 0-4 7, Lukesh 7 0-0 17, McKay 2 2-3 6, KErnest 1 3-4 5. Totals 16 5-11 41

CREEK VALLEY (6-7)

JeStraber 2 0-3 5, Mueller 11 5-12 28, Schievelbein 1 0-0 2, Reichman 0 0-2 0, Brown 2 3-6 7, JBehrends 3 0-0 9. Totals 20 8-23 53

3-point goals — Leyton 4 (Lukesh 3, Berner), Creek Valley 5 (JBehrends 3, JeStraber, Mueller). Team fouls — Leyton 21, Creek Valley 19. Fouled out — Shievelbein.

Third-place game

Potter-Dix 41, Garden County 40

Garden 11 10 7 12—40

P-D 4 11 18 8—41

GARDEN COUNTY (5-10)

Sullivan 6 4-13 16, Brehmer 1 1-3 3, Paisley 2 2-2 6, Jenkins 2 0-2 4, Davis 3 1-5 7, McLaughlin 1 0-2 2, Leach 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 8-27 40

POTTER-DIX (7-3)

Ramsey 0 3-4 3, Harms 1 0-0 2, Ball 0 2-3 2, CWolff 5 2-9 12, Long 0 2-2 2, Juelfs 3 0-0 8, M. Wolff 3 2-6 8, Maas 2 0-0 4. Totals 14 11-24 41

3-point goals — Potter-Dix 2 (Juelfs 2). Team fouls — Garden County 17, Potter-Dix 22. Fouled out — Maas.