Bulldogs edge Storm in turnover fest

CHAPPELL – In a game mired by turnovers and missed shots, the Peetz High Bulldogs (5-2, 1-1) eked out a victory over Creek Valley (5-4, 1-2) on Tuesday night, 41-37.

The non-league game was the first of 2016 for both schools.

"Obviously, we have to go to work," Peetz coach Sean Fehringer said. "We're a turnover machine right now. We have to buy into running our offense a little bit and have a little more patience."

After Peetz senior Jordan Nelson put up the first points of the game, the Storm took a lead it wouldn't relinquish until the fourth quarter.

While neither team was able to execute consistently on offense for most of the game, the Storm managed to increase its lead throughout the first half, going into the locker room up 26-19.

In the third period, the baskets seemed equally unforgiving on either side of court. Peetz, however, was able to make a stand on defense – holding Creek Valley to only 11 points in the second half.

Eventually, the Bulldogs' shots began to fall.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, Peetz sophomore Jake Curlee tied the game at 30 from the free throw line.

The Bulldogs increased the lead to six before the Storm got within 3 points with 30 seconds remaining. A 3-point attempt at the buzzer from the Storm's Brett Godfrey, a junior, was off the mark and Peetz survived.

Fehringer said much of the team's victory was due to its defense in the latter part of the game.

"We picked up our intensity and our pressure on defense, and then we also got a little more intense and aggressive on offense," he said.

His message to players during halftime was to "slow down, keep up the defensive intensity, stay aggressive on offense and just try and control it a little more," he said.

He hopes the game, and victory, was an opportunity for players to wear away any rust developed over the winter break, he added.

Roger Behrends, Creek Valley coach, said the shots simply weren't dropping.

"And we had high-percentage shots that still wouldn't go in, and we shot terrible from the free throw line," he said. "But you know what, I can't fault their effort. The effort was there."

Creek Valley's offense in the first half was effective, he said, but slowed under increased Peetz pressure in the second.

"And we just could not get the ball in the hole," Behrends said. "So it's one of those that we gave away because of poor shooting. But, like I said, the effort was there and I can never fault these guys' effort."