Cloudy and windy during the evening with a few showers developing late. Low 41F. S winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..
Tonight
Cloudy and windy during the evening with a few showers developing late. Low 41F. S winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Logan Sturdy dribbles the ball down the court in Rock Creek’s win over Abilene in the opening round of substate Tuesday evening in Flush. The Mustang boys will play the winner of Hugoton and Winfield on Friday in the championship game.
Rock Creek players huddle around head coach Justin Smith during the Mustangs’ win over Abilene in the sub-state opener last Tuesday. The Mustangs fell at Hugoton in the sub-state championship on Friday.
Logan Sturdy dribbles the ball down the court in Rock Creek’s win over Abilene in the opening round of substate Tuesday evening in Flush. The Mustang boys will play the winner of Hugoton and Winfield on Friday in the championship game.
Rock Creek players huddle around head coach Justin Smith during the Mustangs’ win over Abilene in the sub-state opener last Tuesday. The Mustangs fell at Hugoton in the sub-state championship on Friday.
FLUSH — No. 8 seed Rock Creek held the lead throughout all 32 minutes in a 54-50 home win over No. 9 seed Abilene Tuesday to advance to the second round of the sub-state championship.
“We have been preaching full effort for a full game, and we have not done that much this year,” head coach Justin Smith said. “I thought (this game) was the closest that we have been to it. We had some stretches that we were not very good, but we did enough to make it to where that we never relinquished the lead and led throughout, so it was good.”
Rock Creek (13-8) did it with a balanced offensive effort as seven players scored, Logan Sturdy leading the way with 12 points and Coley Burgess with 11 points.
“That’s us. We played nine guys again (this game),” Smith said. “We are deep, and we have a bunch of guys that can contribute.”
A big factor in the game for the Mustangs is they shot 24 free throws, and they made 15 of them.
“With what we do, try to get down hill and try to get to the lane and make sure we play off two feet,” Smith said. “A lot of times, when you do that, you get to the line. So, that was a good job.”
After holding a 18-13 lead after the first quarter, the Mustangs were able to maintain a multiple possession lead throughout the second quarter. The biggest lead they got was 28-15 with 1:51 remaining in the second quarter. They held a nine point lead multiple times, including at the end of the second quarter to lead 28-19 going into halftime.
The Cowboys were able to get a little closer to the Mustangs in the third quarter. Throughout most of the third quarter, the Mustangs led by six. Rock Creek extended their lead to nine, 39-30, with 2:24 remaining in the third quarter, and then the Cowboys shortened it to seven, 40-33, to end the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Abilene (11-10) was able to really cut into Rock Creek’s lead as after holding a multiple possession lead throughout most of the game. The Mustangs’ lead was 42-39 with 5:59 remaining.
“I thought we didn’t do a very good job carrying the ball at times during the game,” Smith said. “I thought our half-court defense was really good, but then there was times to where we kind of game them turnovers for (points). We gave them that some, so we just did not do a very good job of taking care of the ball at some of those times. But we were pretty good in the halfcourt.”
The Cowboys were able to get multiple 3s to go down in the second half, which helped them trim the Mustang’s lead after they struggled behind the three-point line in the first half.
“(Abilene) has great shooters,” Smith said. “They have great kids that can hit shots. I knew eventually they were going to hit some. I thought we got nervous in the fourth (quarter) and we kind of ran out on some guys that we should not have and did not defend as well. Because you get in a lot of those close game situations, and it’s tough. Because you are trying to hold the lead and they are pressing a little bit more. But we did enough, and that was great.”
Abilene was able to cut Rock Creek’s lead to one point, 51-50, with 1:09 remaining in the fourth quarter, and the visitors also cut the deficit to one point, 45-44, with 4:36 remaining. Rock Creek was able to respond both times to secure the win.
After losing to Abilene 60-33 in the second game of the regular season on Dec. 6, Smith said it was a good thing to win the rematch and it will be a confidence booster that they were able to hold off a comeback attempt by the Cowboys.
Rock Creek will await the matchup between No. 1 seed Hugoton and No. 16 seed Winfield to know who it will play Friday. With 10 years of head coaching experience in Oregon and Missouri, Smith said he has been in these situations before, which should help the Mustangs.
This is also Smith’s first playoff win as head coach at Rock Creek after taking over as head coach as he was an assistant coach last season.
