When the Sutton Mustangs and the Sandy Creek Cougars duke it out on any field of play, you can count on a big-time effort by both teams. During Thursday night’s county rivalry clash in Sutton, the Mustangs, behind a 22-7 fourth-quarter rally came-from-behind to outlast Sandy Creek 45-40.
With the win, Sutton improved to 14-3, while the Cougars fell to 10-7, as the two teams enter play in the Southern Nebraska Conference tournament this week.
Sandy Creek had full control of the Jan. 30 clash, leading 7-6 after the first quarter, 19-10 at the half, and 33-23 at the end of the third, but when the Mustangs got hot, they blistered the nets during the 22-7 fourth-quarter rally to come from a double-digit deficit to gain the five-point victory.
A trio of Mustangs hit double figures, led by Aidan Jones with 15 points, Jacob Huxoll, 12, and Payton Reed, 11.
For Sandy Creek, Kamerin Sealey paced the Cougars with 15, Ethan Shaw added 11, and Jack Clark hit for eight.
Defense was supreme, as the Cougars held the hot-shooting Harrison Herndon without a point. Sutton was 17-44 from the field (38.6%), while the Cougars were 12-41 overall (29.3%).
From two-point range, Sutton was 16-31 (51.6%), but shot an ice cold 1-13 from three-point land (7.7%). Sandy Creek, in contrast, was 7-16 from two-point range (43.8%), and drained five of 25 three-point shots (20%).
At the foul line, Sutton was 10-14 (71.4%), while the Cougars were 11-16 (68.8%).
Huxoll, Reed, and Jones led Sutton on the glass, Huxoll with 10, while Reed and Jones both had seven, as the Mustangs held a 27-24 rebounding edge over the Cougars.
Sandy Creek was led by Wes Biltoft with seven, while Shaw, and Jacob Petr all had five rebounds each. Sealey dished out four assists for Sandy Creek, while Jones had three for Sutton.
Sutton..................................6 4 13 22 -45 Sandy Creek..........................7 12 14 7 -40 Sutton Scoring: FG FT Pts Aidan Jones.......................................3-8 9-9 15 Jacob Huxoll.....................................6-13 0-3 12 Payton Reed......................................5-9 0-0 11 Weston Ohrt......................................3-5 0-0 6 Keith Kliewer.....................................0-3 1-2 1 David Fonseca...................................0-2 0-0 0 Harrison Herndon.............................0-4 0-0 0 Sutton Totals:........................ 17-44 10-14 45 3-ptFG: Reed1-5,Kliewer0-1,Jones0-3,Herndon0-4. Total: 1-13. Rebounds: Huxoll 10, Reed 7, Jones 7, Kliewer 1-13. Rebounds: Huxoll 10, Reed 7, Jones 7, Kliewer 1, Herndon 1, Ohrt 1. Total:
27. Assists: Jones 3, Kliewer 2, Herndon 2. Total:
7. Steals: Huxoll 2, Reed 1. Total:
3.
Sandy Creek Scoring: FG FT Pts Kamerin Sealey...................................3-10 7-8 15 Ethan Shaw.........................................4-11 3-4 11 Jack Clark..............................................3-8 0-0 8 Wyatt Livgren......................................1-3 1-4 3 Evan Swartzendruber..........................1-3 0-0 3 Wes Biltoft............................................0-1 0-0 0 Jacob Petr.............................................0-5 0-0 0 Sandy Creek Totals:.................. 12-41 11-16 40
3-pt FG: Clark 2-5, Swartzendruber 1-3, Livgren 1-3, Sealey 1-4, Biltoft 0-1, Shaw 0-4, Petr 0-5. Total: 5-25. Rebounds: Biltoft 7, E. Shaw 5, Petr 5, Sealey 4, Livgren
1, Clark 1. Total:
24. Assists: Sealey 4, Shaw 1, Petr 1, Livgren 1, Clark 1, Biltoft 1. Total:
9. Steals: Sealey 1. Total: 1.
