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Creekview cruises past Liberty
BY CHRIS O'DELL, codell@acnpapers.com
CARROLLTON -- Creekview entered Friday night's game with Frisco Liberty in a two-way tie for first place in the District 9-4A standings.
The Mustangs made sure they kept pace with Centennial, winning a 63-36 decision against the Redhawks.
"It's very cliche to say but we're trying to take it one game at a time," said Jonathan Ellis, Creekview head coach.
The team poured in 18 points in the opening quarter while holding the Redhawks to just seven points in the frame.
Junior Justin Cueto and senior Stephen Buckner did a majority of the damage for the Mustangs, combining for 31 points on the night with Buckner leading all scorers with 16.
"Cueto lit us up early on," said Marcus Eckert, Liberty head coach. "He played great."
The Redhawks were without the services of junior guard Aaron Estes, the team's leading scorer, due to family reasons. However, the team did get a spark from several new faces.
"We had a few players regain their eligibility," Eckert said.
Offense didn't come any easier for the Redhawks in the second quarter than it did in the first.
The Redhawks managed just six points in the second frame and trailed by 16 points entering the break.
"We're a very young team," Eckert said. "We've still got a long way to go."
Liberty did find a bit of a rhythm to start the second half, trimming the deficit to just 10 points midway through the third.\
"We came out and played really hard in the third," Eckert said. "We had a couple of kids come out and hit some big shots."
Senior guard Jimmy Au buried a pair of 3-pointers and sophomore Michael Caldwell added seven of his team-high 10 points in the quater to give Liberty renewed hope.
However, the Mustangs never allowed the lead to fall below 10 points and eventually pulled away with the outside shooting of Buckner and Cueto fueling the charge.
"Obivously teams are a lot better when everyone is hitting shots," Ellis said. "If teams don't respect us down low, then we have to hurt them from outside."
Cueto and Buckner combined to bury five 3-point shots in the game and became two of four Mustangs in double figures on the night.
Seniors Chris Weatherd and Aaron Brown each added 10 points for Creekview.
Despite adding 16 points in the third, the Redhawks still found themselves down by 14 to start the final quarter.
Creekview ended any doubt of a possible comeback early in the frame by extending the lead to 22 points after a Bucker three with 4:30 remaining in the game.
The lead would eventually swell to 27 points after a late free throw from Creekview.
"We're very luck that Liberty beat us in a play-in game earlier this year," Ellis said. "That helped the guys realize how important this one was."
With the win Creekview improved to 8-1 against 9-4A foes and made it 18-11 for the season.
The Mustangs will look to keep pace with Centennial by taking down Wakeland Tuesday night at 8 p.m. The two teams met earlier in the year at Creekview with the Mustangs winning a three-point ballgame.
"We don't want it to be a trap game," Ellis said. "We will work hard and make sure the kids are ready."
Meanwhile, the Redhawks fell to just 1-8 in district action this season. They will have a good shot at finding their second district win Tuesday when the team meets 0-9 R.L. Turner in a home tip-off set for 8 p.m.
"Turner is always tough," Eckert said. "They play so hard and compete for all 32 minutes."
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