Bureau Valley hits fork in the road, falls to Kewanee

MANLIUS – Jason Marquis said his Bureau Valley Storm basketball team has a big decision to make.

On Friday, the Storm fell to Kewanee, 58-43, in Three Rivers Conference East Division play at the Storm Cellar, their record evening out at 8-8 after starting the season with a 5-0 sweep of the Wethersfield tournament.

How they respond will determine how far they go this year, Marquis said.

“We’re at .500, and there’s kind of a fork in the road. We’ve got to decide, are we going to go up with it or down with it. I got good confidence in our boys they’ll make the right decision,” Marquis said.

“Probably one of the best lessons you’ll learn in basketball ... what’s the old line, ‘It’s always darkest just before the dawn.’ We can get down on ourselves and play some really good competition. I think a huge secret to good basketball and being prepared for life, ‘Don’t let the lows get you too low and the highs get you too high.

“And so, after you’re 5-0 in the tournament, you’re fighting not to get too high. And after you’ve lost three out of your last four, you’re fighting not to get too low. And realizing you’re good and might not have put it together or you have faced somebody when they were having a good night.”

The Storm got off to a good start, taking a 9-6 lead on a bucket by Nevin Bolin from the right box and a free throw by Layton Britt.

Kewanee scored the last six points of the opening quarter, including a second-effort putback by big man James Conner to beat the buzzer for a 12-9 lead.

The Boilermakers (9-7, 3-0) stayed hot to open the second quarter, outscoring the Storm 10-2 (16-2 since the middle of the first quarter) to double up BV, 22-11.

Kewanee opened a 29-15 lead with a 7-0 run on a 3-pointer from Blaise Lewis from the left corner, a drive by Niko Powe and a layup by Lewis.

Carter Salisbury hit a 3-pointer from the top to draw the Storm within 29-18 at halftime.

Cooper Balensiefen hit a jumper and Britt sank two free throws with 3:08 left in the third quarter as the Storm cut the Kewanee lead to 34-27.

The Boilermakers outscored the Storm, 12-4, the rest of the quarter to take a 46-31 lead at quarter’s end.

“I thought we competed well, but probably didn’t have good enough execution to get the W against that good of team,” Marquis said. “Too many turnovers and not enough defensive rebounds. Thought we battled. They got an 8-0 run after we cut it to seven. [They have] lots of good players. They’re well coached and they run that 1-3-1 real well.

“Good news is, we get another shot at them on their home court. Conference is going to have us well prepared to play anybody.”

Powe led the Boilermakers with 18 points with Brady Clark adding 14 and Lewis 10.

BV’s Salisbury led all scorers with 20 points.

“Thankful for our kids effort. Would like to see us execute a little bit better,” Marquis said. “There’s a few things you can control – your attitude and effort. For the most part, our effort was very good. Our attitude was pretty good for the most part. Couple times we got frustrated with each other.

“Give credit to the Kewanee team. Held us to 43 points. They’ve done that to a lot of teams. We’ll have to be sharper and better next time to put more points on the board to beat them.”

Overall, it was a good representation of Storm basketball, Marquis said.

“We have a bunch of alumni here,” Marquis said with a nod to Corbin Endress and Parker Neuhalfen standing in the coach’s office after the game. “We lost by 15, but they’re (the alumni) not walking out here thinking we played with a lack of effort or a lack of intensity. I think they still played with passion for the BV program.”

Notes: Kewanee won the sophomore game 60-34. Corbin Chimm had 11 points and Elijah Endress nine for the Storm.... The Storm will be back at it bright and early Saturday for a 7:30 a.m. bus ride to the Rock Falls Shootout for a sophomore/varsity doubleheader with Winnebago starting at 9 a.m.