Bureau Valley Storm ride out the Abingdon-Avon Tornadoes

MANLIUS - It was a weatherman’s dream matchup with the Storm playing the Tornadoes in the Storm Cellar Tuesday night.

Bureau Valley broke open a two-point halftime game by riding out the Tornadoes of Abingdon-Avon (A-Town) with a 28-19 second-half advantage on the way to a 59-48 win in Lincoln Trail Conference play.

Storm coach Jason Marquis said his team bounced back well after a 55-52 loss at home to St. Bede on Saturday.

“I think it shows some resilience by our kids. We didn’t shoot the ball well Saturday and were kind of holding our heads,” he said. “We had a good practice yesterday, lot of execution stuff where kids can tend to be lackadaisical and lazy and half speed. I didn’t see that. It was good to see.

“We executed some quarter-court stuff better than we have and I think got some confidence back.”

BV was missing senior starters Landen Birdsley and Liam Swearingen, along with junior Brandon Carrington, who were ill. Marquis said the Storm did well playing with a next-man up mentality with Brad Schoff, Wyatt Birkey, Ryan Wasielewski and Zack Wiggim filling in key minutes.

“Proud of those kids who don’t always get the minutes, but they run every reaction drill with us,” Marquis said. “This team has matured a little bit. So we’re going to enjoy it tonight and then tomorrow morning, the alarm clock will go off and we’ll be in here to shooting and get some work in and get better.”

Schoff especially drew the praise of Marquis for stepping up and “playing his best game of the year by far.”

“Schoff’s been one of those with 25-minutes one night and five the next. Thrilled for Schoff,” Marquis said.

Landon Hulsing and Schoff said it was an important win in conference for the Storm (10-7, 3-0) since they were missing some key personnel.

“I think everyone was just excited to play,” Hulsing said. “Bryce handled the ball very well and our rebounding was much better today than it had been and even turnovers. We didn’t turn the ball over as much and I think that really helped.

“I think everybody understood we were missing two of our better rebounders, Birdsley and Liam, and people filled that gap today.”

“Even though we were short-handed, we showed came out and got a win on tired legs, missing two of our starters. It was a good win,” Schoff said.

Senior Elijah Endress scored twice to give the Storm a 38-35 edge early in the third quarter. Blake Foster scored strong in the post, Endress flashed for a wide open shot in the paint and Birkey hit a 3-pointer right ahead of the buzzer to put the Storm up 45-38 at quarter’s end.

“Birkey steps in, first meaningful varsity minutes. Creates a turnover, offensive rebound, open 3, knocks it down,” Marquis said. “That’s the stuff growing up like the young kids (fans) in the locker room you dream about.”

Hulsing took it from there, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter as the Storm opened up a 11-point victory.

“We’re making progress. Not a finished product yet,” Marquis said. “If you’re in the gym and working hard, you’re going to get better. For people that saw us over at Colmone (Classic), we’re better than that.”

Hulsing finished with a team-high 24 points for the Storm (10-7, 3-0) with Endress adding 14.

Alex Foutch knocked down four 3-pointers, two in the first quarter, on the way to a team-high 18 points for the Tornadoes (8-9, 2-1).

A-Town also won the JV game, 49-33. Birkey led the Storm with 17 points.