More on the Crickets and Orioles

A couple other factoids from Thursday night’s Division 3 regional semifinal between Fall Creek and Stanley Boyd that I forgot to post:

* Fall Creek now leads the all-time series with Stanley-Boyd 88-17-1. The Crickets have won 25 of the past 26 meetings.

* The Creek also improved to 8-0 all-time against the Orioles in the playoffs.

* Junior forward Matt Steinke just might be the hardest-working player in the Western Cloverbelt. He turned in his usual hard-hat-and-lunch-pail night by scoring 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Thirteen of his 15 points came in the second half, and 10 of the 13 came in the third quarter — which was a big one for the Crickets.

“He does all the little things that never show up in a box score,” Fall Creek coach Rick Storlie said. “He gets a huge steal and we’re able to convert on that. He gets the big rebound when we need it. He comes through. I don’t know how he made that one shot in the lane. He’s a gamer.

“He’s a kid who never shows his emotions. He always stays in the game. I’m real proud of that young man.”

* As I noted in Thursday’s Inside Hoops column, this loss doesn’t change the fact that Stanley-Boyd had a fantastic season. Going 16-6 was a great way to lay the foundation for what first-year coach Tom Hause is trying to build.

“I’m really proud of these guys, the way they played and the example they showed,” Hause said. “We just wanted to go out and play hard for 32 minutes every night. I can’t ask for anything more.”

— Joe Ziemer