Basketball can be a game of ebbs and flows. A team just has to learn to ride the right waves.

On Wednesday night on their home court, the 15th-seeded Silver Creek boys latched onto the Zach Schmeeckle tsunami to carry them to a 60-51 victory over 18th-seeded Northfield during the first round of the Class 5A state tournament.

No matter how many times the Nighthawks surged in the second half, they couldn’t quite overcome a first-half Silver Creek swell.

Senior shooting guard Schmeeckle led his boys, per usual, with 21 points and senior point guard Ryan Burns added another eleven. Junior power forward Zander Storz (nine points), freshman shooting guard Luke Schmeeckle (eight points) and junior shooting guard Gabe Selby (eight points) each contributed their own bouts of key offense.

In the battle of the superior bird of prey, the Raptors proved the wisest.

“I thought it was a good test for us, to give us a chance to see if our pressing game could work against an opponent that was that quick and if we could stop the ball,” head coach Bob Banning said. “They have about two or three players, I think, that could make pretty good individual plays, so I think it was a very good test for us and hopefully, it’ll get us better prepared for the next round.”

The Raptors and Nighthawks began the game evenly-matched, as Silver Creek focused its energy on shooting outside and Northfield continuously took the ball to the post. The Nighthawks led 13-9 midway through the first quarter before the Raptors found a way to shut them down, then ignited a 13-point unanswered streak to take their own 22-13 advantage midway through the second.

Luke Schmeeckle dotted the exclamation point on that run with a deep three from the top of the key.

The Nighthawks discovered their three ball in the second frame and relied heavily on it to pull them back into contention, closing the gap to 27-24, before the Raptors closed the half out with an 8-0 tangent to lead 35-27 at the half.

In the third quarter, it was all Nighthawks. Northfield outrebounded, outshot and outmuscled the Raptors, but it couldn’t quite overcome them. Silver Creek led 45-42 at the end of a frame that they put firmly behind them for the final eight minutes of play.

No matter how hard the Nighthawks tried, they could never shake off that early 13-0 Silver Creek streak, though they certainly raised the blood pressure of everyone in attendance on more than one occasion.

Zach Schmeeckle put on a nearly one-man show — including a “how the heck did he make that” shot — to will his Raptors to victory in the fourth quarter.

“I challenged them as far as playing better defense and stopping the ball and also making sure that we battled them on the boards,” Banning said. “In tournament games, controlling the boards and controlling your opponent defensively are the two main things. I thought our guys did a nice job of taking care of the ball in a pressure situation and getting it to the right people’s hands.”

Now, they must turn their attention toward a daunting Mesa Ridge team, seeded No. 2 in the 5A bracket, when the two meet for the Sweet 16 on Saturday.

“I think they gave us a diverse matchup because they’re really athletic and they’re a good team. They’re the 18 seed, so it was a challenge, but I think it just prepared us for stronger opponents,” Burns said. “Our team really came together and it felt really good to get it. Now, we’re onto the 16.”