WINTERSET — Jenna Taylor made Creston’s first two shots of the game for a 4-2 lead, and the Panthers rode her hot hand the rest of the way in a 55-31 victory at Mel Penrod Gymnasium here Monday night.
The Panthers improved to 2-0, while the Huskies, ranked No. 12 in Class 4A in the preseason, fell to 0-2 after opening last week with a 42-37 loss to Interstate 35.
Taylor, 5-10 senior post player, scored inside and out Monday with four 3-pointers in finishing with 35 points. She scored 21 of her team’s first-half points in a 26-14 lead at the break.
Taylor is believed to have set a Creston five-player single-game scoring record. She made 10 2-point field goals, four from 3-point range and shot 3-of-4 at the free throw line.
Previous highs were Leanne Owens with 28 points in a game and Summer Hook with 26. Amanda Parker and Katie McKim also topped 20 points multiple times. Emily Sevier was a high scorer for Creston girls basketball in the final years of six-player basketball here.
McKim, 2007 graduate who played at Central College, is the school’s all-time career scoring leader with 856 points.
“I was feeling good in warmups,” Taylor said. “I got some hooks going to my right early, and then when they had the big girl on me I came out and shot (3-pointers) a little bit.”
“Jenna is a tough matchup for a lot of kids, because of everything she can do,” said Creston coach Brent Douma. “They face-guarded her there in the second half and Cammy (Rutherford) got started with a couple of little jump hooks, they were so focused on Jenna. We let the game come to us. And defensively, that’s the type of effort we want.”
Stifling defense
Winterset’s offense was slowed by Creston’s 2-3 zone that’s very active on the perimeter, putting someone on the ball constantly. It was a 14-4 game after one quarter and Taylor already had 12 points.
“Our defense was playing well,” Douma said. “The idea is keeping one on the ball, and if they skip pass, if someone has to go out from the post, we bump down and cover. Our guards do a good job of communicating. We knew (Molly) Eyerly was a pretty good player for them and we held her to four points. Their point guard (Macy Johnson) is quick and she got 14 tonight.”
The Panthers had to play extended minutes without senior point guard Taylor Briley in the second half, after she suddenly had four foul violations. With 4:40 left in the third quarter, she was whistled for a technical foul for her verbal reaction to a foul call.
“I talked to her about it,” Douma said. “She just said ‘Oh my God!’ I think she was more frustrated at herself than anything, but that’s not how they took it.”
The Panthers were up 17 at the time (31-14) and still maintained a 16-point command (42-26) when she returned to the court with 5:47 remaining in the game. Senior Caitlin McIlravy filled in at point guard, with Lexie Little helping in the ball handling, finishing with a team-high four assists.
Senior Alli Thomsen also played a larger part than the opener, subbing frequently for starting senior Camryn Somers. Top scorers behind Taylor were Rutherford with eight points and Briley with seven.
“We had some people do a good job of executing without forcing anything,” Douma said. “Camryn had a 103 temperature Sunday morning, so we had to watch her a little.”
Taylor said she was able to receive some well-placed passes in the second half even when Winterset had a player face guarding her.
“It’s hard to face guard a post player,” Taylor said. “Lexie and Alli did a good job of driving the baseline and getting it inside.”
League opener
Creston opens conference play Friday at Glenwood, and Douma knows the Rams will present challenges.
“They have the (Danika) Lucy girl with a lot of size, the track runner Molly Dean is a nice athlete and Myranda Starner is a good player,” said Douma, former boys assistant at Glenwood before taking the Creston job last year. “We’ll have to go over there and give a good effort.”
WINTERSET (31) — Macy Johnson 6 2-2 14, Molly Eyerly 2 0-0 4, Sophie Stover 2 0-1 4, Ally Pickering 1 0-0 3, Erika Shahan 1 0-0 3, Madison Wauters 1 1-2 3. Totals — 13 3-5 31. 3-point goals — 2 (Shahan 1, A. Pickering 1). Rebounds — Shahan 4. Team fouls — 10. Fouled out — None.
CRESTON (55) — Jenna Taylor 14 3-4 35, Cammy Rutherford 4 0-0 8, Taylor Briley 3 1-2 7, Lexie Little 1 0-0 3, Alli Thomsen 0 2-2 2. Totals — 22 6-7 55. 3-point goals — 5 (Taylor 4, Little 1). Rebounds — Taylor 8, Rutherford 5, Little 5, Somers 4. Assists — Little 7, Somers 3, Rutherford 2. Steals — Thomsen 1. Team fouls — 13. Fouled out — None.
Winterset — 4 14 21 31
Creston — 14 26 38 55
JUNIOR VARSITY
Creston overcame an early 10-0 deficit to roll past Winterset 53-29 in junior varsity action Monday.
The Panthers (2-0) pulled in front 20-19 at halftime and outscored the Huskies 33-10 in the second half. Brielle Baker scored 21 points, Megan Haley scored eight and Taylor Buxton and Cayla Maitlen each tallied six.
Madison Wauters led Winterset with 15 points.
“We started slow, probably had 16 missed layups in the first half,” said Creston coach Ryan McKim. “We’ve been working a lot on defensive positioning and we did a good job with that. I thought for three quarters we really played pretty well.”
Creston (53) — Brielle Baker 21, Megan Haley 8, Taylor Buxton 6, Cayla Maitlen 6, Madison Callahan 5, Logan Pettit 4, Saige Rice 3. 3-point goals — Baker 2, Rice 1. Halftime score — Creston 20, Winterset 19.
Winterset (29) — Madison Wauters 15, Mia Olson 5, Mariah White 3, Courtney Woodcock 3, Jenna Wagner 2, Emma Lowden 1. 3-point goals — Olson 1, White 1, Woodcock 1.
FRESHMEN
There was no official freshman game Monday, although Creston freshmen defeated a group of Winterset JV reserves, 29-2 in two quarters, since Winterset has no freshman team.
Players for Creston in the game were Stephanie Hemsworth, Kesia Stewart, Jesse Vicker, Grace Root and Breanna Ross.