:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/3EHB3HWTC4V6F7DORP5BOS6TGM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/5HIX6DV4FWDXTMZL7XO7FPHBHQ.jpg)
Creston senior Caitlin McIlravy entered Thursday’s game with just six points for the season and no made 3-pointers.
McIlravy came off the bench and had an offensive explosion in Thursday’s 61-18 win over Clarinda.
The Panther senior scored Creston’s final 13 points of the first half, including three straight made 3-pointers. She picked up right where she left off in the second half, knocking down three more treys.
McIlravy finished the game 6-of-8 from behind the 3-point arc and scored a game-high 22 points.
“She played hard out there and really made tonight’s game enjoyable to watch,” Creston head coach Brent Douma said. “You’re happy for her to have a night like this. You know she had fun out there. You could see it. We had control of the game when she went in, but once she started doing all that, it just started rolling then. Her energy is contagious.”
The Panthers held a 19-7 lead over the Cardinals when McIlravy started her run in the second quarter. Freshman Brielle Baker had scored 10 of Creston’s 19 points at that point in the game.
Creston led 32-12 at halftime.
Coming out of the halftime break, Jenna Taylor hit a jumper along the baseline and then senior Taylor Briley scored 10 points in a row and finished with 12 in the third quarter.
In addition to McIlravy’s 22 points, Briley netted 14 and Baker finished with 13. Taylor scored nine points.
“We got good ball movement. Once you start making shots, you start moving the ball pretty well. You can feel the energy go up,” Douma said. “It was fun to see different kids have little runs there where they shot the ball well.”
Creston finished the game with 20 made field goals, shooting 11-21 as a team from behind the 3-point arc. The Panthers held Clarinda scoreless for the first 6:30 of the second half and limited Clarinda to just seven made field goals for the game.
The Panthers improved to 10-6 for the season with the win. The game did not count in the Hawkeye 10 Conference standings.
Creston hosts Red Oak 6 p.m. tonight in the first game of a girl-boy varsity doubleheader and then travels to Atlantic for a 5 p.m. varsity contest on Saturday.
“I’m not sure anybody played more than about 15 minutes,” Douma said. “That’s kind of what we wanted with three straight games. If we could keep legs as fresh as possible, that’s what we needed tonight. Luckily we made shots so we could rotate kids in and do that.”
CLARINDA (18) — Maddie Hartley 2 3-4 7, Allison Fast 2 0-0 4, Cynthia Best 1 0-0 3, Abbie Guthrie 1 0-0 2, Joslynn Williams 1 0-0 2. Totals — 7 3-4 18. 3-point goals — 1 (Best 1). Team fouls — 9. Fouled out — none.
CRESTON (61) — Caitlin McIlravy 7 2-2 22, Taylor Briley 3 6-8 14, Brielle Baker 5 0-0 13, Jenna Taylor 4 1-1 9, Camryn Somers 1 0-0 2, Becca Ross 0 1-2 1. Totals — 20 10-13 61. FG shooting — 20-45 (44.4 percent). 3-point goals — 11-21 (McIlravy 6, Baker 3, Briley 2). Rebounds — 24 (Taylor 4, McIlravy 3, Baker 3, Somers 3, Cammy Rutherford 3, Lexie Little 2, Briley 2, Ross 2). Steals — 13 (Baker 5, Briley 2, Somers 2, Alli Thomsen 2). Blocked shots — 3 (Little 1, Taylor 1, Rutherford 1). Turnovers — 7. Team fouls — 13. Fouled out — none.
Clarinda — 5 12 14 18
Creston — 14 32 57 61
JUNIOR VARSITY
The Creston JV team improved to 15-2 for the season with a 42-16 win over Clarinda on Thursday.
The Panthers led 20-3 after one quarter.
“That was our best outing of the year,” Panther JV coach Ryan McKim said. “We had excellent ball movement all night and knocked down shots, especially early in the game. We are starting to figure out what truly playing hard is all about. I’m proud of our girls.”
Madison Callahan led the Panthers with 15 points and Breanna Wallace added 10.
Creston (42) — Madison Callahan 15, Breanna Wallace 10, Saige Rice 7, Cayla Maitlen 6, Taylor Buxton 3, Megan Haley 1.
Clarinda (16)
FRESHMEN
The Creston freshmen dropped to 3-3 for the season with a 34-25 loss to Clarinda on Thursday, playing in their first game in almost one month.
“We struggled to score tonight because of our lack of ball movement,” Creston freshman coach Mallory Peterson said. “We’re going to have to attack the paint and play more aggressive offensively to win games.”
Creston (25) — Megan Haley 9, Saige Rice 4, Kesia Stewart 4, Stephanie Hemsworth 3, Cayla Maitlen 2, Bre Ross 2, Taylor Buxton 1. Halftime score — Creston 11, Clarinda 6.
Clarinda (34)