Creston closes gap, but St. Albert holds on

Creston’s girls basketball battled well late into the fourth quarter of Friday’s Hawkeye 10 Conference contest with St. Albert.

The Panthers had the Saintes lead down to five on a couple of occasions, but could never get any closer as St. Albert held on for a 59-48 win at Panther Gym.

Creston’s effort was one of the better ones they’ve had against a quality team this season.

“I told the girls they fought really, really hard,” said Creston coach Ryan McKim. “That’s the first time all year against a good team that we really fought for all four quarters.”

St. Albert’s 2-2-1 full court press bothered Creston much of the game, particularly in the first half. The Saintes forced 26 Panther turnovers. Meanwhile, Creston forced only seven St. Albert turnovers.

“They had a lot more chances on offense than we did,” McKim said. “We had less chances to score. We have to take better care of the ball. Period.”

When the Panthers were able to get the ball into the half court, the offense worked well.

They just couldn’t do it consistently enough, especially in the first half.

Working on ball skills must be a priority for the program in years to come.

“It’s a matter of in the offseason, we have to develop better skills with the ball,” McKim said. “That’s what it comes down to is our skills with the ball. We have to attack pressure. Right now, we struggle with it a bit.”

Creston had the lead cut to four once, 48-44 with just under two minutes to go and five twice — 38-33 early in the fourth and 46-41 a couple of minutes later. St. Albert hit a couple of big shots, then made its free throws late to seal it.

Kalyn Wettengel led St. Albert with 18 points. Teagan Blackburn and Bailey White each had 15 points.

Cammy Rutherford led Creston with 13 points, along with 10 rebounds. Brielle Baker had 11 points and five rebounds. Breanna Wallace added 10 points.

UP NEXT — Creston (6-9) hosts Essex (12-3) tonight and hosts Shenandoah (13-2) Friday.

SA: Scoring — Sydney Fields 1 0-0 2, Bailey White 4 4-5 15, Teagan Blackburn 5 2-5 15, Sydney McLaren 2 0-0 4, Erin Wright 0 0-0 3, Kalyn Wettengel 3 3-7 18, Emma Shaw 0 0-0 3. 3-pt goals — 6 (Kalyn Wettengel 3, Bailey White 1, Teagan Blackburn 1, Erin Wright 1).Team fouls — 18. Fouled out — Sydney Fields.

CR: Scoring —Saige Rice 2 0-0 6, Lexie Little 0 2-2 2, Brielle Baker 3 5-7 11, Breanna Wallace 3 1-2 10. Madison Callahan 2 0-0 6. Cammy Rutherford 4 5-8 13. 3-pt goals — 7. (Saige Rice 2, Breanna Wallace 3, Madison Callahan 2) FG Shooting — 14-35 (40 percent). Rebounds — 31 ( Cammy Rutherford 10, Brielle Baker 5, Saige Rice 5, Lexie Little 4, Madison Callahan 4). Assists — 8 (Brielle Baker 3, Cammy Rutherford 2). Steals —7 (Breanna Wallace 2, Cammy Rutherford 2). Team fouls —18 . Fouled out — None.

SA (58) 17 11 16 15

CR (48) 12 8 13 15

JV

St. Albert won the JV game 53-39.

The Saintes led 14-8 after one quarter, 25-13 at halftime, then took command in the third, leading 40-21 after three quarters.

"We got down in the first half and couldn't crawl back," said Creston JV coach Britt Roberts. "The second half effort was much better."

Megan Haley led the Panthers with 23 points.

"Megan Haley shot the ball well," Roberts said.

Cayla Maitlen had seven points, while Kara Kinsella added five points.