Creston offense comes alive against Clarke

OSCEOLA – The Creston girls bounced back from their Lewis Central loss Thursday by rolling over Clarke 71-26 Monday night, moving to 8-5 on the season.

The Panthers opened up the game with a press defense that gave Clarke trouble. The Lady Indians struggled to get the ball past half court during their first four possessions before Clarke head coach Christa Subbert called a timeout to draw a play to break the press.

“The defense, we jumped on it,” said Creston head coach Tony Neubauer. “We knew they weren’t going to handle pressure very well, so we got out, jumped on them real fast and just never made it a basketball game. We did what we were supposed to do.”

Creston rolled during the first quarter, starting the game on a 21-2 run, finishing the first quarter up 33-4. It was group effort scoring as Kelsey Fields led the charge with eight points. The Panthers also had contributions from Sam Dunphy, Rylie Driskell, Braelyn Baker and Sydney Hartsock.

After struggling to shoot the ball well from the field last week, the Panthers played an efficient game against Clarke, which was set up by its defense.

“We ran the floor really well,” Neubauer said. “Our defense predicated our offense, and we knocked some shots down. We hit nine threes. I think that’s a season-high, so that helps. ... Just a really efficient basketball game.”

Creston used its length in the press to keep Clarke’s offense at bay by creating errant passes and easy turnovers, leading to easy looks in the lane.

“Creston was pretty quick, and they got a lot of fastbreak layups,” Subbert said.

After leading 49-12 at halftime, the Panthers brought out the starting five to begin the second half.

“Just working (the starters), keeping them in the flow,” said Neubauer. “I don’t want them to sit a whole half because they work hard in practices. I don’t want them to sit the whole time, but once we got toward the end of the third, we don’t want Kelsey or Sam or Syd hurt when we’re up by 40, so we gradually rotated people in and out.”

With the starters making their way to the bench, the reserves continued to keep up the relentless pace, outscoring Clarke 14-4 in the third quarter.

After exiting in the third quarter, Kelsey Fields led the team with 30 points, knocking down two 3-pointers in back-to-back possessions to end her night. Brianna Fields scored 11 points to round out the two double-digit scorers.

The Lady Indians made a small dent in the fourth quarter, scoring seven points, but Creston wrapped things up early and started to prepare for Shenandoah today (Tuesday).

“We came out, did what we were supposed to and got better,” said Neubauer. “Now we’re excited about playing Shenandoah tomorrow (Tuesday).”

UP NEXT – Creston hosts Shenandoah today (Tuesday) for a conference game that could move the Panthers back to .500 in the conference.

Junior Varisty

Creston junior varisty picked up a 35-24 win over Clarke Monday night.

At halftime, Creston had control of the game with a 19-11 lead before scoring 16 in the second half to run away with the victory.

The Panthers had contributions from seven of their eight players. Doryn Paup led the team in scoring with eight points. Keely Coen and Halle Evans followed right being with seven and six points, respectively.

Creston 71, Clarke 16

Creston (71) — 33 16 17 5

Clarke (26) — 4 8 7 7

Creston (FG FT PTS) — Totals —26 10-12 71. Kelsey Fields 12 4-5 30, Brianna Fields 4 3-3 11, Ryle Driskell 3 0-0 9, Braelyn Baker 3 0-0 8, Sydney Hartsock 2 0-0 6, Sam Dunphy 1 2-2 4, Doryn Paup 1 0-0 2, Anna Mikkelsen 0 1-2 1. 3-point goals — 9 (Driskell 3, Hartsock 2, Baker 2, Kelsey Fields 2). Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.

Clarke (FG FT PTS) — Totals — 9 6-10 26. Shayla Hembry 2 3-3 7, Kiaya Dunbar 2 1-2 6, Kaitlyn Halsband 2 1-2 5, Tori White 2 0-0 5, Alivia Bakley 1 0-0 2, Kelli McAfee 0 1-2 1. 3-point goals — 2 (Dunbar 1, White 1). Team fouls — 7. Fouled out — None.