New look girls team opens Friday

“The cupboard is not bare. We’ll just do things differently.”

That’s the assessment of Creston girls basketball coach Tony Neubauer as he prepares his fourth Panther squad for the upcoming season that tips off Friday night at Des Moines Christian.

This will be Neubauer’s first team without the services of all-time Creston leading scorer and rebounder Kelsey Fields, along with fellow all-stater Sam Dunphy and guards Rylie Driskell and Braelyn Baker.

Fields, now a member of the Northwest Missouri State University women’s basketball team, ended her career with 1,394 points and 1,019 rebounds, ranking 24th all-time in Iowa for career rebounds. Dunphy, a formidable post partner of Fields, was a third-team all-state selection by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association after ending her career fourth on Creston’s all-time scoring chart with 903 points and fifth in rebounds with 492.

Baker, despite missing time in two seasons with knee injuries, ranks ninth in all-time steals for Creston with 125 and third in assists (196). Driskell moved form shooting guard to point guard when Baker was injured, and received Hawkeye Ten Conference honorable mention.

Those four were the leaders of a team that went 15-6 last year and tied for third in the Hawkeye Ten at 7-3. The Panthers reached the regional finals for the second time in Neubauer’s first three years at the helm, falling to Class 4A semifinalist Dallas Center-Grimes, 50-28.

“This year we don’t have the luxury of 6-2 and 6-foot inside when we slow it down, so we have to do some things different because we aren’t as big,” Neubauer said. “Our base principles aren’t changing. We’ll still be up tempo and run the break. I’m a firm believer that great defense leads to great transition offense, and we’re a little quicker this year.”

The one benefit of having injury and COVID-19 issues at various times last year, Neubauer said was some valuable varsity experience gained by players who will take on more prominent roles this season.

Morgan Driskell (6-0) and Bri Fields (5-11) return with the most experience. Neubauer said Fields had knee surgery near the end of volleyball practice and is healthy going into this season.

Helping Fields replace her sister and Dunphy in the post will be junior Doryn Paup (5-11), last year’s sixth player and the 13th-leading conference returning scorer at 7.8 points per game.

“Doryn is a very good player,” Neubauer said. “She would have started on 95 percent of Creston’s teams, but she just happened to be behind two all-staters last year in Kelsey and Sam.”

Helping in the high post will be junior Neveah Randall. Backcourt players who move into regular varsity roles this year will be senior Gracie Hagle and juniors Jacy Kralik and Keely Coen. Junior Aleah Calvin joins Driskell as a wing player this year. The team also includes four sophomores and 14 freshmen.

“We are pretty athletic and we’re not short,” Neubauer said. “We do a good job in our 1-3-1 defense creating some problems with our length when we have Doryn at the top and Morgan over at a wing this year. Bri is at the back of it and Neveah has looked good in the middle. Neveah was our leading JV scorer last year, averaging about 12 points a game. Jacy and Keely have shown to be good shooters and Gracie gained some experience in playing the point for us last year. We’ll just have to score in different ways than when we relied so much on Kelsey and Sam.”

Conference outlook

The entire Hawkeye Ten graduated a bevy of talent last year, so Neubauer expects a scramble for the top spots behind heavy favorite Glenwood. The Rams, Class 4A runner-up last year, return four of the top 11 returning league scorers. Among them are South Dakota commit Jenna Hopp (14.9 points), Madison Camden (14.9), Abby Hughes (8.9) and Coryl Matheny (8.4).

Harlan, also a 4A state qualifier last year, should be a contender again after sharing second place with Denison-Schleswig a year ago. While D-S lost several seniors from its 18-5 team, Harlan returns senior Claire Schmitz (11.0) and Reagan Wicks.

Two of the top returning guards in the conference are Carroll Kuemper Catholic junior Catherine Mayhall (16.3 points) and Atlantic’s Jada Jensen (10.9). Shenandoah could be a contender, led by senior post player Ava Wolf, who averaged a double-double last year.

Neubauer expects Lewis Central to be strong again, coming off a 10-9 season. Lucy Scott averaged 8.6 points as a freshman last year. Lexi Johnson returns as Red Oak’s top player after averaging 10 points and six rebounds a year ago.

“Everyone lost some really good seniors,” Neubauer said. “It’s probably Glenwood and then everybody else this year. There should be some really good conference games. Our expectations have not changed. We know the pressure on this team is a little different than last year, when we had returning players everyone knew. This team could be more like two years ago, when we kind of snuck up on some people. The kids have practiced well and we’re anxious to get started.”

Roster

(* — letterwinner)

Seniors — Gracie Hagle* (5-5), Morgan Driskell* (6-0), Brianna Fields* (5-11), Lexi Gutknecht* (5-6).

Juniors — Keely Coen* (5-3), Neveah Randall* (5-8), Jacy Kralik* (5-7), Aleah Calvin* (5-7), Doryn Paup* (6-0).

Sophomores — Sophie Hagle (5-3), Josie Mahan (5-7), Lydia Goins (5-3), Morgan Van Gelder (5-6), Maya Villarreal.

Freshmen — Averi Culbertson, Taylor Smith, Abbie Bruce, Olivia Burwell, Zoey Vandevender, Adyson Morrison, Brooke Herron, Carly Sheil, Ava Adamson, Alyssa Gerdes, Taryn Fredrickson, Jersey Foote, Aubrie Mohr, Kylie Metheny.