Pushing the pace

There’s a different brand of basketball on the court for the Creston boys this winter.

Three of the primary graduation losses were post players — Avery Fuller, Derek Paup and Khalil Sherrod. Fuller and Paup are college football linemen. They provided an inside presence. Another loss from last year’s roster is forward Tony Davidson, an 8-point scorer who transferred to Des Moines Roosevelt.

Coach Bryce Schafer said the combination of a shorter, but athletic squad and the onset of the 35-second shot clock in Iowa high school basketball this year precipitated a new approach. It differs from a system that protected the basket without gambling on defense, and fed the ball inside or kicked to open perimeter shooters on the offensive end.

This will be more of an attacking, slashing Panther team that will pressure opponents across the court.

“We’re not as big as we’ve been in the past,” said Schafer, beginning his fifth season as head coach. “But, that actually plays a positive in the direction we are going philosophically. I’ve been a pack line defensive guy my entire 12 years as a head coach. With the introduction of the 35-second shot clock, we’re going to do 32 minutes of pressing defense if we can. Anytime we can get eight to 10 seconds drawn off that shot clock, that’s less time for them to get into their offense. We’ll be trapping and doing what we can to make them uncomfortable. We have a roster that’s built for this.”

Returning leaders

Heading that roster are two leaders from last year who received All-Hawkeye Ten Conference honorable mention. Kyle Strider, 6-3 senior power forward, averaged a team-high 9.9 points and 4.4 rebounds last year, second only to Sherrod in rebounding. Cael Turner, 6-1 junior guard, was second in scoring last year at 8.6 points per game, and provided 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals in a strong overall game.

Schafer will be relying on both to be even more productive this season. He said they fit the style of basketball envisioned for this team.

“Offensively, we’re morphing into a dribble-drive, motion team that will attack the rim,” Schafer said. “The teams that we have lost to in the past, like Harlan, LC and Glenwood, were doubling us in free throw attempts per game. That was solely because they were attacking and forcing officials to make the tough calls. We were shooting the ball a lot from the perimeter and not getting to the foul line.”

Joining Strider and Turner in the main varsity rotation will be center Logan Anson, forward Patrick Varner and guard Ethan Crawford, all seniors. Crawford was one of the most productive 3-point shooters a year ago. Others in the mix going into Monday’s opener at Winterset are senior Nolan Pryor and junior Lucas Rushing inside, junior guard Conner Wiley and two versatile 6-3 sophomores — Parker Varner and Jake Hoyt.

Schafer, assisted by Chris Tibbals and freshman coach Drew Dornack, said in summer competition in Cedar Rapids and a scrimmage last weekend against Nodaway Valley, the new shot clock was not a factor for his team.

“We played 12 games in four days and the closest we got to a shot clock violation was 11 seconds,” Schafer said. “I don’t think our group will be affected by it. We forced four shock clock violations. I voted for this for a long time because it’s finally a rule that benefits a defense that’s playing hard for a full 35 seconds. It cleans up the end of games, too. Teams up four points can’t stall the final three or four minutes.”

League outlook

Last year the Panthers were 7-15 and sixth in the Hawkeye Ten at 4-9. Harlan and Lewis Central were co-champions at 9-1 each. Red Oak, 6-4 in the league and 18-8 overall, was a Class 2A state qualifier.

Harlan and Lewis Central are expected to be top contenders again, but top Titan scorer Cole Arnold transferred to Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, and Harlan all-conference senior Brad Curren suffered an injury in the football championship game. Glenwood returns the conference’s leading scorer in senior Caden Johnson and Atlantic will have one of the league’s top players in

junior Colton Rasmussen. Max DeVries, one of the league’s top players, returns from Red Oak’s state tournament team. Denison-Schleswig was third in the conference last year at 7-3, and returns all-conference senior Carson Seuntiens.

Schafer said Creston showed potential to be a top four team in the conference last year, and returns most of the production from that team, with more experience. He’s hopeful of moving up in 2022-23.

“This conference is a complete toss-up right now,” Schafer said. “I felt like we should have been closer to six or seven (conference) wins last year. We lost seven games by four points or less. It was good for our guys to go through it, because we have a lot of them returning. They are used to playing in those conditions.”

Roster

(* — Letterwinner)

(Varsity heights listed)

Seniors — Kyle Strider* (6-3), Patrick Varner* (6-1), Ethan Crawford* (5-11), Logan Anson* (6-2), Payton Conley* (6-1), Nolan Pryor (6-1), Kyle Stafford (6-1), Noah Felix (5-10).

Juniors — Cael Turner* (6-1), Conner Wiley (5-10), Lucas Rushing (6-3), Anthony Eblen (6-1), Gavin Millslagle (5-10).

Sophomores — Casen Dryden, Jake Hoyt (6-3), Jayden Myers, Mattias Schultes, Parker Varner (6-3), Tommy Sand, Tyler Riley, Xander Drake, Ricci Hampton, Josh Schaefer, Martin Irogoyen, Justin Loudon, Brayden Schoon, Camden Smith, R.J. Soto, Aiden Snodgrass, Eli Schaffer, Andrew Hardie.

Freshmen — Nathan Carroll, Eric Chen, CT Stalker, Ayden Purdum, Jaxson Jondle, Hector Suazo, Nick Hayes, Brandon Shimer, Brady Phipps, Cael Barton, Jameson McDonald, Tysen Gillespie, Ben Rushing, MIles Cross, Eli Beckett.

Varsity schedule

Nov. 28 — at Winterset, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 6 — vs. St. Albert Catholic, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 9 — vs. Atlantic, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 13 — vs. Shenandoah, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 15 — vs. Glenwood, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 — 12 Courts of Christmas, Kansas City Hy-Vee Arena, TBA

Jan. 3 — at Clarinda, 7:30 p.m.

Jan 6 — vs. Denison-Schleswig, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 9 — at Red Oak, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 13 — vs. Lewis Central, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 17 — at Shenandoah, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 20 — vs. Kuemper Catholic, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 23 — at Atlantic, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 24 — at Glenwood, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 27 — at Harlan, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 3 — vs. Red Oak, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 6 — vs. Clarinda, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 9 — at Central Decatur, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 10 — vs. Harlan, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 14 — at Maryville, Mo., 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 16 — at Osceola Clarke, 7:30 p.m.