Panthers prevail in overtime

HARLAN — The Creston boys ended a four-year postseason losing streak in dramatic fashion Monday night.

Harlan’s Brehden Eggerss sank a leaning 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer to force overtime, but the Panthers blanked the Cyclones 5-0 in the extra four minutes to win the Class 3A Substate 8 opener, 56-51.

With senior center Tony Davidson in foul trouble much of the night, junior forward Jake Hoyt led the Panthers with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Hoyt made 10-of-12 free throws on a subpar night at the line for the other players on the court. The Panthers finished 13-of-22 at the charity stripe, while Harlan converted 10-of-22.

Cael Turner and Parker Varner each made four 3-pointers for Creston in scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively. Turner had five of the team’s seven steals. Davidson contributed nine points. Harlan’s 6-5 center Franz Reisz, a football recruit at the University of Northern Iowa, scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the first half for Harlan. Reisz grabbed 10 rebounds.

Creston trailed 27-26 at halftime and did not move into a lead untl Varner’s 3-pointer early in the third quarter for a 29-27 edge. The rest of the second half was back and forth until the Panthers got key 3-pointers by Turner and Varner in the final two minutes for a 50-48 advantage. Davidson made one of two free throws with 25 seconds left to make it 51-48.

Harlan missed two 3-point attempts to tie it on the next possession, and after the second miss Cade Sears hustled for another offensive rebound. With the clock ticking under two seconds, Sears pitched it to Eggerss behind the arc, and the 5-8 senior guard launched a hurrried, leaning 3-pointer that swished through the net at the buzzer.

The disheartening emotions of watching victory slip away were quickly discarded by the veteran lineup on the floor of seniors Gavin Millslagle, Davidson and Turner along with juniors Varner and Hoyt.

“It’s not fun to see that shot go in. It hurts,” said Turner, the Panthers’ point guard. “But at the same time we knew we had four more minutes to play and the game’s not over. We have a job to do. We knew we could win, being up the majority of the second half. So we knew we had it in us.”

Varner pushed Creston in front 54-51 with an early 3-pointer in the second session, but second later Hoyt left the game with his fifth foul. Junior Brayden Schoon, who teamed with senior Lucas Rushing to work against Harlan’s Reisz in Davidson’s absence, hauled in two defensive rebounds and made one free throw to make it 55-51. Turner later added a free throw for the final five-point margin.

“I was proud of the guys the way they finished it,” said Hoyt, forced to be a cheerleader with the rest of the bench in the final two minutes. “We got the W and that’s all that mattered. After hafltime we wanted to be more physical with their big, make other guys shoot it, and rebound the ball. We executed and came out with the win.”

Postseason history

It’s the first postseason win by the Creston boys since a 66-57 victory over Glenwood in 2019, coach Schafer’s debut season. Kylen Smallwood scored 24 points in that game and Brance Baker and Cael Kralik each added 18. Harlan ousted the Panthers in the second round that year.

Monday’s win was the first Panther victory at Harlan in the era of record keeping by Varsity Bound, which began in 2008-09. It’s also the first postseason win over the Cyclones in at least two decades, and believed to be the first school year with Creston postseason wins over Harlan in both football and boys basketball.

The big rivalry victory was also achieved on what would have been the 18th birthday of the late Sterling Sharp, whose family died in Mexico on spring break in 2018. Sterling was a classmate and teammate of this year’s Panther seniors.

After falling behind 14-6 early as the sixth seed playing the second-seeded rival on its court, Schafer praised the team’s turnaround.

“I’m just proud of the guys, especially with the adversity of thinking we had it,” Schafer said, referencing the buzzer 3-pointer by Eggerss in regulation.

“We told the guys they had to put up a prayer to tie it,” Schafer said, describing the team’s huddle as overtime awaited. “We told them to keep the momentum. It helps in overtime to hit a shot, and Parker hit a three to give us the lead and we never gave that back.”

Schafer praised Davidson’s ability to contribute at key times down the stretch after being saddled with two early fouls in the first quarter, and picking up his fourth foul early in the second half. The Panther coach said all nine players who participated were contributors in ways beyond the scoresheet.

“We got effective minutes from a lot of guys, even if they didn’t get a lot of minutes,” Schafer said. “Lucas had a great effort rebounding the ball and Brayden played his butt off working against Franz with Lucas and Jake. We didn’t necessarily go in saying let’s foul him, but our odds are better if he’s at the free throw line than with a layup.

Hoyt and Turner combined or 20 of the team’s 26 first-half points to help the Panthers stay within one going into the break.

“We thought Jake and Tony would get some good looks inside against their zone, but Tony got into some foul trouble early,” Schafer said. “Fortunately, we were able to have him late. Josh Schaefer had great minutes that let us rest guys a little bit. Parker was starting to cramp up late, so he had to get off the floor to recover. I know Rhett Driskell didn’t get a ton of minutes, but all of them helped us. Gavin Millslagle didn’t score a point, but you can tell the difference in our defense when he’s out there. He is scrappy and seems to be a spark. Obviously Jake and Cael were leading us and they’ve been good all year. Jake was making free throws and hitting big shots, and Cael was our floor general out there.”

Creston, 7-4 in its last 11 games, visits substate No. 2 seed Bondurant-Farrar tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m. The Bluejays (13-9) beat Perry 88-57 Monday night.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 1-seeded ADM (19-3) beat Atlantic 70-49 and Carroll (12-10) defeated Denison-Schleswig 78-59. The substate final is scheduled Feb. 26.

HARLAN (51) — Totals (FG FT PTS) — 17 10-22 51. Franz Reisz 5 6-14 16, Brehden Eggerss 4 0-0 11, Jason Erlemeier 3 0-0 9, Cade Sears 2 1-2 5, Will Arkfeld 2 0-0 5, Quinn Koesters 1 1-2 3, Ben Leinen 0 2-4 2. 3-point goals — 7-21 (Erlemeier 3, Eggerss 3, Arkfeld 1). FG shooting — 17-41 (41.5 percent). Rebounds — 24 (Freisz 10, Sears 4). Assists — 13 (Arkfeld 5, Eggerss 4). Steals — 8 (Koesters 3, Arkfeld 2, Sears 2). Turnovers — 8. Team fouls — 19. Fouled out — Sears.

CRESTON (56) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 17 13-22 56. Jake Hoyt 5 10-12 21, Cael Turner 4 1-4 13, Parker Varner 4 0-0 12, Tony Davidson 4 1-2 9, Brayden Schoon 0 1-4 1. 3-point goals — 9-23 (Turner 4, Varner 4, Hoyt 1). FG shooting — 17-36 (47.2 percent). Rebounds — 31 (Hoyt 12, Turner 4, Varner 5, Schoon 4). Assists — 12 (Hoyt 4, Gavin Millslagle 2). Steals — 7 (Turner 5). Blocked shots — 1 (Schoon 1). Turnovers — 19. Team fouls — 18. Fouled out — Hoyt.