Bluejays overwhelm Panthers

BONDURANT — If the high school basketball team is any indication, three is the first number Bondurant-Farrar kindergarten students learn.

The Bluejays were quite productive from the 3-point line in their convincing 68-33 win Thursday over Creston in second round action of the 3A Region 8 playoffs.

“They shot the ball really well,” said Creston coach Bryce Schafer. “That is very hard to defend.”

But counting by threes didn’t start out at first. The Bluejays’ Hudson McConnell started it with a 3 as the team’s first points of the game. Creston responded with a basket by Tony Davison and a 3-point shot by Cael Turner.

An inside shot by Davidson tied the score at 7 with 3:46 left in the quarter.

“We played really well defensively in the first quarter,” Schafer said. The Bluejays finished the first quarter with consecutive baskets to build a 13-9 lead going into the second quarter.

Then the game’s environment changed, all because of what Bondurant-Farrar was capable of doing.

Bluejay Tanner Berggren’s 3-point shot gave the home team a 18-10 lead as Schafer called a timeout to hopefully end the momentum.

Davidson added two free throws with 5:33 left in the half. Another Berggren 3 extended the lead to 26-14 at the 3:00 mark. Another minute later and another Berggren 3 made it a 29-15 advantage by the Bluejays. Davidson added another free throw for Creston, but that would be the end of the scoring for the Panthers for the half.

And Berggren ended the half with a 3 at the buzzer. He finished the game making six of those shots.

“We missed some coverages but they still hit shots. When they still hit shots, I don’t think we were in the best frame of mind,” Schafer said.

Schafer said Bondurant-Farrar’s assertiveness with attempting to get the ball made his players expect a foul to be called, but the whistles were not blown.

“We were not boxing out well. We would run to the glass and got out physicaled. We got our hands on the ball, but they took it from us,” Schafer said. He added he had no complaints of the officiating.

“A lot things went wrong. And when it snowballed, it never stopped.”

Creston went into the break trailing 36-15.

Schafer was hoping a run of Creston points early in the third quarter would slow Bondurant-Farrar and make the game more competitive. Creston scored seven points in the first 2:30 of the third, but Bondurant-Farrar had not slowed down. Schafer called another time out after the Bluejays went up 43-17.

“They kept hitting shots and we kept falling farther down the rabbit hole,” Schafer said.

Schafer said Maryville, Missouri, hit the 3-point shot when Creston played them late int he regular season. But Maryville isn’t Bondurant-Farrar.

“They have length and played physically defense. We played into double teams,” Schafer said. “You are not going to beat really good teams that way.”

Schafer was hoping a Panther scoring run in the third would have slowed Bondurant-Farrar. But the opposite happened. Another Berggren 3 extended the lead to 30 halfway through the third quarter. The Bluejays maintained a 30-point advantage the remainder of the game.

Bondurant-Farrar (14-9) advances to play today vs Adel-DeSoto-Minburn for the substate 8 championship in Waukee. ADM beat Carroll 52-45 Thursday.

Creston ends the season 10-12. Departing seniors include Cael Turner, Conner Wiley, Gavin Millslagle, Davidson and Lucas Rushing.

Individual and team statistics were not available.