Shaking off the rust

It was like two different games Friday night in Creston. Halfway through the second quarter, Des Moines Hoover was closing in fast, trailing the Panthers 19-16. By the end of the third quarter, the Creston girls basketball team had built up a 63-23 lead, outscoring the Huskies 44-7 through 12 minutes of play.

Creston went on to win their season opener 70-39.

“In the first half we just have to put the ball in the basket,” Creston coach Tony Neubauer said. “We had five or six 2-foot shots we missed. At halftime we talked about, we have to put the game away in the first four minutes and that’s what we did.”

Senior Ella Turner played strong from start to finish, putting up nine of the Panthers’ first 19 points.

“I thought Ella played really well tonight, under control, finished shots,” Neubauer said.

Turner finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and three steals. She led the game in rebounds, assists and steals. She was only outscored by teammate Kadley Bailey who had an impressive 19. Fifteen of the points came in the third quarter when Bailey rejoined the game after getting in foul trouble early.

“It was good for us to play without her,” Neubauer said. “I think she ended up with 19, and she didn’t play half the game.”

Bailey wasn’t the only star the Panthers had to play without. In the second quarter, senior Hollynn Rieck tangled legs with another player, falling and landing on her face. While nothing is broken, she ended up with a gash across her nose that needed medical attention, pulling her from the remainder of the game.

“It was good for us to play without her too,” Neubauer said. “We got everybody in the game. I thought Marlee [Stalker] came in and gave good minutes; Bentleigh Collier did too.”

Nine of the Panthers’ 14 players banked points, including double digits from Bailey, Turner and senior Brynn Tussey.

Creston connected for three behind the arc, one each from Bailey, Brynn and Jensan Tussey. The Panthers finished the game 53.6% from the field and 7 of 11 on free throws.

In the third quarter, Tussey was hot from mid-range, striking three from around the free-throw line before starters were pulled.

Creston outscored the Huskies 28-5 in the third quarter.

“[Chere Ambers] is a good shooter; she averaged 19 points a game last year so we wanted to take her away,” Neubauer said. “I thought Jensan and Braylee [Pokorny] did a good job chasing [Ambers] around. She didn’t score very much until late.”

The Panthers held Ambers to just eight points. The Huskies were led by Jenesis Brooks-Hayes with 13 points and Malak Nubie with 10. Hoover was 25.9% from the field and 6 of 13 on free throws.

The Panthers’ defense included five blocked shots, all off the bench.

Freshmen Collier and Nevaeh Adamson each had two blocks and Jensen Tussey logged one.

Pokorny, Brynn and Jensan each came down with five rebounds.

“I’ll give Hoover credit; they’re better this year. They made basketball plays this year,” Neubauer said. “Last year we beat them like 63-12 where we only played the starters the first half. They made us play three quarters tonight where we had to kind of put them away.”

STATS

Creston 70, DSM Hoover 39

Creston (70) — 18 17 28 7

DSM Hoover (39) — 6 12 5 16

CRESTON (70) — Totals (FG FT PTS) — 30 7-11 70. Kadley Bailey 9 0-0 19; Ella Turner 8 2-4 18; Brynn Tussey 5 0-0 11; Hollynn Rieck 2 3-5 7; Jensan Tussey 2 0-0 5; Braylee Pokorny 1 2-2 4; Marlee Stalker 1 0-0 2; Kinzley Downing 1 0-0 2; Bentleigh Collier 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 3 (Bailey 1, B. Tussey 1, J. Tussey 1). FG shooting — 7-11, 63.6%. Rebounds — 45 (Turner 15, Pokorny 5, B. Tussey 5, J. Tussey 5, Rieck 4, Collier 3, Stalker 2, Hope Henderson 2, Bailey 1, Payton Veitz 1, Daphne Hoepker 1, Chloe Thompson 1). Assists — 19 (Turner 5, Rieck 3, J. Tussey 3, Bailey 2, Pokorny 2, Henderson 2, Stalker 1, Veitz 1. Steals — 13 (Turner 3, Bailey 2, Rieck 2, J. Tussey 2, Pokorny 1, B. Tussey 1, Downing 1, Hoepker 1). Turnovers — 18. Team fouls — 16. Fouled out — None.

DSM HOOVER (39) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 14 6-13 39. Jenesis Brooks-Hayes 4 3-6 13; Malak Nuie 4 0-0 10; Chere Ambers 3 1-2 8; Lia jones 3 1-3 7; Ernestine Kennedy 0 1-2 1. 3-point goals — 5 (Brooks-Hayes 2, Nubie 2, Ambers 1). FG shooting — 6-13, 46.2%. Rebounds — 24 (Jones 11, Ambers 3, Brooks-Hayes 3, Ja’Sandra Jefferson 3, Cora Johnson 2, Nubie 1, Kennedy 1). Assists — 10 (Brooks-Hayes 5, Kennedy 2, Ambers 2, Jefferson 1). Steals — 4 (Brooks-Hayes 1, Johnson 1, Crawford 1, Gaye 1). Blocked shots — 2 (Jones 1, Ambers 1). Turnovers — 21. Team fouls — 13. Fouled out — None.