First-half nerves rattle Panthers

The Panthers’ inexperience showed in the start of their opening game Monday against Winterset. Sloppy passes and an inability to get open led to an offense that scored just 2 points in the first quarter.

Though Creston found its rhythm as the game progressed, Winterset took advantage of the early lead, winning 68-43.

“More than anything, I think you just saw a lot of individuals that hadn’t had a lot of varsity experience in their career let the speed of the game get to them,” Creston coach Bryce Schafer said. “We were even with them the entire second half; we just dug such a hole it was hard to get out of.”

After a Huskies score put the Panthers down 10-2, Schafer called timeout, and the Creston squad switched a five-out offense, helping players find openings.

Junior Rhett Driskell, the only returning starter from last year’s squad, opened scoring on a rebound he took all the way back for a layup. After that, Creston went scoreless for seven minutes as the Huskies went on a 15-point run.

Ball control was a struggle for the Panthers, Schafer saying the Huskies were able to score 19 points off of turnovers.

Driskell had a game-high 24 points, more than half of Creston’s scoring. From there, individual players each chipped in small point totals. Ayden Purdum logged five and Jaxon Jondle came up with two.

“I saw some good things from Jaxon Jondle in the second half, and he was one who turned the ball over a lot in the first half,” Schafer said. He added that Gabe Kauffman gave good minutes off the bench and CT Stalker also played well, though foul trouble saw him not able to finish play.

Another player who didn’t play the full game was Tanner Ray. “Tanner Ray played really well. He had that bloody nose, and I thought he was done for the night,” Schafer explained. “He should have had those minutes, but I thought he was done for the night.”

In the second quarter, Creston scored 12 points, seeing points from Ayden Purdum, Cael Barton and Driskell. Every time they seemed to make up a little ground, Winterset would come back with a deep shot for three.

“We changed up our defense, and there for a little while, the zone was working, but then they started dropping a lot of shots from the perimeter,” Schafer explained.

In the second half, the two teams played neck-and-neck, Winterset scoring 30 points and Creston with 29.

“Nerves and anxiety got the best of us in the first quarter,” Schafer said. “Looking back, maybe we should have got a scrimmage in before this game to get rid of some of those nerves.”

The Huskies were led by Jace Bellamy with 15 points and Jake Hall with 11.

Creston returns to action Thursday against Madrid. The game will be played at Southwestern Community College as the boys wrestling team has a home quad that evening.

“Our energy and communication after the game was promising,” Schafer said. “They all know what needs to happen to get ourselves in a good position for Thursday.”

Full statistics unavailable.

CRESTON points:

Rhett Driskell 24 (5 2-pt, 3 3-pt, 5 FT)

Ayden Purdum 5 (1 2-pt, 2 FT)

Jaxon Jondle 4 (1 3-pt, 1 FT)

CT Stalker 3 (1 3-pt)

Nate Carroll 3 (1 3-pt)

Cael Barton 2 (1 2-pt)

Tanner Ray 2 (2 FT)

WINTERSET points:

Jace Bellamy 15 (6 2-pt, 2 FT)

Jake Hall 11 (2 2-pt, 2 3-pt, 1 FT)

Daxon Weeks 9 (2 2-pt, 1 3-pt, 2 FT)

Cam Sheffield 8 (1 2-pt, 2 3-pt)

Brayden Vickers 8 (1 2-pt, 1 3-pt, 3 FT)

Jackson Baer 8 (1 2-pt, 6 FT)

Cooper Johnston 7 (2 2-pt, 1 3-pt)

Landen Dinkla 2 (1 2-pt)