Defending 1A champs win in overtime

Creston boys pushed defending state 1A champion Madrid to the limit Thursday night, falling 64-58 in two overtimes at Southwestern Community College.

The Panthers, with only two returning varsity regulars from a year ago, continue to show improvement since starting the season in a 15-2 first quarter deficit against Winterset.

Coach Bryce Shafer was pleased with his team’s second-half performance against the Huskies and again Thursday was encouraged by the effort agaisnt talented Tigers team on a 30-game winning streak, following last year’s 28-0 campaign with two narrow victories to begin the current season.

Jevyn Severson, a 6-6 sophomore who was in last year’s championship lineup along with 6-7 junior Emerson Bridgewater, led the Tigers Thursday with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

Creston showed more balance than in the opener, as junior guard Tanner Ray led the team with 19 points. Senior guard Cael Barton sparked Creston to an early 17-9 lead with two of his game-high five 3-pointers in scoring 18 points. Rhett Driskell, the focus of Madrid’s defensive scheme after scoring 24 against Winterset, finished with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Point guard Nathan Carroll had two steals and two assists while scoring seven points. CT Stalker distributed a team-high four assists.

After Creston’s early success, Madrid snagged the momentum in an 18-8 second quarter to take a 31-25 lead. The deficit reached 10 points at 35-25 before the Panthers started a second-half charge.

The comeback culminated in a two-point basket from the right corner by Ray as time expired in regulation, sending the game into overtime in a 50-50 tie. Both teams scored six points in the extra four-minute stanza, requiring a second overtime.

Severson scored back-to-back baskets early in the second overtime to push Madrid up four at 60-56, and Creston was never able to recover as the Tigers had an 8-2 advantage over those four minutes.

“We missed two or three bunnies in a row and they came down scored both times,” Schafer said. “That was a big swing for them. We did some good things defensively and rebounded better than many people would have thought, with the size advantage that we were going up against. It’s just those two or three key plays that made the difference.”

With the difficulty in scoring inside against Madrid’s front line, Creston relied a lot on perimeter shooting. The Panthers owned a 27-6 scoring advantage from behind the arc.

Creston jumps back into Hawkeye Ten action this week with three road games, starting with Tuesday at St. Albert. The Falcons opened their season Friday in a 57-46 victory over Clarinda. Cooper Hamilton scored 20 points for St. Albert. Creston then travels to Harlan Thursday and Atlantic on Friday.

“We’ve made massive progress,” Schafer said. “When you put our second, third and fourth quarters against Winterset with pretty much this whole game, we’ve played well against good competition. But, this is what’s going to be a challenge — it’s still a loss, and it’s still an 0-2 start. It comes down to how does this group respond, even if it was a better game? We’ll prepare for St. Albert Monday and then we’ll have one day of practice to get ready for playing Harlan and Atlantic.”

MADRID (64) — Totals (FG FT PTS) — 27 9-12 64. Jevyn Severson 11 2-2 24, Emerson Bridgewater 4 5-10 13, Max Fowler 3 1-2 7, Logan Bogardus 3 0-0 9, Kolbie Owens 3 0-0 8, Zach Newell 1 1-2 3. 3-point goals — 2-17 (Owens 1, Bogardus 1). FG shooting — 25-61 (41.0 percent). Rebounds — 46 (Severson 15, Newell 11, Bridgewater 7). Assists — 8 (Severson 4, Owens 2). Steals — 4. Turnovers — 10. Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.

CRESTON (58) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 22 2-4 58. Tanner Ray 8 2-4 19, Cael Barton 5 1-2 18, Rhett Driskell 4 0-0 10, Nathan Carroll 3 0-0 7, CT Stalker 2 0-0 4. 3-point goals — 9-33 (Barton 5, Driskell 2, Carroll 1, Ray 1). FG shooting — 23-64 (35.9 percent). Rebounds — 29 (Driskell 10, Ray 6, Barton 4, Carroll 3). Assists — 17 (Stalker 4, Barton 3, Driskell 3, Ray 3, Ayden Purdum 2). Steals — 5 (Carroll 2). Blocked shots — 2 (Stalker 1, Ray 1). Turnovers — 10. Team fouls — 19. Fouled out — None.