Panther offense stalls in losses

The key to the Creston boys turning around their fortunes after the holiday break is finding some secondary scorers to bolster an under-performing offense.

The Panthers concluded their pre-holiday portion of the season averaging just 32 points a game in two home weekend losses to Glenwood (67-29) and North Polk (72-36).

The challenging early slate has left Creston at 0-7 overall and 0-1 in games that count in the Hawkeye Ten standings. Junior guard Rhett Driskell, averaging 15.4 points a game, has been the primary focus of opposing defenses. He managed 14 points with 11 rebounds Saturday against North Polk, but was limited to four points Friday against Glenwood’s undefeated squad.

Tanner Ray (7.2 average) and Cael Barton (5.8) have had productive outings, but coach Bryce Schafer said the team is seeking more consistency game in and game out from the entire lineup to keep defenses from swarming Driskell and stalling the offense.

The weekend losses were riddled with turnovers on passes in a newly-installed offense Schafer refers to as “Zaga,” a continuous screen-and-roll action with basket cuts designed by Gonzaga University coach Mark Few. More patience is required, Schafer noted.

“Today was game two of the new offense and I think it’s developing,” Schafer said Saturday. “We have to remember that you don’t have to try to score right off the beginning of the possession. The more they make the defense move, the more chances you have to find the open man or a lane to the rim. We’ve had too many lost possesions turning it over. In the first quarter we ran it well. We were cutting and getting good looks. Then we stalled. Consistency is our biggest issue right now.”

Glenwood, off to a 5-0 start, opened up a 7-0 lead but Creston rebounded to tie it 7-7 on scoring from Driskell, Ray and Barton.

The Rams closed the quarter on a 10-0 run and was soon in command, 27-9, before Creston reached double figures on Nathan Carroll’s 3-pointer midway through the second period. The Rams led 36-16 at halftime and outscored Creston 20-4 in the quarter to take a 56-20 lead.

“They have more athleticism than us and just face-guarded Rhett the entire time,” Schafer said. “We talked afterward about how that’s a time when Rhett needs to become a good screener. If they’re not going to leave you, then open up opportunities for other people. If we can just get four or five guys who can give us six points apiece, then the defense changes just a little bit in giving Rhett a little space.”

Glenwood had a lot of firepower from long range Friday, sinking 11 3-point goals. Xavier Bowmaker led a balanced Ram attack with 13 points. Barton had six points and four rebounds for Creston. CT Stalker dished five assists.

Saturday’s opponent was coached by Atlantic native and former Southeast Polk coach Alan Jenkins, son of longtime Atlantic girls coach Don Jenkins. He said North Polk needed a non-conference game, and Schafer said it’s good for his team to play against a Raccoon River Conference school because postseason district matchups often come against members of that league.

“The biggest thing for us is that in a nine-team league, we were off last night, and we didn’t want to go from Dec. 16 until to Jan. 2 without playing,” Jenkins said. “We just needed to play. Our biggest focus was Driskell, obviously. Creston does run a lot of good offensive action with the ball screen continuity. We just blitzed every ball screen that he received and tried to make him give it up. We tried to make other guys make plays to beat us.”

“We have to work on becoming a group, and not five individuals out there,” Schafer said. “We have a lot of guys who are new to varsity, and just the continuous speed that presents. On top of that we’ve had a challenging early schedule. Our defense hasn’t been playing bad, but we’re giving up too many offensive rebounds. And we have to get more than our share of the 50-50 balls. You get a couple of those and score on the other end, then maybe it breaks a little of the stress we have in finding some scoring.”

Creston resumes its season with an opportunity to get on track, hosting Clarinda (2-6 overall, 1-4 conference) on Jan. 6.

FRIDAY

GLENWOOD (67) — Totals (FG FT PTS) — 24 8-11 67. Xavier Bowmaker 5 0-0 13, Evan Stanislav 4 0-0 11, Colin Steele 4 0-0 11, Bradley Hughes 4 0-0 10, Kaden Crouch 3 2-3 8, Haze Stephens 1 4-6 6, Bodhi Langille 1 2-2 4, Ben Carlo 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 11-22 (Steele 3, Bowmaker 3, Stanislav 3, Hughes 2). Rebounds (29) — Johnson 6, Langille 4, Stanislav 4. Steals (10) — Steele 3, Stephens 2). Assists (18) — Stephens 5, Johnson 5). Blocked shots (3). Team fouls — 9. Fouled out — None.

CRESTON (29) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 11 3-5 29. Cael Barton 2 0-0 6, Tanner Ray 1 3-5 5, Gabe Kaufman 2 0-0 5, Rhett Driskell 2 0-0 4, Baret Lane 2 0-0 4, Nathan Carroll 1 0-0 3, Layne Sand 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 4-15 (Barton 2, Carroll 1, Kaufman 1). Rebounds (18) — Barton 4, Lane 3, Sand 3). Steals (6) — Driskell 2, Ray 2. Assists (10) — Stalker 5. Team fouls — 10. Fouled out — None.

SATURDAY

NORTH POLK (72) — Totals (FG FT PTS) — 30 5-7 72. Jayson Slings 9 5-7 23, Jack Spieker 4 0-0 11, Chase Krings 5 0-0 10, Tommy Spieker 4 0-0 8, Cale Petersen 2 0-0 6, Aaron Ausborn 2 0-0 6, Benjhamin Glasgow 1 0-0 2, Eli Pederson 1 0-0 2, Jayden Podey 1 0-0 2, Micah Sands 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 7-25 (J. Spieker 3, Petersen 2, Ausborn 2). Rebounds (23) — T. Spieker 5). Steals (14) — Slings 4, Ausborn 3). Assists (17) — Ausborn 4, Spieker 4). Blocked shots — (1) — Pederson 1. Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.

CRESTON (36) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 16 2-4 36. Rhett Driskell 6 1-2 14, Nathan Carroll 3 0-0 6, CT Stalker 2 1-2 5, Cael Barton 1 0-0 3, Jaxson Jondle 1 0-0 2, Baret Lane 1 0-0 2, Tanner Ray 1 0-0 2, Layne Sand 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 2-7 (Barton 1, Driskell 1). Rebounds (26) — Driskell 11, Lane 3). Steals (2) — Jaxson Jondle 2. Assists (7) — CArroll 2. Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.