Panther girls finish strong

Playing their best basketball of the night in a 15-8 fourth quarter, the Creston girls secured a 52-50 Hawkeye Ten victory over Clarinda Tuesday.

After trailing much of the night, including a seven-point deficit late in the third quarter, the Panthers made several clutch plays down the stretch to overtake the Cardinals, including four clutch free throws late in the game by senior Ella Turner.

The outcome was in stark contrast to one month ago, when the Creston girls led much of the way until falling 54-51 in overtime at Atlantic.

“That was a gritty win tonight,” Creston coach Tony Neubauer said. “That’s our conference game with them, so it’s a big win for us. We are about as evenly matched as two teams can be. We made some big plays. Ella hit two big free throws for us late.”

Creston improved to 1-1 in Hawkeye Ten play and 4-5 overall. Clarinda fell to 2-4 in the conference and 5-6 overall.

Clarinda guard Maddie Cole, who led the Cardinals with 14 points, hit a half-court shot at the halftime buzzer to give Clarinda a 27-23 lead at the break. The Panthers trailed 42-37 entering the fourth quarter, after twice falling behind by seven points during the third period.

Turner, who sat much of the third quarter in foul trouble, sank a 3-pointer to tie the game 44-44 with 4:55 to play. Turner followed with two free throws at the 2:12 mark to tie it again at 46-46.

Braylee Pokorny rebounded a Clarinda miss at 1:10 to set up a go-ahead basket by point guard Hollynn Rieck after an offensive rebound.

With Creston leading 48-47, Creston’s Kadley Bailey streaked downcourt and fielded a perfectly-placed pass from Rieck covering three-quarters of the court, and was fouled while attempting a layup with 47 seconds left. It was ruled an intentional foul, and Bailey made both free throws on her way to a game-high 21 points.

Clarinda’s Kylie Meier sank a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left to tie it, 50-50. Turner again delivered in the clutch, drawing a foul on a drive in the lane with 6.9 seconds left. She sank both free throws for the final 52-50 margin as Cole’s long 3-point attempt missed at the buzzer.

“Ella stayed under control and had some nice finishes tonight,” Neubauer said. “She’s a good free throw shooter and those were big ones tonight.”

Turner was 4-of-4 at the line in scoring 11 points. Bailey made all six of her attempts at the line in her 21-point night. As a team Creston was 13-16 at the free throw line, while Clarinda finished 5-14. The Cardinals outscored Creston from 3-point territory, 27-9, but took 40 attempts behind the arc to get those nine makes (22%).

Creston almost had three scorers in double figures as Rieck finished with nine points in addition to her team-leading seven assists and nine rebounds.

“I thought Jensan Tussey and Marlee Stalker gave us good minutes off the bench,” Neubauer said. Both grabbed three rebounds, and Tussey went 2-of-2 at the free throw line.

The win could trigger a nice January run by the Panthers, who hosted 2-6 Panorama Thursday before traveling to 0-9 Denison-Schleswig Friday and facing 4-7 Red Oak at home Monday. Red Oak topped Denison-Schleswig Tuesday, 32-30.

CLARINDA (50) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 18 5-14 50. Maddie Cole 5 0-0 14, Kylie Meier 4 0-0 10, Aylah Johnson 3 0-2 8, Addy Wagoner 4 0-0 8, Ellie Cole 1 1-2 4, Miley Wagoner 0 3-4 3, Carsen Wellhausen 1 1-6 3. FG shooting — 18-63 (28.5 percent). 3-point goals — 9-40 (M. Cole 4, Johnson 2, Meier 2, E. Cole 1). Steals — 9 (A. Wagoner 4). Rebounds — 33 (A. Wagoner 7, Meier 7, Wellhausen 5). Turnovers — 14. Team fouls — 17. Fouled out — none.

CRESTON (52) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 18 13-16 52. Kadley Bailey 7 6-6 21, Ella Turner 3 4-4 11, Hollynn Rieck 4 0-0 9, Braylee Pokorny 2 0-0 4, Brynn Tussey 2 0-2 4, Jensan Tussey 0 2-2 2, Marlee Stalker 0 1-2 1. FG shooting — 18-46 (39.1 percent). 3-point goals — 3-15 (Bailey 1, Rieck 1, Turner 1). Rebounds — 34 (Rieck 9, Pokorny 7, Turner 6, Bailey 4). Assists — 11 (Rieck 7, Turner 2). Steals — 10 (Rieck 4, Bailey 3). Blocked shots — 1 (Rieck 1). Turnovers — 18. Team fouls — 16. Fouled out — None.