Tigers stifled in first quarter, Panthers win 58-45

The Creston girls basketball team put up 15 unanswered points to start Monday’s home game against Red Oak (4-8). This propelled the team to a 58-45 conference win.

“Red Oak was a good hard hat and lunch pail win for us,” coach Tony Neubauer said. “We jumped on them early and maintained a 15-20 point lead the entire way.”

After nearly six minutes of play, the Tigers earned their first points, making just two field goals to score five in the first.

After putting up 10 points in the first quarter, Panther senior Kadley Bailey nailed a 3-pointer in the second quarter to hit a major milestone — 1,000 career points.

She joins Kelsey Fields, (1,384) Brielle Baker (1,189) and Doryn Paup (1,054) in the 5-on-5 1,000-point club.

“Her development over her high school career has been amazing,” Neubauer said. “She was one of the first girls off of the bench as a freshman and has started since she was a sophomore. We were really young two years ago starting four sophomores, and we were really struggling to score. We basically built our 1-3-1 off of her so we could get into more transition scoring opportunities, and Kadley has absolutely flourished in it. She is our all-time leader in career steals with over 200 and is top five in 3-pointers made.”

This season, Bailey has scored 269 points, a mark ranking her second in class 3A and 11th in all classes. She averages more than 22 points per game. Monday she finished with 30 points. Clearly on a hot streak, Bailey has averaged 29.75 points per game over the last four games.

“I’ve been a head coach for 14 years, and her current four-game stretch after Christmas is the best I’ve ever had a player perform,“ Neubauer said. ”It’s been fun to watch.”

Teammate Hollynn Rieck added another eight assists to her career assists school record Monday. She also contributed 14 points, seven rebounds and six steals in a balanced performance for the Panthers.

Rieck had a big moment at the end of the first half when her buzzer shot went in for 3 points, making the halftime tally 33-18.

Senior Ella Turner continued to dominate on the boards, bringing down nine rebounds including four offensive, giving the Panthers second-chance opportunities to score.

Creston forced 21 turnovers in a strong defensive showing.

The Panthers played clean ball, fouling just six times and committing only 10 turnovers, but in the Hawkeye 10, there’s always room for improvement.

“There are a few things that we need to clean up defensively,” Neubauer said. “And we need to slow down on half court offense and make zones work a little bit harder.”

With two undefeated teams in Hawkeye 10 play, Kuemper Catholic (4-0) and St. Albert (6-0), the Panthers sit third at 3-1. Creston is two games into an eight-game conference streak.

“We’re excited to play Lewis Central Thursday,” Neubauer said. “We haven’t beaten them since 1995. They’ll be athletic, and it will be fun playing at Iowa Western College.”

RED OAK (45) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 16 2-4 45. Kaylee Erickson 4 0-0 11, Emily Sebeniecher 3 0-0 9, Ellie O’Neal 2 1-2 7, Mylee Johnson 2 0-0 6, Keely Jones 2 0-0 5, Ellison Johnson 2 1-2 5, Natalie Johnson 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 11/33 (Sebeniecher 3, Erickson 3, M. Johnson 2, O’Neal 2, Jones 1). Rebounds — 37 (Jones 7, O’Neal 7, E. Johnson 7, N. Johnson 4, Ana Torres 3, Sebeniecher 2, Erickson 2, M. Johnson 1). Assists — 15 (Jones 5, E. Johnson 3, Sebeniecher 3, O’Neal 2). Steals — 5 (Jones 2, O’Neal 1, N. Johnson 1, Sebeniecher 1. Blocked shots — 1 (Jones 1). Turnovers — 21. Team fouls — 13. Fouled out — None.

CRESTON (58) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 18 15 24. Kadley Bailey 9 7-10 30, Hollynn Rieck 5 3-6 14, Brynn Tussey 3 0-0 6, Ella Turner 1 1-2 4, Braylee Pokorny 0 3-4 3, Kinzley Downing 0 1-2 1. 3-point goals — 7/20 (Bailey 5, Rieck 1, Turner 1). Rebounds — 37 (Turner 9, Rieck 7, Tussey 7, Pokorny 6, Marlee Stalker 4, Jensan Tussey 2, Bailey 1, Downing 1). Assists — 13 (Rieck 8, B. Tussey 2, J. Tussey 2, Bailey 1). Steals — 14 (Rieck 6, Bailey 3, Turner 3, B. Tussey 2). Blocked shots — 1 (Rieck 1). Turnovers — 9. Team fouls — 6. Fouled out — None.