Fillies rally for H10 victory

Shenandoah rallied from a 14-point deficit early in the second quarter to overtake the Creston girls Tuesday, 53-46.

Creston’s early defense slowed Shenandoah’s offense and forced turnovers that led to several fast breaks, often ended by speedy guard Kadley Bailey on long passes by point guard Hollynn Rieck. The Panthers built a 26-12 lead midway through the second quarter.

It was a matchup of the two top scorers in Class 3A girls basketball, with Bailey (23.2 points per game) just ahead of Shenandoah sophomore Kaylyn Scamman (22.6). They alternated with their hottest streaks, as Bailey had 19 of her 23 points by halftime with Creston holding a 26-19 lead.

Scamman, on the other hand, was limited to four points with three minutes left in the first half. She scored five points in a late 7-0 Fillies run to end the half, and added 12 of her team-high 21 points in the second half as Shenandoah surpassed the Panthers.

Fillies rally

The Fillies seemed to be especially effective at the end of quarters, changing a 34-30 deficit to a 36-34 lead in the final minute of the third period. Freshman guard Ava O’Rourke and Scamman hit back-to-back 3-pointers.

With 3:36 left in the game and Creston trailing 44-41, Rieck picked up her fifth foul and Scamman went to the free throw line. Creston appeared to catch a break as Scamman missed both attempts, but the Fillies won a scramble for the ball after the second miss and sank a 3-pointer to make it 47-41.

Sloane McGinnis scored on Shenandoah’s next possession as the Panther offense went cold, leaving the gap eight points (49-41) with only 2:30 left.

Shenandoah had a 4-3 advantage down the stretch for the 53-46 win. It was a much closer battle than their non-conference matchup won by the Fillies at Shenandoah, 65-50 on Dec. 16.

“We did a lot of good things tonight and got off to a great start against a good team,” Creston coach Tony Neubauer said. “There were two big plays that hurt us. At the end of the third quarter, we got lost twice on defense and gave up those two threes on the baseline. Then, when Scamman missed both free throws when we’re down by three, we didn’t get a rebound and now we’re down six. Scamman shooting 26 times to get 21 points is what we wanted, defensively. We just had some scoring droughts in the second half.”

Cold shooting

The game didn’t feature exceptional shooting by either team. Shenandoah shot 33.9%, including just 6-of-26 (23.1%) from 3-point range. Creston shot 28.1% from the field (16-57) while going 5-18 on 3-pointers (27.8%).

Take away Bailey’s collection of fast break layups, and it was a cold night from the field for the Panthers.

“We didn’t get into transition as much in the second half. Besides Kadley we were 8-of-36 shooting (22.5%),” Neubauer said. “It’s tough to beat good teams shooting that. And they got us on the boards.”

Addison Estes had a double-double for the Fillies with 10 points and 12 of the team’s 50 rebounds. Creston had 28 rebounds, led by Braylee Porkony with nine. Rieck had six rebounds, six assists and seven points.

Creston’s game with Carroll Kuemper Catholic tonight has been postponed. The Knights are 10-3 overall and 5-0 in the conference after beating Clarinda Tuesday, 49-42.

Shenandoah improved to 12-5 overall and 3-4 in the Hawkeye Ten. Tuesday’s game was the final conference game between the two schools, which were both charter members of the Hawkeye Six in 1930. Shenandoah joins the Western Iowa Conference beginning next year.

The Fillies could make a strong debut in that league, starting three sophomores and a freshman on Tuesday against Creston’s senior-dominated lineup.

“We’ll still play them once in non-conference,” Neubauer said. “I told the girls this (loss) stings, but it’s been awhile since we’ve played meaningful basketball games at the end of January. We’re still 8-6 and 4-2 in the conference. It would have been nice to get that one, but who knows, we could see them at tournament time.”

SHENANDOAH (53) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 19 9-19 53. Kalyn Scamman 7 4-8 21, Ava O’Rourke 5 3-4 15, Addison Estes 4 2-4 10, Sloane McGinnis 2 0-32 5, Brynlee Cullin 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 19-56 (33.9 percent). 3-point goals — 6-26 (Scamman 3, O’Rourke 2, McGinnis 1). Steals — 11 (Scamman 5, Estes 3). Rebounds — 50 (McGinnis 13, Estes 12, Scamman 9). Turnovers — 23. Team fouls — 14. Fouled out — none.

CRESTON (46) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 16 9-14 46. Kadley Bailey 8 4-6 23, Hollynn Rieck 3 1-2 7, Braylee Pokorny 2 1-2 5, Brynn Tussey 2 0-0 5, Ella Turner 1 1-2 4, Jensan Tussey 0 2-2 2. FG shooting — 16-57 (28.1 percent). 3-point goals — 5-18 (Bailey 3, Turner 1, B. Tussey 1). Rebounds — 28 (Pokorny 9, Rieck 6, B. Tussey 4, Turner 3). Assists — 11 (Rieck 6, Bailey 3). Steals — 14 (Bailey 7, Turner 3, B. Tussey 3). Turnovers — 19. Team fouls — 13. Fouled out — Rieck.