Shorthanded Panthers fall on road

CLARINDA — Illness sweeping through a Creston boys basketball team that’s already missing starting guard Tanner Ray (ankle injury) showed in back-to-back road losses last week.

Class 2A top-ranked Kuemper Catholic defeated Creston 73-49 Thursday night. Starters CT Stalker and Cael Barton were out with illness in addition to Ray, along with reserve Ayden Purdum.

Stalker returned on Friday, but was less than 100% in a 64-53 Panther loss. Illness affecting both teams caused the game to be postponed from Tuesday to Friday, and the JV2 game was cancelled.

Barton and Ray have been the second-leading scorers this season behind Rhett Driskell’s 18.3 average, and supplemental scoring was sparse in the two losses except for senior Jaxson Jondle, who tallied six points Thursday and 10 points Friday. Jondle also had a team-high seven rebounds Friday.

Driskell showed big production in both games, ending with 30 points and five rebounds at Kuemper before having 32 points and five rebounds Friday at Clarinda.

“Rhett can be a 30-points a night guy for us, but you can’t rely on him doing that,” Creston coach Bryce Schafer said. “When we get other guys hitting shots, they can’t play that style of defense that has constant help on Rhett. Jaxson has worked himself into a bigger role for us.”

Creston fell behind 15-8 early and trailed by nine (22-13) before finishing the first half with a five-point deficit at 28-23.

Two field goals by Driskell and a free throw by Baret Lane spurred the Panthers to a 29-29 tie at the 5:10 mark of the third period. Clarinda senior Sam Kline, who scored a team-high 25 points, made one of his three 3-pointers near the end of the third quarter to push the Cardinals in front 41-33.

The comeback effort lost steam as the Panthers fell behind by increasing amounts in the final period, reaching a gap of 17 points at 57-40 with 1:53 left.

“Excuses are not what we’re into, but I told the guys afterward that when your entire bench just played a (JV) game before, and those are the guys you’re bringing in, it’s not a matter of having fresh bodies,” Schafer said. “I think you saw the effort that it took to get it tied, and then some fatigue set in that led to some mental errors. Our legs were gone. I was proud of the effort by the guys we had out there, being down so many varsity players. Our defense was better Thursday against Kuemper than tonight, but again, that’s tired legs.”

Clarinda improved to 8-13. The Panthers (5-15) close the regular season Tuesday at home against Maryville (Missouri).

Thursday’s game

KUEMPER CATHOLIC (73) — Totals (FG FT PTS) — 32 4-8 73. Griffin Glynn 8 4-5 22, Dylan Schon 9 0-0 18, Jack Badding 4 0-0 9, Ryan Clair 3 0-2 6, Jordan Tryon 2 0-0 6, Theodore Perkins 2 0-0 4, Brenten Loeffelholz 2 0-1 4, Tanner Badding 1 0-0 2, Nash Leonard 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 5-22 (Glynn 2, Tryon 2, J. Badding 1). FG shooting — 32-62 (51.6 percent). Rebounds — 38 (Clair 8, T. Badding 7). Assists — 18 (J. Badding 4, Perkins 4). Steals — 14 (J. Badding 5, Clair 3). Turnovers — 11. Team fouls — 4. Fouled out — None.

CRESTON (49) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 20 4-6 49. Rhett Driskelll 12 2-4 30, Jaxson Jondle 3 0-0 6, Nathan Carroll 2 0-0 4, Hector Suazo 1 0-0 3, Garrett Troutwine 0 2-2 2, Baret Lane 1 0-0 2, Brodie Pashek 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 5-11 (Driskell 4, Suazo 1). FG shooting — 20-42 (47.6 percent). Rebounds — 17 (Driskell 5, Landyn Scherer 3, Carroll 2). Assists — 9 (Driskell 2, Carroll 2, Scherer 2). Steals — 8 (Driskell 3, Troutwine 2). Turnovers — 13. Team fouls — 4. Fouled out — 4.

Friday’s game

CLARINDA (64) — Totals (FG FT PTS) — 24 10-14 64. Sam Kline 9 4-5 25, Ryan Wagoner 3 0-0 7, Cain Wellhausen 3 1-1 7, Aidan Johnson 3 1-2 7, Warner Schmitt 2 1-2 6, Jordan Butt 2 0-0 4, Kaiden Roop 1 0-0 3, Cooper Baumgart 0 3-4 3, Devin Barlow 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 6-20 (Kline 3, Wagoner 1, Schmitt 1, Roop 1). FG shooting — 24-50 (48 percent). Rebounds — 28 (Schmitt 5, S. Kline 5, Baumgart 5). Assists — 15 (Schmitt 3, S. Kline 3, Johnson 3). Steals — 5 (S. Kline 2). Turnovers — 11. Team fouls — 16. Fouled out — None.

CRESTON (53) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 21 8-14 53. Rhett Driskell 11 7-9 32, Jaxson Jondle 5 0-1 10, Nathan Carroll 3 0-0 6, Baret Lane 1 1-2 3, CT Stalker 1 0-2 2. 3-point goals — 3-23 (Driskell 3). FG shooting — 21-50 (42 percent). Rebounds — 25 (Jondle 7, Driskell 5, Lane 5). Assists — 6 (Carroll 3). Steals — 7 (Scherer 2). Blocked shots — 4 (Jondle 2). Turnovers — 14. Team fouls — 12. Fouled out — None.