PCM advances in defensive battle

MONROE — No. 6-ranked Prairie City-Monroe girls defeated Creston 43-27 in a regional semifinal defensive battle Wednesday night.

The Mustangs (22-1) host No. 8-ranked Mediapolis Saturday for the Class 3A Region 6 title and a trip to the Girls State Basketball Tournament. Mediapolis (23-0) sailed past Davis County Wednesday, 76-42.

Wednesday’s game marked the return of Creston’s leading scorer, Kadley Bailey, to the lineup after injuring an ankle Feb. 9 at Kuemper Catholic. Twice in the second half Creston finished in transition with the team’s patented layups by Bailey off passes pushed ahead by point guard Hollynn Rieck. Both times Rieck started the fast break with a defensive steal.

“Kadley was about 50 to 60 percent, at best,” Creston coach Tony Neubauer said. “That was a gritty performance. The kids played hard. Defensively we did everything we wanted in holding that team to 43 points. We lost number 11 (Tory Lindsay) a few times. For a long time it was stuck on 20-10 in the first half and we just couldn’t score.”

Turnovers against PCM’s aggressive defense hampered Creston’s offensive attack, especially in the first half. Creston hung with the Mustangs through much of the first period, trailing 9-8 when Braylee Pokorny scored six of the team’s first eight points.

After PCM took an 18-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, Creston did not score in the second quarter until Rieck’s steal leading to a layup with 21 seconds left. The Mustangs held a 27-12 lead at halftime.

Creston’s 7-2 run to start the second half closed it to 10 (29-19). After Bailey received a no-look pass from Rieck on a two-on-one fast break late in the third quarter, PCM’s Lila Milani made one of her three 3-pointers to stretch it to 35-21. The margin reached 20 points once (43-23) with 2:42 to play.

The five Panther seniors — Bailey, Rieck, Pokorny, Brynn Tussey and Ella Turner — exited the floor for the final time when Neubauer inserted reserves with 46 seconds left and the team trailing by the final 43-27 score. Bailey and Rieck scored eight and seven points, respectively, to lead the team.

“We knew Creston was senior-heavy and they played super hard,” PCM coach Samantha Allison-Rodriguez said. “That 1-3-1 (defense) is kind of a juggernaut to get figured out when you don’t see it as much. We were able to get some open looks in the first half. We just didn’t take care of the ball as well in the second half, but that’s credit to Creston.”

Three-point shooting and turnovers proved to be the big differences, as PCM made eight 3-pointers to none by Creston. Lindsay finished with 14 points and Milani had 12.

“We battled hard and it never really got out of hand,” Neubauer said. “It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact these (senior) girls are done. They’ve done everything we’ve asked of them for four years. I don’t know that I’ve enjoyed a group more, just to see their progression. They got thrown into the fire as freshmen when Doryn (Paup) was a senior and we started the season against Carlisle, Nodaway Valley, Des Moines Christian and St. Albert — all ranked teams. That’s how they started their high school careers. They never gave up on me and never gave up on themselves.”

PRAIRIE CITY-MONROE (37) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 15 5-9 43. Tory Lindsay 4 2-2 14, Lila Milani 4 1-2 12, Kyra Naeve 2 2-5 7, Libby Winter 2 0-0 4, Kenna Grier 2 0-0 4, Jorja Teeter 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 8 (Lindsay 4, Milani 3, Naeve 1). Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — none.

CRESTON (27) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 12 3-5 27. Kadley Bailey 3 2-2 8, Hollynn Rieck 3 1-2 7m Braylee Pokorny 3 0-0 6, Ella Turner 2 0-1 4, Brynn Tussey 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — None. Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.