A lasting legacy

The end of an era in Creston girls basketball was observed at the team’s awards banquet Tuesday night.

Seniors Ella Turner, Hollynn Rieck, Kadley Bailey, Brynn Tussey and Braylee Pokorny formed the nucleus of this year’s 11-12 regional semifinal team, and most of them have been varsity regular for three or four years.

The Panthers were 4-6 in the Hawkeye Ten this year, tied for seventh place with Harlan and Lewis Central. It was the first Creston team to beat Lewis Central in 31 years, and the 11 wins is tied for seventh-highest in five-player program history. These seniors were part of 30 varsity wins in their careers. They shared the team’s Most Valuable Player honor (see awards below).

The Panther season included a 59-56 home victory over Class 2A No. 15-ranked Earlham, and a 58-46 regional victory over Clarke before falling to a one-loss PCM team in the regional semifinals, 43-27.

In terms of season rankings in team statistics, this Panther squad ranks third all-time in made 3-pointers (97), third in rebounds (752), third in steals (218, after last year’s 313), fifth in assists (288) and seventh in points per game (50.0).

“Two years ago when these girls were sophomores we’d be competing in games for about two and a half quarters and then the game would get away,” head coach Tony Neubauer said. “Last year we competed in entire games and were in a lot of dogfights. This year we won the dogfights.”

Besides their improved production, this class set the standard for how to approach a season and carry themselves as representatives of the school, he added.

“They were thrown to the fire on varsity very early and that’s not easy,” Neubauer said. “The jump from eighth grade basketball to Hawkeye Ten varsity basketball is huge. It’s fast. For the most part they didn’t have the luxury of a learning curve in freshman or JV games. They did it with everybody watching. They held each other accountable and did a great job of leading our program. It will be fun watching them become successful adults in the world.”

Kadley Bailey

Neubauer said Bailey was the quiet production leader of the team, averaging 20.8 points and 3.5 steals. She was a unanimous choice for first team all-conference, Iowa Girls Coaches Association third team all-state, IGCA all-region and all-district. She was selected to play in the IGCA senior all-star game and KMA senior all-star game.

Bailey set four school records — points in a game (41), single-game 3-pointers (6), career steals (253) and single-season steals (102). With 1,185 points, Bailey is the third-leading all-time scorer in Creston five-player basketball and third in career 3-pointers (101).

“Her anticipation at the top of our 1-3-1 defense was amazing with her tips and steals leading us into transition so many times,” Neubauer said. “Her scoring evolved in becoming a better finisher and 3-point shooter. She had 21 points in six minutes against Panorama, which is impressive. After she sprained her ankle at Kuemper I thought there was no way she’d get on the court against PCM in the regionals, but she played 31 minutes that night and gutted it out not just for her, but for her teammates. There haven’t been many better all-around players in five-on-five in Creston.”

Hollynn Rieck

“Hollynn and Kadley go together, you can’t have Kadley finishing all of those fast breaks without great passes from Hollynn,” Neubauer said. “She has the best court vision of anybody I’ve coached, male or female. Hollynn had a steal to clinch the Earlham game, and ranks second in steals behind Kadley. She finished with over 300 assists and 200 steals. In assists she ranks 165th all-time among more than 700,000 girls who have played five-on-five basketball in Iowa.”

Rieck’s school records are career assists (370), single-game assists (15), single-game steals (10) and the program’s first triple-double (points, steals, rebounds) with eight assists in that game, too. She received all-conference honorable mention.

Ella Turner

Turner was a jack-of-all-trades for the Panthers as the leading rebounder (8.0) while scoring 8.9 points per game. She is tied for the school record for steals in a game (10), second in career rebounds (595) and sixth in steals (179). She shot 61.6% at the free throw line in her career with several late-game crucial free throws. Turner scored 573 points and started 75 games in her career.

“I can’t think of a time when Ella didn’t go hard in practice or in a game,” Neubauer said. “Chris Street was my favorite basketball player of all-time and that’s how Ella played. (Street was known for his hustle for the University of Iowa before he died in a tragic traffic accident in Iowa City.) She got sped up at times as a younger player, but showed growth as an upperclassmen and kept doing the little things for us. She battled against bigger kids in the middle of our defense.”

Brynn Tussey

Tussey compiled 67 starts in her career, scoring 438 points with 383 rebounds. She ranks eighth all-time for Creston with 22 blocked shots.

“Brynn was primarily an inside player in middle school and really improved as a shooter and good passer for us in high school,” Neubauer said. “She hit a big three for us in the win over LC. Brynn did a great job of explaining stuff to our younger kids and helped us win a lot of basketball games.”

Braylee Pokorny

“As coach McCabe said one time during a game this season, ‘Braylee is doing Braylee things.’ She did a lot of stuff that didn’t show up in our stat sheet,” Neubauer said. “She ran the baseline on our defense, which is a lot of work. She did some good things offensively in moving the ball and hitting some big shots. She blocked a shot to spur a run in our win over LC. Braylee played her role and never got concerned about things like scoring totals. She will do great things for Doane (University) in volleyball.”

2026-27 captains

Neubauer said juniors Hope Henderson and Kinzley Downing, and sophomores Jensan Tussey and Marlee Stalker will be next year’s captains. Assistant coach Bryant McCabe said those four were the leaders of an 11-10 JV team and helped the team’s five freshmen experience success at the JV level.

Neubauer noted the varsity contributions this year from Tussey and Stalker, with Henderson stepping up for key varsity minutes against Clarinda and Clarke in the regional when Bailey was injured.

LETTERWINNERS

(Years lettered)

Seniors — Hollynn Rieck (4), Ella Turner (4), Kadley Bailey (4), Brynn Tussey (4), Braylee Pokorny (4), manager Avery Lovely (3).

Juniors — Hope Henderson (2), Kinzley Downing (1).

Sophomores — Jensan Tussey (2), Marlee Stalker (1).

Freshmen — Payton Veitz (1), Chloe Thomson (1), Bentleigh Collier (1), Nevaeh Adamson (1), Daphne Hoepker (1).

TEAM AWARDS

Most improved — Braylee Pokorny, Marlee Stalker.

Offensive MVP — Hollynn Rieck, Kadley Bailey.

Defensive MVP — Ella Turner, Kadley Bailey, Hollynn Rieck.

Team MVP — Kadley Bailey, Braylee Pokorny, Hollynn Rieck, Ella Turner, Brynn Tussey.

Captain awards — Bailey, Pokorny, Rieck, Turner, B. Tussey.

Panther Pride Award — Ella Turner.

10,000 Shot Club — Ella Turner.

All-Hawkeye Ten — Kadley Bailey, first team; Hollynn Rieck, honorable mention.

Hawkeye Ten All-Academic — Bailey, Pokorny, Rieck, Turner, B. Tussey.

IGCA All-State — Kadley Bailey, third team.

IGCA All-District — Kadley Bailey.

IGCA All-Region — Kadley Bailey.

2026-27 Captains — Hope Henderson, Kinzley Downing, Jensan Tussey, Marlee Stalker.

MILESTONES

1,000 points — Kadley Bailey.

500 rebounds — Ella Turner.

200 steals — Kadley Bailey, Hollynn Rieck.

300 assists — Hollynn Rieck.