Creston girls struggle in loss
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| Creston senior Bri Maitlen dives to the floor after a loose ball during the third quarter of Creston's 63-27 home loss to Lewis Central on Friday. Maitlen led the Panthers with 10 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. (CNA photo by SCOTT VICKER) |
Lewis Central jumped out to a 21-10 lead in the first quarter here Friday. Yet, the Creston girls basketball team had a chance to get back into the game in the second quarter, but couldn’t take advantage of free throw opportunities, losing 63-27.
Trailing 21-9, the Panthers reached the bonus with :53.7 remaining in the first quarter, and would shoot free throws on every foul until the end of the half.
But Creston couldn’t convert those free throw opportunities into points, and after cutting the lead to 24-14 with 5:00 remaining in the half, Lewis Central responded with a 12-1 run to close out the half with a 36-15 lead.
The failure to convert those free throw opportunities was especially disheartening for Creston head coach Larry McNutt, as the Panthers entered the game shooting 76 percent from the charity stripe as a team.
Creston shot just 8-15 from the line for the game.
“When you can’t throw it in the ocean, standing in the Pacific, it’s pretty tough,” McNutt said. “We’d been shooting free throws well, and you’ve just got to take advantage of that opportunity, and we did not do that.”
The combination of senior Aubrey Norville and freshman Paige Beacom proved lethal for the Panthers, as they scored 16 and 12, respectively, in the first half. Norville finished with 27 for the game.
Creston senior Bri Maitlen drew the challenge of guarding Norville, and McNutt was pleased with her effort.
“Maitlen, I thought, played pretty well, but we just didn’t do a very good job of giving her help inside,” McNutt said. “They have a good team. Their kids are a little tougher and more physical, and you could see that tonight. We need to do a better job of bringing our guards across on weakside help, and we just didn’t do a very good job.”
Maitlen led the Panthers with 10 points, while Zaidy Frank added eight and Brenna Baker scored seven. Natalie Mostek was the only other Panther to score, with two points.
Creston, now 2-2, travels to Kuemper Catholic on Tuesday.
LEWIS CENTRAL (63) — Aubrey Norville 12 3-4 27, Paige Beacom 8 0-0 16, Shelby Simonin 2 1-2 6, Amy Pedersen 2 0-0 4, Natalie Madsen 2 0-0 4, Rylee Higgins 0 1-2 1, Dana Doebelin 0 1-2 1. FG shooting — 27-50 (54 percent). 3-point goals — 1-7 (Simonin 1). Steals —12. Rebounds — 35. Team fouls — 20. Fouled out — none.
CRESTON (27) — Bri Maitlen 2 6-10 10, Zaidy Frank 3 2-6 8, Brenna Baker 3 0-0 7, Natalie Mostek 1 0-0 2. Totals — 10 8-15 27. FG shooting — 10-47 (21 percent). 3-point goals — 1-6 (Baker 1). Rebounds — 30 (Frank 10, Maitlen 8, Mostek 4, Emma Johnson 2, Chelcee Downing 2). Assists — 5 (Mostek 3). Steals — 9 (Maitlen 4, Frank 2). Blocked shots — none. Turnovers — 20. Team fouls — 13. Fouled out —
none.
Lewis Central — 21 36 48 63
Creston — 10 15 25 27
JUNIOR VARSITY
The Creston JV team fell to Lewis Central 49-38 here on Friday.
“Tonight started off a bit rusty, but the girls hung in there and fought until the end,” Creston JV coach Mendy McCreight said. “During the second half of the game we started clicking and doing the little things we needed to be successful.”
Jenna Taylor led Creston with 10 points and five rebounds, while Maria Mostek added nine points and four rebounds.
CRESTON (38) — Jenna Taylor 10, Maria Mostek 9, Alli Thomsen 8, Taylor Briley 6, Camryn Somers 4, Caitlin McIlravy 1. 3-point goals— None. Free throws — 16-21. Rebounds — 20 (Taylor 5, Mostek 4, Somers 4, Olivia Nielsen 3). Steals — 10 (Sadie Jones 3, Somers 2, McIlravy 2). Team fouls — 9.
LEWIS CENTRAL (49) — Jennifer Pedersen 12, Madison Paulson 10, Asia Sockrider 8, Mackenzie Hatcher 4, Noelle Beacom 3. 3-point goals — 5. Free throws — 2-5. Team fouls — 18.
FRESHMEN
The Creston freshman girls basketball team lost to Lewis Central 46-40 here on Friday.
Taylor Briley led the way with 10 points, while Shelby Palser added eight. Gracie Russell contributed seven points and five rebounds.
“We played a close game with a good team,” Creston freshman coach Mallory Peterson said. “We found ourselves in a hole early and couldn’t quite get all the way out. It seemed as thought we just lacked focus on defense. There were good things happening here and there, but it wasn’t consistent. We just couldn’t get it all put together at the same time.”
CRESTON (40) — Taylor Briley 10, Shelby Palser 8, Gracie Russell 7, Jenna Taylor 6, Camryn Somers 3, Sydney Dunphy 2, Alli Thomsen 2, Becca Ross 2. 3-point goals — None. Free throws — 10-15. Rebounds — 18 (Russell 5, Taylor 4, Somers 3, Briley 2, Caitlin McIlravy 2, Thomsen 2). Steals — 13 (Somers 2, Briley 2, Jess Beatty 2, Dunphy 2, Palser 2). Assists — 5 (Briley 2). Team fouls — 18. Halftime score —
Lewis Central 26, Creston 22.
Harlan (46) — McKenna Duffek 10, Romilia Castillo Aguirre 10, Alexandra Wolf 9, Kayleigh Putnam 7, Kassie Larsen 5, Nicole Miller 3, McKenna Brown 3. 3-point goals — 5. Free throws — 7-16. Team fouls — 21.
