CLARINDA — The Creston girls basketball team got out to an early lead and survived a buzzer-beater that would have tied the game in a 45-42 win over Clarinda here on Tuesday.

Creston led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter and 30-23 at the half in a game in which head coach Larry McNutt said the Panthers never trailed.

“We shot from the perimeter pretty well in the first half,” McNutt said. “We played pretty well in the first half. Third quarter we didn’t play as well. Got a little tentative and turned the ball over some. We missed some shots in the second half.”