Harlan ends the Panthers’ season

HARLAN – In the rubber match, Creston didn’t have a whole lot of answers for Harlan’s one-two punch of Logan Klaassen and Shane Chamberlain.

The two combined to shoot 62.5 percent from the floor on their way to scoring 46 combined points as Harlan toppled Creston 67-44 in the Class 3A Substate 8 semifinals Friday, ending the Panthers’ season. Harlan advances to the take on Glenwood at Abraham Lincoln in Council Bluffs.

After Kylan Smallwood assisted to Evan Jacobson on a corner 3-pointer and then drew a charge on the other end, the Panthers seemed to have swung the confidence back in their favor, cutting the deficit to five, 21-16 early in the second quarter.

Chamberlain didn’t let that last as he poked away a steal and then slammed a dunk home as Harlan reeled off the next 16 straight points.

Klaassen followed the dunk with three straight triples, including two from the same spot on the wing a couple feet behind the 3-point line. He went on to hit five treys.

“Defensively, we just weren’t getting out and getting enough pressure,” said Creston head coach Taylor Phipps. “We just didn’t do enough to stop them.”

Before Smallwood was able to stop the run with a bucket through contact, the Cyclones’ lead had ballooned out to 19 points and Harlan carried a 40-18 lead into the halftime locker room.

From the get-go Harlan used a box-and-one defense on Smallwood, face-guarding him for the length of the game, pressuring Creston to find offensive output elsewhere.

“We felt like we had to slow Creston down a little bit,” said Harlan head coach Mitch Osborn. “When he (Smallwood) came out of the game, we put it on Jacobson.”

The defensive pressure was effective as Creston only managed five points in the second quarter and just 10 points in the third.

The Panther freshman duo of Cael Kralik and Brance Baker, who came into the contest averaging 10 and five points per game, respectively were held to just six and three.

“Kralik and Baker are terrific freshman, but we got to make them beat us,” said Osborn after the game.

The Panthers got four points from senior Tucker Flynn, who sunk a turnaround hook shot through contact to earn an and-one opportunity midway through the third quarter. Flynn picked up his third and fourth fouls following the bucket and was forced to sit.

Mark Rounds entered the game in the closing minutes and knocked down his first basket of the year, sinking a 3-pointer.

After the game, Phipps talked about how proud he was of his seniors and the team’s effort this season.

“Really proud of the resiliency and the commitment they showed throughout the season. They made a lot of growth,” said Phipps. “This team has been one of my favorite teams in all my years of coaching.”

Creston will lose Jaden Driskell, Cole Higgins, Dustin Merritt, Nathan Pudenz, Jacobson, Flynn and Rounds.

“All these seniors really helped raise the bar of the program. So now it’s on those younger guys to raise the bar again,” said Phipps. “This team has been one of my favorite teams in all my years of coaching. ... This is my third year with them and each year it just gets more meaningful with relationships are deeper and richer. So really sad to see them go, but really proud of the legacy they’re leaving.

The Panthers end the year with an 11-12 overall record and the program’s first postseason win in half a decade. While the sub-.500 record may not seem like much to those looking on the outside, the team ended the season almost unrecognizable from its 2-7 start.

Running score by quarter

Har – 20 40 55 67

Crest – 13 18 28 44

Har (FG FT PTS) – Totals 22 14-22 67. Logan Klaassen 9 3-3 26, Shane Chamberlain 6 5-6 20, Deren Schmitz 3 0-0 6, Brett Sears 1 3-7 5, Drase Klindt 1 0-0 3, Jared Moser 0 2-4 2. 3-point goals – 9 (Klaassen 5, Chamberlain 3, Klindt 1). Rebounds – 33 (Klaassen 6, Chamberlain 5, Schmitz 5). Assists – 18 (Moser 5, Chamberlain 5). Team fouls – 15. Fouled out – None.

Crest (FG FT PTS) – Totals – 14 10-14 44. Kylan Smallwood 4 5-5 13, Evan Jacobson 4 2-2 13, Cael Kralik 1 3-4 6, Tucker Flynn 2 0-3 4, Brance Baker 1 0-0 3, Mark Rounds 1 0-0 3, Jaden Driskell 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals – 6 (Jacobson 3, Kralik 1, Rounds 1, Baker 1). Team fouls – 12. Fouled out – None.