Big scoring runs lead Fillies past Panthers

There were many points in Tuesday’s matchup between Creston and Shenandoah where the two teams looked to be neck-and-neck, but two major scoring runs by the Fillies took them over the top in a 68-46 win.

The 26-point difference in the score came largely down to these two runs. The first happened at the end of the first half where after Ella Turner made a free throw for the Panthers to make the score 22-20, the Fillies went on a 10-0 run, making the score 32-20.

Alyssa Gerdes, a 5-1 junior, nailed a 3-pointer to send the game to halftime down 32-23.

In the teams’ first matchup in December, the Fillies won 61-32.

“I was actually really happy with our effort last night. That [Dec] game was over by halftime,” Creston coach Tony Neubauer said. “This game was competitive up until the last three minutes.”

While Shen’s Lynnae Greene had 33 points in the first game, the Panthers held her to six points in the first half this time.

“Brynn [Tussey] and Ella did an amazing job on her,” Neubauer said. “They had a few role players step up and hit a few big shots. Kylie Foutch came into the game averaging three points per game and she ended up with 20 last night.”

Leading the Panthers were Kadley Bailey, Turner and Tussey with 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Turner had a double-double for the Panthers with 11 rebounds to match her 11 points.

Junior Ava Adamson added six rebounds and seven points.

Hollynn Rieck and Bailey each had three steals.

While the Panthers came out after the half to outscore the Fillies 17-14 in the third quarter, they were still down six going into the final eight minutes.

Creston had their slowest quarter of the game in the fourth with 6 points, but the Fillies had their strongest with 22.

The game ended with a 14-0 scoring run by the Fillies to take the win from close to dominant.

Nebauer said it has a lot to do with the team’s depth after injuries benched Braylee Pokorny and Addy Morrison.

“It cut into our depth a lot. We’ve been trying to condition more in practice to help combat that, but the weather hasn’t allowed us to do that yet,” he said. “Our effort and energy all three games after break against three good teams is exactly where it needs to be. Our kids are working hard and steadily improving. We just need to keep grinding away so we can get over the hump against a good team.”

SHENANDOAH (68) — Stats unavailable.

CRESTON (46) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 15 11-14 36. Kadley Bailey 5 0-0 12; Ella Turner 2 7-8 11; Brynn Tussey 4 2-2 10; Ava Adamson 2 1-2 7; Hollynn Rieck 1 1-2 3; Alyssa Gerdes 1 0-0 3. 3-point goals — 5-19 (Adamson 2, Bailey 2, Gerdes 1). FG shooting — 11/14 (78.6%). Rebounds — 33 (Turner 11, Adamson 6, Tussey 6, Bailey 4, Gerdes 3, Rieck 2, Goins 1). Assists — 7 (Rieck 3, Turner 2, Adamson 1, Bailey 1). Steals — 11 (Rieck 3, Bailey 3, Turner 1, Adamson 1, Tussey 1, Goins 1, Gerdes 1). Turnovers — 16. Team fouls — 8. Fouled out — Adamson.