Scoring lapse sinks Panther girls

Through the first 10 minutes of Tuesday’s home game against Glenwood, the Creston girls were battling on even terms with an 8-5 Glenwood team.

The Panthers trailed 15-13 with six minutes left in the first half.

Then, suddenly, it was a 20-point rout (37-17) going into halftime. The Rams scored only 18 points in the second half, but the Creston offense never fully got on track in a 55-32 loss.

Only three Panthers scored from the field, led by Kadley Bailey with 13 points. Brynn Tussey added 10 points and Ella Turner added seven. All three are sophomores. Turner was 5-6 at the free throw line and has made 11 of her last 12 attempts.

“We’re having one quarter now that’s getting us, and tonight it was the second quarter,” Creston coach Tony Neubauer said. “We go on scoring lulls. We’re so young, we’re not physically strong enough sometimes to get the shots we want. We had some turnovers, too. We get impatient, which is part of youth.”

There was a big perimeter shooting difference Tuesday night, too. Glenwood outscored Creston 24-3 from behind the arc. Senior guard Danika Arnold hit three 3-pointers in scoring 15 points. Maggie Smith added 13 points for the Rams, now 9-5 overall and 6-3 in the Hawkeye Ten Conference.

Creston fell to 4-11 overall and 0-9 in league play.

“Nobody wants to be 4-11, but I can’t fault our effort and we played pretty decent in the first 10 minutes,” Neubauer said. “They hit some shots tonight. Arnold made three 3-pointers in the second quarter, and she only had four for the year in 13 attempts. That happens.”

Creston hosts Class 3A seventh-ranked Harlan (10-2) on Friday.

“Harlan will be a tough one,” Neubauer said. “Then next week we have Clarke, Earlham and Red Oak which are all winnable games. Tonight they got up by 28 points and then we kind of scrapped back (20-point gap late in the fourth quarter). We just have to keep looking for that consistency.”

GLENWOOD (55) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 20 7-10 55. Danika Arnold 5 2-2 15, Maggie Smith 5 2-4 13, Maggie McChesney 4 0-0 10, Lydia Fuoss 1 3-4 5, Lauren Hughes 2 0-0 4, Brooklyn Schultz 1 0-0 3, McKenna Koehler 1 0-0 3, Neyla Nanfito 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 8 (Arnold 3, McChesney 2, Schultz 1, Koehler 1, Smith 1). Team fouls — 14. Fouled out — none.

CRESTON (32) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 10 11-12 32. Kadley Bailey 5 2-2 13, Brynn Tussey 4 2-2 10, Ella Turner 1 5-6 7, Lydia Goins 0 2-2 2. 3-point goals — 1 (Bailey 1). Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.