Stale third quarter derails Panthers

Though the Panthers (2-4) got out to an early lead Tuesday at home against Shenandoah (6-1), a lopsided third quarter gave the Fillies a double-digit lead, allowing them to sail to a 75-56 win in Creston.

“The third quarter was rough,” Creston coach Tony Neubauer said. “We stopped doing what we were doing well on offense in the first half.”

The two teams scored the same amount of points in the first, second and fourth quarters, but the Panthers were outscored 22-3 in the third.

The Fillies were led by senior Lynnae Green who logged 31 points 19 rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Freshman Kalyn Scamman added 21 points.

“[Green] is a nice post,” Neubauer said. “We tried three different defenses on her to slow her down and she still found ways to score.”

The Panthers were up 16-8 early in the first quarter, but the Fillies came back to end the quarter tied at 20. Rieck had a team-high eight assists.

Bailey led the Panthers, logging 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Junior Ella Turner added 10 points and led the team with six rebounds.

“Our kids played really hard and are improving,” Neubauer said. “Kadley and Ella both had nice nights and Braylee Pokorny had her best game at the varsity level.”

The Panthers have been struggling with cold shooting, making 20-30% from the field. On Tuesday, they made 46.3%, just slightly below Shenandoah’s 47.5%.

The Fillies began the comeback near the end of the first half when foul after foul saw them at the free throw line. Two free throws made during bonus tied the game up for Shenandoah. They followed it up with a shot from the field to take the lead.

With less than a minute left in the half, Pokorny stole a rebound, getting the ball to Bailey who took it down for a shot. She missed the first attempt, but rebounded the ball and made it on the second try.

In the third, the Panthers couldn’t get into a grove on offense and the Fillies scored 18 unanswered points before Bailey made a shot to put Creston on the board for the second half. The quarter ended 59-43 after being tied at the start.

The Panthers found a rhythm again in the final quarter, scoring 16, but it was just enough to keep up, not enough to make up the deficit.

“We took a lot of good strides forward though,” We finally found a way to get into rhythm on offense and that showed. Our half court defense was good too. We still need to get a lot better at rebounding and do a better job of finding bodies, especially with our lack of height.”

The Panthers look to rebound Friday as they host Glenwood (1-4).

“Our last four game stretch our opponents combined record is 20-5,” Neubauer said. “Hopefully playing that type of schedule early will pay off as the season progresses.”

STATS

CRESTON (56) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 25 4-7 56. Kadley Bailey 10 0-1 21, Ella Turner 4 2-2 10. Braylee Pokorny 3 1-2 7. Brynn Tussey 3 0-0 6, Ava Adamson 2 0-0 5, Hollynn Rieck 2 0-0 4, Cora Smith 1 0-0 2, Ady Morrison 0 1-2 1. FG shooting — 25-54 (46.3 percent). 3-point goals — 2-6 (Bailey 1, Adamson 1). Rebounds —23 (Turner 6, Bailey 5, Rieck 3, Tussey 3, Pokorny 2, Adamson 1, Hope Henderson 1, Morrison 1, Kennedy Strider 1). Assists — 15 (Rieck 8, Bailey 5, Turner 1, Adamson 1). Steals — 7 (Bailey 4, Turner 1, Adamson 1, Pokorny 1). Blocked shots — 2 (Morrison 1, Tussey 1). Turnovers — 21. Team fouls — 15. Fouled out — None.

SHENANDOAH (75) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 29 11-14 75. Lynnae Green 13 5-6 31. Kalyn Scamman 8 3-5 21, Chole Denton 5 0-0 13. Kylie Foutch 1 3-3 5, Alexis Schebaum 1 0-0 3, Abbagale Dumler 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 29/61 (47.5 percent). 3-point goals — 6/20 (Denton 3, Scamman 2, Schebaum, 1). Rebounds —37 (Green 19, Denton 4, Schebaum 4, Dumler 3, Scamman 2, Foutch 1). Assists — 18 (Denton 7, Scamman 4, Schebaum 3, Foutch 1, Green 1, Dumler 1, Callie Bebout 1). Steals — 17 (Scamman 6, Denton 3, Green 3, Schebaum 2, Dumler 2, Addison Estes 1). Blocked shots — 4 (Green 4). Turnovers — 19. Team fouls — 17. Fouled out — None.