Hoyt sinks Clarinda at buzzer

Jake Hoyt got redemption, with a nice assist from Josh Schaefer.

On a night when seven senior basketball players and two cheerleaders were honored prior to the game, with the pep band playing, youth cheerleaders cheering and a halftime performance by the Peppers dance team, the best part of the show in the Creston High School gym Monday night came at the final buzzer.

With five seconds left, Hoyt missed a contested jump shot with the Panthers trailing 46-45, and Clarinda gained possession on a rebound with :03 left.

The Cardinals had difficulty getting the ball inbounds and a pass bounced out of bounds off the leg of a Clarinda player, giving the Panthers another chance under their own basket with 1.6 seconds remaining.

Frank Sefrit, longtime Bedford coach now the head coach at Clarinda, called timeout when the Panthers got set up for their inbounds pass.

“We were set up similar to the box (formation) we ran against Harlan for the win,” Creston coach Bryce Schafer said, referring to Brayden Schoon’s winning shot at the buzzer on Jan. 31. “He called timeout, I think anticipating that play from watching us on tape, because we also ran it late against Earlham. So after the second timeout we called a different play to isolate Jake on the front of the rim, trying to get him a lob. Josh made a great pass.”

With everyone in the gym watching in quiet anticpation, Schaefer lofted a high lob that the 6-3 Hoyt reached to catch. While still airborne, Hoyt shot the 8-footer over a Clarinda defender. The ball swished through the hoop just before the buzzer sounded for the 47-46 win.

“I gave Josh a head nod to tell him when to pass it,” Hoyt said. “I caught it and shot it. I knew it was in. It felt really good.”

Schaefer was one of the first greet Hoyt on the far sideline as the Panther season scoring leader was mobbed by celebrating teammates.

Schaefer is adept at skills that don’t show up in the statistics, the Panther head coach noted. It was Schaefer involved in the pressure defense on the ball that caused Clarinda’s turnover with :03 left, giving Creston a second chance at a winning bucket. That was just before his pinpoint pass for the winning basket.

“Josh got involved in the inbounds pass and caused enough commotion that the ball came off their leg,” Schafer said. “He’s also at the top of our 1-3-1 defense and does a great job there, as well. We only hit three 3-pointers and went 4 for 10 at the free throw line, and still found a way to win.”

Hoyt and sophomore guard Rhett Driskell each scored 15 points to lead the Panthers. Junior Noah Harris led Clarinda with 12 points.

Creston’s offense took awhile to get untracked Monday, as Clarinda bolted to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes. It was an 18-12 deficit heading into the second quarter, when Driskell went on a scoring spurt with eight points to lift the Panthers into a 26-26 tie at the break. Hoyt and Driskell did all of the Panther scoring in a 14-8 second quarter advantage.

“At Earlham he carried us for awhile in the second half, and tonight Rhett’s burst sustained us in the first half to get to a tied basketball game,” Schafer said.

Schaefer and Schoon each finished with six points.

Seniors honored were Casen Dryden, Tyler Riley, Tommy Sand, Schoon, Schaefer, Varner and Hoyt, along with senior cheerleaders Lilli Hanscom and Mercedez Quinn.

Clarinda fell to 11-9 for the season and Creston improved to 11-8 with a home game Friday against Harlan (6-11). The Panthers won 48-46 at Harlan on Schoon’s inbounds basket at the buzzer.

CLARINDA (46) — Totals (FG FT PTS) — 20 2-5 46. Noah Harris 7 0-0 14, Sam Kline 5 2-3 12, Kyle Wagoner 3 0-0 8, Cooper Baumgart 3 0-1 6, Ryan Wagoner 1 0-0 3, Warner Schmitt 1 0-0 3. 3-point goals — 4 (K. Wagoner 2, R. Wagoner 1, Schmitt 1). Team fouls — 13. Fouled out — None.

CRESTON (47) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 20 4-10 47. Rhett Driskell 7 0-1 15, Jake Hoyt 7 0-2 15, Brayden Schoon 2 2-4 6, Josh Schaefer 2 1-1 6, Parker Varner 2 0-0 4, Tommy Sand 0 1-2 1. 3-point goals — 3 (Driskell 1, Schaefer 1, Hoyt 1). Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.