CRESTON — Interstate 35 clamped down on defense in the first half and held on for a 44-36 win here Monday against Class 4A Creston of the Hawkeye 10 Conference.
The Roadrunners limited Creston to four points in the first quarter and nine points in the first half on just 4 of 22 shooting, building a 19-9 halftime lead.
Interstate 35, ranked ninth in Class 2A, held that 10-point halftime lead despite junior all-state post player Gracey Griglione being held scoreless. Junior point guard Slye Richardson took advantage of the attention paid to Griglione by draining four 3-pointers in the first half for 12 points.
Senior Haley Schaffer also knocked down a 3-pointer in the first half for the Roadrunners.
“Slye’s a good shooter if you give her just a little bit,” Interstate 35 head coach Jamie Smith said. “We found her. That’s half of it. They did a really good job of taking away our inside game that first half. We needed to hit some shots and we did.”
But the key to building the lead for the Roadrunners was defense.
Jenna Taylor, averaging 13.4 points per game to lead the Panthers, and Taylor Briley, averaging 9.4 points per game, were held to just four and two points, respectively, in the first half.
“The defense set the tone,” Smith said. “We’ve been working hard on defense. You hold them to nine points, anybody for that matter ... we just kept working. I thought we had a good game plan. More importantly, the girls followed it. I think a key is we held Briley to two points in the first half and Taylor to four. They came back in the second half, because they’re good players and know how to score.”
Taylor finished with 15 points to lead the Panthers and Briley added 12.
Interstate 35 stretched its lead to 24-10 midway through the third quarter when Richardson hit her fifth 3-pointer of the game.
But Creston managed to close to within 28-23 by the end of the quarter, as senior Caitlin McIlravy provided the Panthers with a lift off the bench with her quickness on defense and four points.
Griglione, who scored her first points of the game with 5:40 left in the third quarter, opened the fourth quarter with four straight points, and after Creston cut the lead to 34-27, got a driving basket and then dished on back-to-back layups to push the Roadrunner lead to 40-27.
The Roadrunners made enough free throws down the stretch to hold off the Panthers for their second straight win over a Hawkeye 10 Conference opponent.
“Fortunately there at the end, we found a way to get to the (free throw) line and get the win,” Smith said. “A road win, non-conference against another Hawkeye 10 school. I thought we did a heck of a job coming over here in this environment. A good win.”
Richardson led all scorers with 20 points, while Griglione chipped in 12 points with eight rebounds and five assists. Riley Morris scored six points with a game-high 10 rebounds and five assists. Morris went over 500 career rebounds in the win.
Schaffer scored four points and Libby Kennedy added two points.
The Roadrunners improved to 9-1 for the season with the win.
Interstate 35 ended the pre-holiday portion of its schedule on Dec. 22 with a 53-47 win over Council Bluffs St. Albert.
Griglione scored 22 points with 12 rebounds and four blocked shots in the win over the Saintes, while Morris added 12 points with 12 boards and four blocked shots. Richardson scored nine points with six assists and Kennedy added seven points. Schaffer scored three points in the win.
Interstate 35 travels to Lenox on Friday, before hosting Martensdale-St. Marys on Tuesday and traveling to Class 1A 13th-ranked Nodaway Valley on Dec. 14.