GOING UP — Indian Creek’s Riley Sadler puts up a shot in transition past Brooke’s Emily McLaughlin during Monday’s game at Coach D Court. Sadler had 18 points to help Creek top the Bruins for a season sweep to finish the first half of the season 10-1. - Andrew Grimm

The Redskins, despite losing a lot from last year’s regional team, have shown there is still plenty of talent wearing red and gold, now having completed the first half of their schedule with a sparkling 10-1 mark as they head into the new year. 

The latest of those victories came Monday night against visiting Brooke, 64-27. 

It is Creek’s ninth win by more than 20 points and all 10 have been by 15 or more. 

“We’re at the halfway point and it’s pretty good to get there at 10-1,” Indian Creek head coach Steve Eft said. “We are happy with where we’re at, but we’re not satisfied. We have a lot of tough games coming up, so we have to keep working and keep improving.”

Brooke’s Rylin Bowman puts up a shot in front of Indian Creek’s Gabby Taylor. - Andrew Grimm

Things got off to a bit of a slow start for Creek on Monday, as they led the Bruins (2-5) 16-11 after one and the youthful visitors were right in it, but the Redskins out-paced the Bruins 25-4 in the second quarter to pull away. Creek turned up the pressure and getting the offense going to lead 41-15 at the break on the way to the repeat victory. 

“We had a little bit of a slow start, it’s been a tough couple of days here,” Eft said. “The girls started to get moving, defensively especially, after the first quarter and we picked up the intensity on the defensive end. That led to some easy baskets the other way and got us going.”

Creek had three players reach double digits and another close. Kaydence Walker, who has put together a strong start to her junior season, had another big night with a game-high 20 points, while senior Riley Sadler followed close behind with 18 points and sophomore Gracie Klinesmith netted 12. Gabby Taylor, also a senior, tallied nine points on three 3-pointers. 

“Riley Sadler had a great game, she brought a lot of energy from the start even when everyone else was kind of flat,” Eft said. “She was flying around at both ends and got us going. That is the senior leadership she brings along with Gabby, I’m super proud of them. We count on that leadership. 

“Gabby missed all of last year, has been through two knee surgeries and has battled back through it all and is doing a great job. Gabby and Riley set the tone for us every night. 

Indian Creek’s Kaydence Walker puts up a transition layup past Brooke’s Rylin Bowman. - Andrew Grimm

“We’ve had a lot of girls step up and contribute.”

For the Bruins, it was a better showing than they had in the initial meeting with Creek, but the young group still has to gain some more confidence shooting and is learning to handle the press. 

“Indian Creek is a very good team,” Brooke head coach Amy Serevicz said. “We played them better this time than the first time, but the press rattles us and we made a lot of mistakes. We have young kids that don’t know where to cover yet, that’s not an excuse, but it’s just reality. Defensively we didn’t do too bad against a very good team, but they beat us back up the floor a lot. We have to learn the whole team needs to sprint back on defense; a lot of times it was just one person. 

“We struggle to get the ball in the hoop. We take a lot of shots in practice, then we get in the games and they don’t fall. There’s a lot of stuff we can fix, we’re a work in progress but I think we can get there.”

Brooke was led by 11 points from Keira Kosut, while Maddie Bowman tallied eight points. 

Brooke’s Maddie Bowman shoots against Creek. - Andrew Grimm

UP NEXT

Brooke: Has a seven day break before hosting East Liverpool, a team they picked up a narrow victory over in the first meeting, on Jan. 5. 

Indian Creek: Also has a week off before starting the second half with a trip to Harrison Central on Jan. 5 looking for another season sweep.

Indian Creek 64, Brooke 27

B 11-4-8-4 — 27 

UP IN THE AIR — Creek’s Riley Sadler and Brooke’s Maddie Bowman jump for a rebound in the paint during Monday’s game. - Andrew Grimm

IC 16-25-13-10 — 64 

BROOKE (2-5): M. Bowman 4 0-0 8; Kosut 5 0-1 11; R. Bowman 1 0-0 2; Bolen 1 0-1 2; Dipaolo  0 1-2 1; McLaughlin 1 0-0 3; Provenzano 0 0-0 0; Bober 0 0-0 0; Costlow 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12, 1-4; 27. 

INDIAN CREEK (10-1): Walker 7 1-1 20; Taylor 3 0-0 9; Wiley 1 1-4 3; Sadler 7 3-4 18; Klinesmith 6 0-0 12; Brandon 0 0-2 0; Cozart 0 0-0 0; Miller 0 0-0 0; Crouch 1 0-2 2; Florczak 0 0-0 0; Dodd 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25, 5-13; 64. 

3-POINTERS: Brooke 2 (Kosut, McLaughlin); Indian Creek 6 (Taylor 3, Walker 2, Sadler)