Semoball

Creutz, Klepzig lead Doniphan offense in win over East Carter

Doniphan's Brooklyn Klepzig, left, chases after a steal against East Carter's Brooklyn Kearbey (14) on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, in Ellsinore, Mo.
DAILY AMERICAN REPUBLIC/Scott Borkgren

ELLSINORE, Mo. — East Carter spent a lot of time in practice preparing for Doniphan’s press. The preparation worked wonderfully … until Doniphan changed defenses.

The Redbirds scored five field goals in the first 4 1/2 minutes, largely after beating the press for an easy basket, and led by seven points.

East Carter would need nearly 20 minutes to score another five field goals and Doniphan pulled away for a 66-47 win Monday in Ellsinore.

“I don’t think all five of us were moving well in the press in the beginning. We switched out of it, went to something else, and that forces everybody to play hard,” Doniphan coach Adam Epps said.

Senior point guard Olivia Creutz led Doniphan with 18 points.

Brooklyn Kearbey had 15 points to lead East Carter.

Doniphan’s finish to the first half made up for its start.

Jordan Moore, who finished with 12 points, opened the game with a 3 for East Carter, and the Redbirds jumped out to an 11-4 lead.

“We spent a lot of time talking about beating their press by not dribbling,” East Carter coach Angela Rodgers said. “These past couple of practices, we worked on passing through their press and not dribbling through. That’s something they do all the time, it’s consistent, so we just didn’t want to get stopped by that.”

The Dons (9-3, 2-0 Ozark Foothills Conference) allowed one point during the final 3 1/2 minutes of the first quarter and Brooklyn Klepzig’s 3 with 20 seconds left gave Doniphan its first lead of the game.

Doniphan held a four-point lead with 2 minutes until halftime when Allison Skaggs scored off a turnover, Bailey Carson made a 3 and Klepzig scored off another turnover for seven points over the span of a minute.

Klepzig’s layup gave the Dons an 11-point lead, the first double-digit lead of the game. Epps emphasized his bench greatly contributed to the run.

“We’ve got a bunch of players who can play. Maybe some who, if they went to another school, they’d start,” Epps said. “Our bench came in and gave us some great energy defensively. They fed off of that and it led to some easy baskets.”

Doniphan was without leading scorer Sydni Speck, and in her absence, Klepzig, a sophomore, finished with 17 points and made three of the team’s eight 3-pointers.

“We’ve got one out right now, and she is our leading scorer, and they know they’ve got to do more,” Epps said. “Brooklyn is one of those players where if she went to another school, she’d get an abundance of opportunities. She got her opportunity tonight and she had a really good game for us. So I’m really proud of her.”

The third quarter has been a trouble spot for East Carter (5-7, 1-2) this season. Though Doniphan started to pull away a couple minutes prior to halftime, the Redbirds had their 11-point halftime deficit nearly double in the first five minutes of the third quarter.

“I’m more conscious about how long I make them sit (at halftime),” Rodgers said. “Going into the locker room wasn’t too bad. We started to get outrebounded a little bit in the second quarter and their man (defense) started to pressure us some.”

Moore made a 3 late in the third quarter that cut Doniphan’s lead to 16 points, but with just a few seconds left, the Dons got the ball to Taylor Davis on the wing and she banked in a 3 at the buzzer.

“We are starting off better in the first quarter but we’re not carrying that on through the whole game. We’re just not consistent,” Rodgers said.

Doniphan led by as much as 26 in the fourth quarter as nine different players scored.

Elizabeth Crowley had seven of East Carter’s 17 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 12 points overall.

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