Ashton, Creswell MVPs at NICL Senior Games

REINBECK – Tyson Creswell had been preparing for Friday night.
  
His practice during physical education classes at Gladbrook-Reinbeck paid off during the NICL Senior All-Star Game, sinking three 3-pointers, including a crowd-pleasing half-court 3-pointer that made him a solid choice for Most Valuable Player for the NICL West in the series of games on Friday night in Reinbeck.
  
In the boys game, the East came away with a 93-80 victory, led by NICL East MVP Junior Bodden of Aplington-Parkersburg, who scored a game-high 22 points.
  
Creswell didn't get much playing time during the winter, so he took advantage of his time to shine with the rest of the seniors from the East and West divisions of the league.
  
"I planned this out a few days ahead of time," Creswell said. "Tonight was the right time. The [half-court shot] felt long, but it happened to bank in."
  
The crowd gathered in Creswell's home gym erupted in delight with the nonchalant nature of Creswell's bomb. The West and East teams scored 13 3-pointers each in the game.
 
...
 
In the girls game, BCLUW's Bailey Ashton claimed NICL West MVP honors as one of three West players scoring 11 points each, along with West Marshall's Kayla Cripps and Gladbrook-Reinbeck's Taylor Gienger. The East defeated the West, 56-44.
  
D-NH's Rylee Wessely and Carlee Dove scored two points each for the East team.
  
Grundy Center's Cora Saak and BCLUW's Katie Thompson added two points each for the West.
  
"It was fun to play one last time after getting to know the other girls in the conference," Ashton said. "We really just winged it, we wanted to play together and have fun. And it was fun to represent one last time."
 
To purchase prints of these photos, click here.
 

 
For the full story, see this week's Grundy Register. Subscribe by calling (319) 824-6958 or clicking here.