March 29, 2024

Newton sweeps Norwalk

Lynnville-Sully squads win; Colfax-Mingo, CMB, PCM teams earn splits; Pella Christian loses two

Newton’s Cardinals honored NHS’s 1964 state boys’ basketball championship team Friday night with a double win over visiting Norwalk in Little Hawkeye Conference play. Colfax-Mingo’s girls are winless no more, but the boys are still without a win. Lynnville-Sully’s Hawks claimed wins at home while Collins-Maxwell/Baxter and Prairie City-Monroe earned splits in conference play. Pella Christian dropped a LHC doubleheader at home.

Newton girls 43, Norwalk 40

NEWTON — Giving up a five-point possession, which tied the game with 3:05 left to play, could have been a stumbling block for Newton’s Cardinal girls Friday night. Not so.

The Cardinals responded with defense and free throws to upend visiting Norwalk’s Warriors, 43-40. A basket by Shelby Gray with 1:07 on the clock pushed Newton to a 41-37 lead, but Norwalk’s Shelby Nelson drilled a 3-pointer.

Newton’s Lizzie Stock hit a free throw then Sarah Kalkhoff stole the basketball with 15 seconds left. Sydney Jenkins’ free throw made it 43-40.The Cardinals held the Warriors at bay the final 12 seconds.

“We pride ourselves on our team defense,” Kalkhoff said after the game. “At the timeout (with 25 seconds left), coach just told us to go out and play our defense. Defense is what I do. My offense is not always there, but I try hard to play the best I can defensively.”

Stock, who was 7-of-9, from the free-throw line led the Cardinals with 13 points. Hannah Rhoads hit two 3-pointers on the way to eight points. Gray and Kalkhoff each had six rebounds.

“Our girls responded well late in the game. We played great in the first half, had a slow third quarter then picked things up again in the fourth,” said Brandon Sharp, Newton head coach. Newton is 4-11 overall.

Norwalk (5-10) got 12 points each from Tori VanVelzen and Nelson.

Newton boys 57, Norwalk 49

NEWTON — Newton’s Cardinal boys, despite a much taller opponent, attacked the basket all night. Their shots were rejected by Norwalk’s Warriors quite a few times in the first half, but they kept going to the rim.

“We knew if we kept attacking the lane, we’d be able to kick the ball out to open shooters. And we have good shooters on our team,” said senior guard Chandler Sturtz, following a 57-48 win by the Cardinals over the Warriors Friday night.

The Cardinals knocked down eight 3-pointers in the game — five of those were in a 23-11 third-quarter run to gain the lead. Sturtz and junior Tyler Wood each rang up three treys on the night. Jwan Roush and Connor Gholson each hit a 3-pointer in the big third quarter.

“This was a great team win for us,” said Nick Wilkins, Cardinal head coach, who had nothing but praise for his players up-and-down the lineup.

Newton cashed in 8-of-10 free throw attempts in the final two minutes to seal the win. The Cardinals (5-8) swept the Little Hawkeye Conference series with the Warriors this season.

Sturtz led all scorers with 15 points. Wood had 13.

Norwalk (8-5) got 11 points from Grant Wright and 10 each from 6-8 Baylee Steele and 6-6 Michael Geistler.

Lynnville-Sully tosses H-L-V in doubleheader

SULLY — The Hawks of Lynnville-Sully are rolling. Both the girls and boys posted South  Iowa Cedar League wins at home Friday over visiting H-L-V.

The Class 1A sixth-ranked Lynnville-Sully girls trailed H-L-V 9-8 after one quarter of play. Over the next three quarters, the Hawks outscored the Warriors 48-27 for a resounding 56-36 victory. The Hawk girls are 14-2 on the season.

Cassie Cullen led the way with 18 points. Lysandra James added 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Becca Vos had seven steals.  H-L-V got 13 points from Abby Schafbuch.

Lynnville-Sully’s boys won their sixth game in a row, decking H-L-V, 55-22. They led 25-12 at halftime. The Hawk boys are 11-3 overall.

Sage Ehresman and Kyle Van Dyke each tossed in 12 points for L-S. Darin Hofer had nine rebounds. Dakota Stults led H-L-V with 11 points.

CMB boys net win, girls lose

BAXTER — There was no comeback by an opponent on this night. The CMB boys rolled to a 19-3 lead by the end of the first quarter in Friday’s home game against Greene County. The Raiders pushed to a 12-3 overall record with an 87-57 win.

Austin Moorman led a balanced attack for the Raiders with 16 points. Seth Balke and Bryce Kemp each tallied 15 points. Trey Tucker poured in 23 points for Greene County.

The CMB girls stumbled offensively in the second quarter, only scoring four points. Greene County took the edge — 26-16 at halftime — and kept it for a 51-41 win over the Raider girls.

Abbie Haupert had 19 points and 12 rebounds for CMB. Lexi Breon added 11 points. CMB’s girls are 4-13 on the season.

PC Eagles lose to ranked DCG teams

PELLA — Pella Christian’s girls lost 58-45 to ninth-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes and the Eagle boys dropped a 76-45 decision to the sixth-ranked Mustangs Friday at PCHS.

The Eagle boys trailed 41-18 at halftime. Sabastian Baugh scored 13 points and Coltin Collins tossed in 10 for Pella Christian. The Mustangs had three players in double-figure scoring — Nick Drucker with 24, Doug Heritage with 20 and Andrew Kramer with 11.

Pella Christian’s girls were behind 31-17 by halftime. Their second-half comeback fell short against the Fillies.

PCM girls rolls; boys stumble against Norsemen

MONROE — Prairie City-Monroe's rolled over Roland-Story on Friday night, 61-32. PCM's boys were not as sharp, losing to the Norsemen, 51-45.

The Mustang grils fell to the Norse by nine points early in the season, but they ramped up the defensive intensity in the rematch, pressing the ball from the get-go. PCM held a four-point lead after the first quarter and steadily increased its edge due to a series of turnovers and quick layups. After holding a 15-point lead at half, PCM extended it to 20 and rode that out to the finish.

PCM's boys got out to a slow start. Roland-Story's zone defense kept the Mustangs stifled early on, and the Mustangs struggled to get buckets out of the gate. R-S capitalized byt taking a double-digit lead in the first quarter. PCM fought back, but the margin was too big for the boys to overcome.

C-M girls get first win; boys fall against Hawks

MONROE — Colfax-Mingo's girls stormed back in the fourth quarter to net the first win of the basketball season for the Tigerhawk program, 45-40. The boys fell to 0-13 against 63-44.

C-M's girls lost in a tight one earlier the season in Jewell to South Hamilton, and heading into the fourth quarter, the Hawks were in control with a six-point lead. However, a strong defensive fourth quarter coupled with 15 points from the Tigerhawks led to the first with of the season.

McKenzie Cogley led the way with a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds.

C-M's boys have yet to put two strong halves together. They trailed by only two heading into the second quarter, when the Hawks went on a 21-13 run. After increasing the lead to 16 after three quarters, the Hawks held off any attempt at a rally for the win.