Newton teams split conference openers; area teams go 6-2 on Friday

Three of the 10 area high school basketball teams in action Friday night posted victories. All three — Newton, Lynnville-Sully and Prairie City-Monroe — were girls’ teams. It was nott a good night for the five boys’ squads — Newton, Lynnville-Sully, Colfax-Mingo, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter and PCM — as they all dropped decisions as did the Colfax-Mingo and CMB girls’ teams.

Newton girls 64, Pella Christian girls 50

Breaking through to the win column for the first time in 2014-15, Newton High’s Cardinal girls used a 10-0 run that spanned the final two minutes of the first quarter and the opening three minutes of the second quarter to gain the advantage against visiting Pella Christian.

Pella Christian’s Eagles came in 2-0, but fell to the Cardinals in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The Cardinals’ first win of the season, 64-50, came in the two teams’ LHC opener Friday night.

“We put together four quarters tonight,” said Brandon Sharp, Newton girls’ head coach. “The losses in the first four games of the season took a toll on us, but the girls learned and grew as a team. We saw that tonight against a good Pella Christian team.”

The Cardinals took the lead for good on a basket by Ryanne Rausch at the 1:23 mark of the first quarter. Sydney Jenkins scored with 32 seconds left in the period to put Newton up 10-7. Hannah Rhoads, who finished with a game-high 17 points, began the second period with a basket for the Cardinals. Jessica Reynolds had back-to-back buckets for Newton.

Jenkins ended up with 13 points and Reynolds had 12 for Newton. The Cardinals never had that scoring lull that has plagued them in their first four games. They led 27-14 at half and out scored the Eagles 23-16 in the third period.

Pella Christian’s 6-2 senior post player Hannah Beltman was a non-factor in the game, spending most of it on the Eagle bench in foul trouble. The Eagles did make a run at Newton in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals held them off.

Brooke Mitrisin led the Eagles with 14 points, hitting 10-of-13 free throw attempts. The Eagles were 20-of-28 at the free-throw line.

Newton (1-4) hosts Marshalltown Thursday in non-conference play.

Newton’s junior varsity beat Pella Christian 51-18. The Newton freshmen girls beat Chariton 45-28 Friday night.

Pella Christian boys 74, Newton boys 67

Newton High’s Cardinal boys climbed back into the Little Hawkeye Conference opener Friday night at home against Pella Christian. They dug out of a 14-0 first-quarter hole to get within three, 25-22, by the 2:46 mark of the second quarter.

Pella Christian’s Eagles began the game by hitting four straight 3-pointers. The Eagles held on to lead 31-27 at halftime.

Jordan Travis scored the first two baskets of the third quarter to pull Newton even — 31-31. Jake Bennett hit a turnaround jumper off a rebound with 5:28 left in the period to put the Cardinals in front for the first time. Tyler Wood connected for his first points of the night on a 3-pointer and Newton was up 36-31.

“When we got the five-point lead, I was convinced we were going to win,” said Nick Wilkins, Newton head coach, after the Cardinals suffered their first loss of the season, 74-67. “The guys battled to get back in the game and that takes a lot of energy, but if you had asked me at the middle of the third quarter which team was the tired team, I would have said Pella Christian.”

Wilkins said the Eagles came out of a timeout and slowed the game down and got great shots. He said the Cardinals stopped running and settled into the slower pace set by the Eagles.

Nick Easley hit back-to-back baskets for Newton to take a 48-46 lead with 38 seconds left in the third quarter. Pella Christian’s Brant Vermeer delivered his fifth 3-pointer of the night and the Eagles were back on top for good. That shot sparked an 11-0 run by the Eagles to get away from the Cardinals by the mid-way mark of the fourth quarter.

The Eagles sealed the win from the free-throw line. They were 21-of-28 at the line for the game.

“We did a lot of good things in the game tonight. We just have to put four quarters together instead of 1 1/2 quarters in each half,” Wilkins said of the 1-1 Cardinals.

Wood ended up leading the Cardinals with 14 points, but all of them came in the second half. Travis and Easley each had 12 points and Bennett scored 11 points.

Levi Jungling had a game-high 19 points for Pella Christian. Vermeer,David Kacmarynski added 17 points apiece. Josh Posthuma scored 13 points. The Eagles were 9-of-30 from the 3-point arc.

Newton travels to Adel-DeSoto-Minburn Tuesday and hosts Marshalltown Thursday in non-conference games.

Newton’s freshmen beat Chariton 39-31 Friday night at home.

Lynnville-Sully girls 61, Montezuma 47

SULLY — Lynnville-Sully’s girls improved to 4-0 with a big South Iowa Cedar League win at home Friday night. The Class 1A 13th-ranked Hawks rolled past visiting Montezuma, 61-47, using a 17-8 first-quarter run to establish control.

“This was our best defensive effort of the season,” said Jerry Hulsing, Hawk girls’ head coach. “Our offense was sharp in the first half.”

Lynnville-Sully led 29-16 at halftime and held a 21-15 scoring edge in the third quarter. The Hawks shot 60 percent, 21-of-35, from the free-throw line while Montezuma downed 15-of-21 charities for 71 percent. Lynnville-Sully shot 41 percent from the field.

Marissa Vos had a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks. Lysandra James also had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Madison Rasmusson had 12 points.

The Hawks take on Class 2A 15th-ranked Eddyville-Blakesburg at Eddyville Saturday.

Montezuma won the junior varsity girls’ game, 44-29.

Montezuma boys 47, Lynnville-Sully boys 29

SULLY — Lynnville-Sully’s boys could not overcome a 19-8 opening run by visiting Montezuma Friday night. The Hawks lost 47-29 in South Iowa Cedar League play.

Lynnville-Sully head coach Nick Harthoorn pointed to the 20 turnovers by his team and Montezuma’s hot shooting in the first quarter as big factors in the game. The Hawk boys are 1-1.

Tyler Van Zante led the Hawks, who shot just 21 percent from the field in the game, with nine points. Jake Brand had six points.

Montezuma’s Brody McKeag drained four 3-pointers on his way to 17 points. Jake Hasley had three treys among his 15 points and Logan Price scored 11 points.

The Hawks play at Eddyville-Blakesburg Saturday in a non-conference game then host BGM Tuesday in SICL action.

PCM girls 60, Roland-Story girls 38

STORY CITY — Prairie City-Monroe's three seniors had their hands all over the Mustangs' third straight win on the road Friday.

Rachel Gulling had a season-high 15 points, 10 rebounds and three steals, Courtney VanHouweling added 15 points, six steals and three assists and Rachel Freland chipped in 15 points, four rebounds and three steals as Class 3A No. 15 PCM improved to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the Heart of Iowa Athletic Conference.

The Mustangs led 14-5 after one and outscored the Lady Norse 19-4 in the fourth. Everything in between really didn't matter too much as PCM won 60-38.

PCM also got six points and four rebounds from Katie VandeWall, and Kayla Jennings chipped in five points and four boards. The Mustangs had 17 steals for the game and turned it over 14 times.

PCM also was 4-for-20 from 3-point range and 12-of-25 from the charity stripe.

Roland-Story (2-2, 1-2) got 15 points and eight rebounds from Alexa Whipple.

The Mustangs play at Pella Christian Saturday.

Roland-Story boys 69, PCM boys 60

STORY CITY — The Prairie City-Monroe boys' basketball team battled back, but a first-half deficit was too much to overcome in a 69-60 loss Friday night.

The Mustangs trailed 44-27 at halftime and never recovered. They got as close as five points in the fourth quarter, but couldn't hit enough shots to complete the comeback, according to coach Fred Lorensen.

"They made a bunch of shots in the first half and we didn't," Lorensen said. "We played well in the second half but just didn't have enough to finish it off."

Roland-Story (3-0, 2-0) went 7-for-11 from behind the 3-point line in the opening half, while PCM (1-1, 1-1) was just 1-of-11. The hosts buried 11 in the game and that was too much to overcome.

Logan Gilman led the Mustangs with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Trey Lindsay added 10 points, six assists and three rebounds.

Luke Pendroy also had 11 points in the loss and Luke Greiner pulled down six rebounds.

The Mustangs play Saturday at Pella Christian.

South Hamilton boys 60, Colfax-Mingo boys 46

JEWELL — Colin Lourens had 17 points and 12 rebounds but it wasn't enough as the Colfax-Mingo boys' basketball team lost on the road to South Hamilton on Friday night.

Jacob Lietz also had 11 points and three assists, but the Hawks got out to an early lead and were never threatened during a 60-46 win at home.

Jared Myers had eight points and eight rebounds before fouling out. Lourens also fouled out for Colfax-Mingo, which fell to 0-2 overall and 0-2 in the Heart of Iowa Athletic Conference after the loss.

The Tigerhawks trailed 14-9 after one and it was 25-18 at the break before the Hawks (1-1, 1-1) extended the advantage to 15 after three quarters.

Freshman Marco Balderas led the home team with 13 points, while Nate Maile added 11 points and nine rebounds inside.

The Tigerhawks host HOIAC rival Prairie City-Monroe Tuesday.

South Hamilton girls 40, Colfax-Mingo girls 39

JEWELL — Senior Sara Lahart scored a season-high 13 points, but the Colfax-Mingo girls' basketball team struggled out of the gates and then couldn't finish off a second-half rally during the one-point road loss.

South Hamilton jumped out to a 13-5 lead after one quarter and led by five at the break. The Tigerhawks jumped ahead after three frames following a 14-6 advantage in the third, but couldn't hold off the Hawks.

South Hamilton outscored Colfax-Mingo 12-8 in the final frame to lock up its first win.

Freshman McKeely Tjaden had nine points for the Tigerhawks (0-4, 0-3) and sophomore Dakota Hostetter finished with six.

Greene County girls 70, CMB girls 38

BAXTER — Greene County's girls' basketball team turned a narrow game into a rout after a 21-5 advantage in the second quarter against Collins-Maxwell/Baxter on Friday night.

The Rams and Raiders were tied at 13-all after one quarter but Greene County led 34-18 at the break and outscored the hosts 23-6 in the fourth during a 70-38 victory that kept CMB winless on the season.

"We felt good as a team when it was 13-13. It gave us a chance, but then we got outscored 21-5 and that absolutely kills you," said CMB coach Jamie Zabel. "We ran out of gas. The girls were busy with state dance competitions this week and we are tired. We looked tired tonight, especially in the second half."

Lexi Breon scored 15 points to lead the Raiders, who dropped to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in league play. Brianda Bane added 10. CMB was just 4-of-13 from the foul line, while Greene County hit 16-of-20.

Stacy Mears led all scorers with 21 points and Kayla Mobley chipped in 20. Marissa Promes also reached double-figures with 12 for the Rams, who improved to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in Heart of Iowa Athletic Conference play.

The Raiders' busy week continues Saturday with a road game at Colo-NESCO.

Greene County boys 67, CMB boys 47

BAXTER — Playing without its best player, the Collins-Maxwell/Baxter boys' basketball team struggled to keep up with Greene County on Friday during Heart of Iowa Athletic Conference play here.

Bryce Kemp missed Friday's game when the Raiders visited Colo-NESCO because he was on his official football visit to Eastern Michigan. And CMB sorely missed the senior's absence.

Greene County led 15-11 after one quarter but kept the Raiders in its rear-view mirror with a 26-9 advantage in the second quarter during a 67-47 win.

Sophomore Trey Tucker scored 20 of his 27 points in the first half to lead the Rams to their second straight win.

"They made some 3s early in the first quarter and that stretched us out as a defense," CMB coach Scott Brummel said. "When we stretched it out, it allowed them to get to the lane pretty easy against us."

Seth Balke had nine points and seven rebounds for the Raiders, while Hunter Gunderson also scored nine and pulled down six boards.

The Raiders were just 2-of-25 from 3-point range and made just 15-of-25 at the free-throw line.