March 18, 2024

Cardinal girls’ two-game weekend road trip rough

HUXLEY — Facing Iowa Class 4A fourth-ranked Ballard Saturday, Newton High’s Cardinal girls came up short. The Cardinals dropped a 57-25 decision to the Bombers on the road.

Saturday’s non-conference loss came on the heels of a heartbreaking road loss, 41-37 in overtime, to Pella Christian Friday in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The Cardinals fall to 2-13 overall and they are 2-5 in the conference.

The Cardinals were right with the Bombers early, trailing 6-4 after one quarter. The Bombers took flight from there, outscoring Newton 22-6 in the second period for a 28-10 halftime lead.

“We had great effort from the girls. The score didn’t quite show it, but we made them work for their points,” said Brandon Sharp, Newton head coach. “They are just that good.”

In the second half, Ballard had a 15-8 scoring edge in the third quarter and finished with a 14-7 run in the final eight minutes. The Bombers improved to 14-1.

Hannah Rhoads led the Cardinals with nine points. Courtney Jacobsen came off the bench for five points and Sydney Jenkins had four points. Newton was 5-of-10 at the free-throw line.

Ballard got 10 points from Shelby Drummond. Gabie Doud added nine. Seven other Bomber players scored from two to seven points in the contest. The Bombers went 9-of-16 at the line.

The Newton junior varsity won 37-30 led by Ellie Horn with seven points and Jessie Smith with six points. The Cardinals were up 14-9 at halftime.

In the freshman game, Newton lost 44-28 after trailing 18-8 at the break. Addy Blom fired in 13 points to lead Newton.

At Pella, the Cardinals and Pella Christian’s Eagles went into Friday’s Little Hawkeye Conference showdown tied in conference action at 2-4. The Cardinals were looking to sweep the Eagles in LHC play.

Newton wiped out a 10-point deficit on a 13-0 run spanning the late third quarter into the fourth quarter. The Cardinals were up 30-27, but the Eagles rallied to score at the end of regulation to forge a 35-35 tie. Pella Christian outscored Newton 6-2 in the overtime to win 41-37.

“We played really good defense for the majority of the night,” said Brandon Sharp, Newton head coach.

Offensively, the Cardinals did not have a player reach double digit scoring, but it was balanced. Jessica Reynolds led the Cards with eight points followed by Michaela Jacobsen with seven, Ryann Rausch and Alex Hutchinson with six apiece and Jenkins with five points.

Pella Christian led 19-14 at halftime and 27-25 at the end of three periods.

The Eagles (8-6, 3-4) got 12 points from Cailey Terpstra, nine points from Tessa Howerzyl and eight from Autumn Vos on homecoming night.

Newton is idle Tuesday and host Class 4A 13th-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes (10-5, 5-2) for Legacy Night Friday in conference play.

Newton’s junior varsity beat Pella Christian 45-24 led by Courtney Jacobsen’s 11 points and Megan Pressgrove with eight points.

Friday’s game

Newton  5-9-11-10-2—37

Pella Christian  6-13-8-8-6—41

Newton (FG/3-pt): Rausch 3-0-1-6, Jenkins 2-1-2-5, Hutchinson 2-2-2-6, Reynolds 3-2-5-8, C. Jacobsen 1-0-0-2, M. Jacobsen 3-1-1-7, Rhoads 0/1-0-2-3. TOTALS: 14/1-6-13-37.

Pella Christian (FG/3-pt): Anderson 1-0-0-2, Howerzyl 2/1-2-1-9, Terpstra 2-8-3-12, Mitrisin 1-0-3-2, A. Vos 4-0-4-8, N. Vos 1-0-1-2, Beltman 3-0-4-6. TOTALS: 14/1-10-16-41.

Saturday’s game

Newton  4-6-8-7—25

Ballard  6-22-15-14—57

Newton (FG/3-pt): Rausch 1-0-0-2, Jenkins 1-2-0-4, Leonard 0-2-0-2, Moon 0-1-2-1, Hutchinson 0-0-2-0, Reynolds 0-0-3-0, C. Jacobsen 1/1-0-0-5, Horn 0-0-2-0, M. Jacobsen 1-0-3-2, Rhoads 3/1-0-0-9. TOTALS: 7/2-5-12-25.

Ballard (FG/3-pt): Moody 2-0-1-4, Doud 3-3-2-9, Larson 1/1-0-3-5, Sanders 0/2-0-2-6, Knittel 3-1-2-7, Smith 1-0-0-2, Ossian 1/1-2-0-7, Bartleson 3-0-3-6, Drummond 4-2-1-10, Mallon 0-1-0-1. TOTALS: 18/4-9-14-57.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com