Tigers rally past Cardinals

GRINNELL — This one is going to sting for awhile.

Newton High’s Cardinals were up by six points with a little more than three minutes left in Little Hawkeye Conference game. They would only score three more points, losing 66-59 to host Grinnell’s Tigers Tuesday.

It was a game in which Newton’s boys saw leading scorer Tyler Wood move to within five points of second place on the NHS career scoring list and fellow senior guard Nick Easley return to the lineup. Easley has been sidelined for the past five games with a foot injury.

Easley did not start for the Cardinals, but scored the first basket for the team with 2:39 left in the first quarter. Newton was fighting back from a 9-0 start by Grinnell. A 3-pointer by Connor Gholson, a three-point play by Wood and a free throw by Devin Shores got the Cardinals right back in the game.

Newton trailed 11-9 heading into the second quarter. Unfortunately, the Tigers’ Sam Allen got hot from outside, hitting four of his five 3-pointers in the second period. Allen had four-point play to give Grinnell a 24-14 lead.

Easley knocked down 3-of-4 free throws to bring the Cardinals to within six points, 26-20, at the two-minute mark. Grinnell pushed back out to a 33-25 lead by halftime.

The Cardinals came out of the break on a mission. Jordan Travis had a three-point play to make it 43-38. Wood drained back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Cardinals a 47-45 lead with a minute remaining in the third quarter.

Newton was up by one, 47-46, at the start of the fourth quarter. A steal and layup by Garrett Sturtz gave the Cardinals a 53-50 lead followed by a 3-pointer from Wood. Grinnell’s Allen countered with a trey to touch off a 13-3 run by the Tigers in the final three minutes.

Newton’s final three points came on a 3-pointer by Gholson with 19 seconds left in the game. Grinnell’s Luke Honold was 5-of-6 at the free-throw line down the stretch to seal the win for the Tigers.

The Cardinals netted 10-of-23 3-pointers on the night. They shot 48 percent, 21-of-44, overall from the field. They were 7-of-12 from the line.

Grinnell shot 58 percent, 23-of-40, from the field, hitting six 3-pointers. The Tigers sank 14-of-20 free throw attempts.

Wood connected for six 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 21 points for Newton. Those 21 points pushed the senior guard’s career scoring total to 971 points. He is five points behind Justin George, 976, on the NHS scoring list. Curt Greeley is the all-time NHS career scorer with 1,020 points.

Easley had 11 points in his first game back and Gholson scored 10 points. Travis and Sturtz had five points apiece and Drew Stout scored four points. Jake Bennett had two points and Shores ended with one point.

Grinnell was led by Denton York with 19 points. Allen and Cade McKnight each had 18 points.

Newton fell to 6-9 overall and 1-8 in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The Cardinals step out of conference play Thursday, going to Chariton.

Newton is home Friday for Senior Night and Coaches vs. Cancer in a Little Hawkeye Conference contest against Oskaloosa.

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