Newton girls deck Oskaloosa

Macy Leonard found herself open behind the 3-point arc so the senior guard put up a shot. When the basketball found the inside of the net, Newton High’s players on the bench went wild.

Newton’s Cardinals were up 54-36 against visiting Oskaloosa Friday night. Leonard’s 3-pointer was the exclamation point on NHS Senior Night and Coaches vs. Cancer. And on a three-game win week for the Newton girls.

With the 58-43 win at home, the Cardinals improved to 4-6 in Little Hawkeye Conference play. They have two more LHC games remaining in the regular season. Newton (5-14) goes to Class 4A 11th-ranked Pella Tuesday then heads to Norwalk Friday.

“To win on Senior Night means the world to us, because we’ve put in a lot of hard work,” Leonard said. She had five points and one assist in her final home game.

Senior Michaela Jacobsen was perfect from the free-throw line — 6-of-6 — leading Newton with 15 points. She also pulled down six rebounds, made two steals and had four assists.

“For the two of us and the whole team, we wanted to win on our home court for the last time,” Jacobsen said. “We played for each other as a team out there.”

Newton won at Grinnell Tuesday in conference play then got a tough non-conference win at Chariton Thursday night.

“I told the girls I truly believed we had the opportunity to go 3-0 this week. They put in the work, executed game plans and stayed together when things got tough,” said Brandon Sharp, NHS girls’ head coach. “I’m very pleased with the way we played this week.”

In less than 24 hours, the Cardinals were home Friday night wearing their pink uniforms for Coaches vs. Cancer and taking on their third opponent of the week. After falling behind 6-0 at home Friday night, the Cardinals outscored visiting Oskaloosa 20-10 to lead 20-16 by the 3:44 mark of the second quarter.

Sophomore Ryanne Rausch got things started for the Cardinals with a basket with 3:59 left in the first quarter. Juniors Jessica Reynolds and Alex Hutchinson combined for four more points. Newton was down 10-6 when Jacobsen drained a 3-pointer and had a basket.

The Indians led 12-11 going into the second period. Junior Hannah Rhoads hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 14-14 at the 6:26 mark of the quarter.

Newton was able to build on its lead once it got it in the second period. Reynolds had a three-point play to give the Cardinals the 19-16 lead. Sydney Jenkins, junior guard, hit a 3-pointer to set off a 8-2 run to halftime.

Newton never looked back, after leading 28-20 at halftime. Jacobsen had a four-point burst near the end of the third quarter and Sydney Jenkins hit a 3-pointer to lift Newton to a 41-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Newton cashed in on 16-of-25 free throw attempts. It shot 42 percent, 18-of-43, from the field.

Jenkins controlled six rebounds and had two assists for the Cardinals. Hutchinson dished out four assists and Rausch had five rebounds.

Oskaloosa’s Alexis Westercamp scored the first six points of the game. but picked up two quick fouls midway through the second quarter. Westercamp finished with 22 points for the Indians. Taylor Richardson added 12 points.

“Winning three games this week was big and beating Grinnell was one of the biggest games of our year,” Leonard said.

Jacobsen said the Cardinals have been working on the “game-point mentally” for every possession. She said they are focused on taking good shots “because a bad shot is like a turnover.”

Sharp said Jacobsen and Leonard have set a strong example for the Cardinal team. He said through the ups and downs these two seniors are consistent in their leadership of the team.

“Tonight, our team played for each other,” Sharp said, whose wife, Sharaeah, was one of the Coaches vs. Cancer game honorees at halftime of the boys’ varsity game.

Between the girls and boys games, all the senior basketball players and parents were recognized.

Newton’s junior varsity won 41-25 led by Jaci Twaddle and Taylor Shipley with seven points each. Jessie Smith had six points and Courtney Jacobsen had five points. Pressgrove and Addy Blom each had four points. Scoring two points each were Tessa Keeton, Victoria Jordan, Taylor Ryan and Ellie Horn.

Oskaloosa  12-8-7-16—43

Newton  11-17-13-17—58

Newton (FG/3-pt): Jenkins 0/2-0-1-6, Leonard 1/1-0-0-5, Moon 1-0-0-2, Jordan 0-0-2-0, Hutchinson 0-2-0-2, Reynolds 2-3-1-7, Horn 1-1-0-3, Jacobsen 3/1-6-0-15, Pressgrove 1-0-3-2, Rhoads 0/2-3-1-9, Rausch 3-1-1-7. TOTALS: 12/6-16-9-58.

Oskaloosa (FG/3-pt): Richardson 4-4-4-12, Renter 0-0-3-0, Laudermilch 2/1-0-2-7, Howard 1-0-0-2, Westercamp 7/1-5-4-22, Shilling 0-0-1-0, Strasser 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 14/2-9-16-43.

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