March 19, 2024

New coach guides Cardinal boys in 2015-16

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Newton High’s boys head into the 2015-16 basketball season under new management. The Cardinals will have a new look with familiar faces gone from the player ranks because of graduation.

“We’ve got a group of players, who are ready to step up and show what they can do on varsity,” Newton head coach Bill Liley said. “These kids have worked really hard for us. They’ve picked up our system ahead of schedule, so I’m really pleased.”

Liley is an 11-year veteran coach, who took over the reins of the Newton High boys’ basketball program in July. He comes to Newton from Seattle, Wash., where he has spent the past four years as head coach at Eastside Catholic High School.

Liley said he had two connections with Iowa — Newton High’s Athletic Director Scott Garvis and Drake University’s head men’s basketball coach Ray Giacoletti. Garvis was the athletic director at Eastside Catholic when Liley was hired there.

Newton returns five players from last year’s varsity squad, which was 9-13 overall and 2-10 in Little Hawkeye Conference action. Seniors back on the court are Jake Bennett, Joseph Banfield and Drew Stout. They are joined by junior Connor Gholson and sophomore Garrett Sturtz.

“Things are going really well,” Banfield said. “As long as we listen and trust our new coach, I believe he will lead us in the right direction. It’s a different style of play than we’ve done in the past. As a team, we’re helping each other through the learning process right now.”

Gholson, a 6-foot-2 inch guard, was the Cardinals’ second-leading scorer last year with 244 points. He earned second-team conference honors. Gholson is a long-range scoring threat, shooting 34 percent, 42-of-124, from 3-point field goal range.

Gholson had multiple games with six 3-point field goals made last year.

Gholson shot 43 percent, 79-of-185, from the field overall. He shot 81.5 percent, 44-of-54, from the free-throw line. He had 90 rebounds, 35 assists and nine steals.

Banfield and Bennett are 6-foot-1-inch forwards. Banfield scored 144 points, collected 63 rebounds, dished out 31 assists and had eight blocked shots a year ago. He shot 48 percent from the field and 47 percent from the line. Bennett finished with 53 points and 31 rebounds last year. Bennett can shoot the 3-point shot, 14-of-47. He had 20 assists and 12 steals.

Stout saw plenty of time at point guard last year because of an injury to a teammate. The 5-foot-10-inch guard is expected to handle those duties this season. He handed out 35 assists and made 13 steals a year ago. He shot 58 percent from the field overall and fired in 11-of-27 3-point field goal attempts, as he scored 77 points.

Stout and Bennett pointed out a strong team chemistry for the Cardinals this season. They echoed Banfield in saying the players were working through the process of learning the new system together.

“This is the most unified team I’ve been on, and we have good coaching staff moving us in the right direction,” Bennett said. “If we stay committed to the work, we’ll have a very successful season.”

Sturtz tallied 80 points, 38 rebounds, 24 assists and 16 steals, which was second on the team, in his freshman year. The 6-foot-2-inch sophomore guard shot 80 percent, 36-of-45, from the free-throw line and 42 percent from the field last year.

“Offensively, we are an outstanding shooting team, and these kids really share the basketball well. That works into the offensive style we have,” Liley said. “It is a motion offense and everyone is helping to create open looks for each other. We have five or six guys who have tremendous shooting range, so we’re a threat from 3-point range.”

Liley looks for seniors Jwan Roush and Luiz Carlos and the junior trio of Morgan Maher, Trey Vanderlaan and Josh Ventling to battle for a starting spot. Roush and Vanderlaan are guards while Carlos is a combination player — guard or forward. Maher and Ventling give depth at the forward spots.

“As a team, we have improved our shooting. Everyone we put on the court can shoot and score for us,” Stout said.

Liley said the Cardinals don’t have a lot of height. He said this team was a lot smaller than teams he has coached in the past. He said the Cardinal players had bought into the new system and should be successful.

Liley guided Eastside Catholic to its first winning season in more than a decade and a playoff appearance in his first year there. In his four-year tenure, Eastside Catholic went 78-35 and finished second and third in back-to-back seasons at the Class 3A state basketball tournament in 2014 and 2015.

“We have to rebound well. Our success hinges on how well we rebound, which means our kids have to be in strong rebounding positions and be physical around the basket at both ends of the court,” Liley said.

“Defensively, it is change for these kids. Again, they’ve worked hard to make the transition. We pride ourselves on tough man-to-man defensive play. There is a lot of team help-defense involved in the scheme of things also. They guys have picked it up quick.”

Liley’s coaching staff includes Jason Carter, Collin Reynolds, Nick Steinbach and Dustin Brisel.

Liley is new to the Little Hawkeye Conference, but said he knew it was a competitive conference. He said he sets the bar high for his players. Liley said he never allows anyone to put a ceiling on what his teams can do because he believes in his players.

“I expect this Newton team to be very competitive. When we get used to our new system, this team will be very difficult to beat,” Liley said. “At the end of the season, we will be a tough out.”

Newton begins the season Tuesday on the road at Boone.

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