March 19, 2024

Cardinals notch Classic opener in win column

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Something different happened in a season-opening basketball game for Newton High’s Cardinal girls Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals rolled to a victory in their opening contest for the first time in three years.

“It’s really nice to start the season off with a win. The last couple of seasons haven’t been that way for us,” senior Alex Hutchinson said following a 61-24 win against Bondurant-Farrar’s Lady Jays. “We had a lot of momentum coming into this game just off our practices.”

Newton High head coach Brandon Sharp said his team was primed and ready for the contest. The Cardinals had to push back their opener one day because of Friday’s winter storm.

The 2015 Newton Cardinal Classic Holiday Basketball Tournament was to have gotten under way Friday with two games. The consolation and championship games were slated for Saturday afternoon.

Newton moved the first-round games to Saturday. Preseason Class 4A 15th-ranked Carlisle defeated North Polk, 52-43, in the first game. The tournament championship and consolation games will be played at a later date, according to NHS athletic director Scott Garvis.

The Cardinals take on Carlisle for the championship. North Polk and Bondurant-Farrar will play in the consolation contest.

“What I was most impressed with from our players is how well they moved the ball on offense,” Sharp said. “We shot the ball pretty well also.

“We’ve focused 90 percent of our time in practice on defense. It showed today. The intense, in-your-bubble type of defense we put on Bondurant-Farrar is what we want against every team.”

Newton gave up 10 points in the first half of play. The Cardinals yielded six field goals in the game. Bondurant-Farrar went 11-of-19 from the free-throw line.

Senior post player Jessica Reynolds had the first two baskets of the game for Newton. It was 8-6 when junior Courtney Jacobsen came off the bench to net the first of her four 3-point field goals

Taylor Shipley, another junior off the bench, scored to push Newton’s lead to 13-6 with two minutes left in the first quarter. Junior guard Ryanne Rausch drilled a trey for the Cardinals, and Newton was up 16-8 at the end of the period.

Senior guard Taylor Moon and junior forward Megan Pressgrove hit back-to-back outside shots for the Cardinals to begin the second period. Pressgrove had a putback to make it 22-8 at the 5:49 mark.

Newton outscored the Lady Jays 16-2 in the second quarter. The two were free throws by Josie McShane. Moon had 3-pointer and Rausch downed two free throws to make it 27-10.

Junior post player Ellie Horn blocked a Lady Jay shot which sent the basketball into the hands of Hutchinson. Hutchinson finished a 3-on-2 break with a basket. Jacobsen fired in another 3-pointer to end the first-half scoring, putting Newton in front 32-10.

“We’re really excited about this season in having 11 people to play varsity. One of our players couldn’t play today, but we each have our strengths,” Hutchinson said. “It’s a lot of give-and-take out there which keeps it balanced. We’re committed to playing together, to playing for each other and to playing as a team.”

Newton opened the third quarter on a 6-1 run to increase its led to 38-11 by the 4:42 mark. The offensive pace slowed a bit the rest of the period with the Cardinals taking a 40-15 advantage into the final eight minutes of play.

Shipley swiped the basketball from the Lady Jays and scored on a layup to begin the fourth quarter. The pace picked back up as Newton outscored Bondurant-Farrar 21-9 down the stretch.

“Our defense was pretty solid. We did get a bit tired in the second half,” Sharp said. “We’ve stressed to play on instinct at both ends of the court. We did that in the first half, but slipped a bit in the second half.”

Newton played 10 and they all scored. Jacobsen led the way with 12 points followed by Rhoads with nine and Shipley with eight. The Cardinals connected for eight 3-pointers in the game. They were 3-of-5 from the line.

“In the five years I’ve been here, this is the deepest team we’ve had. Victoria Jordan injured her thumb earlier this week in practice and couldn’t play in this game. With this group of 11 players, there is not a drop off,” Sharp said.

McShane scored seven points for Bondurant-Farrar and Emily Dearden had six.

Carlisle held a 27-16 halftime lead against North Polk Saturday and it was 41-21 after three quarters. North Polk climbed back into the game in the fourth quarter, down by eight with two minutes left. Carlisle held on for the 52-43 win.

Agatha Beier led Carlisle with 21 points and Gabby Schnathorst added 14 points. North Polk got 19 points from Rachel Zimmerman and 11 from Riley Murphy.

Newton (1-0) hosts Perry Tuesday with a junior varsity game at 6 p.m. followed by the varsity contest. Newton freshmen play at home at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday against. Carlisle.

Bondurant-Farrar  8-2-5-9—24

Newton  16-16-9-21—61

Bondurant-Farrar (FG/3-pt-FT-F-TP): Farmer 0-0-1-0, Trulson 0-2-2-2, McShane 1/1-2-4-7, Kamman 2-1-0-5, Dearden 2-2-1-6, Campbell 0-4-0-4. TOTALS: 5/1-11-8-24.

Newton (FG/3-pt-FT-F-TP): Rausch 0/1-2-5-5, Jenkins 2-0-1-4, Moon 1/1-0-1-5, Hutchinson 2-0-3-4, Reynolds 3-0-3-6, Shipley 4-0-3-8, Jacobsen 0/4-0-0-12, Horn 1-0-0-2, Pressgrove 3-0-2-6, Rhoads 1/2-1-3-9. TOTALS: 17/8-3-21-61.

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