NHS boys push No. 1 Pella to brink in loss

PELLA — Draining his fifth 3-pointer of the night, Connor Gholson lifted Newton High’s Cardinals to a 59-57 lead over host Pella’s Little Dutch Tuesday.

The Cardinals were locked into a possible upset of the Class 3A top-ranked Little Dutch. Pella tied the game with 1:30 left in the contest.

A steal by Nick Finney led to a go-ahead bucket by Will Warner, 61-59, at the 1:13 mark. Newton, which had been hot from the field most of the game, went cold down the stretch. The Little Dutch hit four free throws to seal the 65-59 win.

“I’m so proud of our guys. What a great effort they gave tonight,” Newton head coach Bill Liley said. “We came into this game with a lot of confidence. We wanted to control the tempo of the game — for the most part we did that — and handling the pressure of having a lead on the No. 1 team on its home court.”

Liley, who is in his first year as head coach for the Cardinals, said his players will be better at handling that type of pressure the next time the two teams meet in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The loss halted a six-game winning streak for the Cardinals, who are 7-3 overall.

“I’ve been coaching at the high school level for many years, but what a great high school basketball atmosphere we had tonight. This was great. We had a tremendous Newton crowd follow us to Pella and we really appreciated the energy they brought,” Liley said.

The Cardinal faithful had plenty to cheer about early and throughout the contest. Joseph Banfield opened the game with a basket and Garrett Sturtz used a three-point play to put Newton up 5-0.

Back-to-back baskets by Gholson and Jwan Roush had Newton leading Pella, 9-3 with 2:30 to play in the first quarter. The Little Dutch went on a nine-point run, taking the lead 12-9 on consecutive 3-pointer by Grant Judkins.

Josh Ventling tied the game for Newton 12-12 with a trey to begin the second period. The Little Dutch reeled off seven unanswered points to regain the lead. Down 24-17 at the three-minute mark, Newton’s Jake Bennett drilled 3-pointer.

Pella was up 30-20 and Sturtz scored for Newton. The Cardinals had the ball working for the final shot of the first half, but gave up possession on a five-second call. Newton trailed 30-22 at halftime.

The Little Dutch started the third quarter on a 9-6 run, but couldn’t shake off the Cardinals. Sturtz nailed a 3-pointer and hit two free throws to pull Newton back to within six, 39-33, midway through the period.

Sturtz began a big run for Newton with a steal, a basket and a free throw. Roush connected with 2:14 on the clock to make it 41-38. Morgan Maher fired in a 3-pointer to tie the game, but it was a trey by Bennett at the end of the period which gave the Cardinals a 46-45 lead.

The Cardinals hit 10 3-pointers in the game. Gholson, who led all scorers in the game with 23, ripped the net for a 3-pointer to begin the fourth quarter. A basket by Banfield pushed the Cardinals to a 51-45 lead.

Another trey by Gholson and a basket by him had Newton up 56-48 before Pella began to stage a comeback. Warner drilled a 3-pointer for the Little Dutch, who kept possession because of a foul on Newton. Ryan Van Wyk and Drew Pringle scored to cut the margin to one point.

Warner’s two free throws put his team up 57-56. Gholson hit his final 3-pointer, which turned out to be the final points for Newton, for the 59-57 lead. Payson Vande Lune’s bucket tied the game up and launched Pella’s 8-0 run to finish the game.

Sturtz finished with 14 points, going 5-of-6 at the free-throw line. He also had six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Gholson pulled seven of Newton’s 22 rebounds, handed out three assists and had two steals.

Banfield had these assists and two steals. Roush handled four rebounds.

Pella (9-1, 5-0 LHC) averages 73 points a game. It had four players in double-figure scoring led by Warner and Judkins with 13 points each. Vande Lune added 12 and Van Wyk had 10 points. The Little Dutch cashed in on 18-of-22 free throw attempts while the Cardinals were 5-of-7 at the line.

“Our kids have bought into the new system. We’re a work in progress,” Liley said. “Earlier in the season, I said we’d be a tough out for some other team in the playoffs. Now, I don’t think we’re anyone’s out. Our kids believe in themselves and what we’re doing.”

Liley said his team continues to get better each practice and each game, working to be playing its best basketball in February for the playoffs.

Newton is 3-2 in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The Cardinals go to Norwalk (8-2, 3-2) Friday in conference action.

Newton  9-13-24-13—59

Pella  12-18-15-20—65

Newton (FG/3-pt); Sturtz 3/1-5-3-14, Roush 2-0-4-4, Bennett 0/2-0-4-6, Banfield 3-0-4-6, Gholson 4/5-0-3-23, Ventling 0/1-0-1-3, Maher 0/1-0-2-3. TOTALS: 12/10-5-21-59.

Pella (FG/3-pt); Finney 0/1-0-2-3, Vande Lune 3/2-0-3-12, Warner 3/1-4-2-13, Van Wyk 4-2-2-10, Scholten 0-5-0-5, Judkins 1/2-5-0-13, Pringle 1-0-2-2, Holterhaus 1/1-2-1-7. TOTALS: 13/7-18-12-65.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
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or jsheets@newtondailynews.com