Cardinal freshman girls, junior varsity boys beat Norwalk; freshman boys lose

Newton High’s freshman girls used a 12-2 second quarter to get away from visiting Norwalk by halftime, leading 18-2. The Cardinal girls saw a big lead dissipate late, but claimed a 29-24 win Thursday.

At the same time the girls were winning, Newton’s freshman boys’ basketball team dropped a 55-27 decision to the Warriors in the NHS lower gymnasium. The Cardinal boys trailed 19-2 after one quarter, went on a 10-0 run and then Norwalk rolled to a 30-12 halftime lead.

To wrap up a night of basketball at Newton High, the Cardinal boys’ junior varsity got out early and never trailed the visitors from Norwalk. Newton posted a 53-43 win over the Warrior junior varsity in Little Hawkeye Conference play.

The Cardinal freshman girls and Norwalk were deadlocked at 6-all at the end of the first quarter. Newton would outscore Norwalk 16-3 over the next two quarters. As the Warrior girls fired in 15 points in the fourth period, the Cardinals kept the lead with a seven-point production.

Peyton Maher tossed in 13 points and had two blocked shots in the game for Newton. Emily Valtman added five points and made three steals. Newton shot 25 percent, 13-of-51, from the field and went 2-of-5 at the free-throw line.

Rachel Rhoads pulled down seven of the team’s 35 rebounds and Abbie Barr had five rebounds. Rhoads and Maddi Thayer each scored four points, and Barr had three points.

Anna Coyle was credited with four steals. Rhoads had four assists.

Newton’s freshman boys struggled to get a shot to go in during the first quarter. They made a run early in the second period, but couldn’t catch up to Norwalk. After the 10-point surge by the cardinals, the Warriors gave up just six more points by the end of the third quarter, leading 45-18.

Cole Webster led the Cardinal freshman boys with 11 points. Scoring four points each were Thomas Cox and Jacob Murphy. Adding two points apiece were Taylor Greiner, Luke Maharry, Matthew Moran and Aaron Bartels.

Hitting eight 3-pointers as a team, the Newton boys’ junior varsity was pretty effective at the free-throw line against Norwalk Thursday night. The Cardinals were 15-of-18 at the line while the Warriors went 2-of-6 on foul shots.

Newton was up 7-4 after the first quarter and owned a 21-17 halftime lead. The Cardinals held a 15-11 scoring edge in the third quarter and outscored the Warriors 17-15 down the stretch.

Trey Vanderlaan and Grayson Graham each fired in 17 points for the Cardinals. Graham had four steals and Vanderlaan made three steals. Vanderlaan also had five rebounds and three assists.

Josh Gulling scored 12 points and Grant Garvis had three. De’Andre Roush tossed in four points and pulled down six rebounds.

The Cardinal freshman girls play at Bondurant-Farrar Saturday and host their own tournament Monday. The tournament games start at 5 p.m. with Newton playing Roland-Story in the NHS upper gym and Knoxville taking on North Polk in the lower gym. Newton plays North Polk at 6:30 p.m. in the upper gym and Knoxville faces Roland-Story in the lower gym.

Newton’s freshman and junior varsity boys’ teams play at home Tuesday against Bondurant-Farrar.

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