March 28, 2024

Cardinal boys win, girls lose at DCG; Area prep basketball roundup

Newton High's boys won their 10th game of the season while the Newton girls lost to another ranked team Friday against Dallas Center-Grimes. Class 1A ninth-ranked Lynnville-Sully's girls lose for the first time this season and the Lynnville-Sully boys hand 1A No. 7 Montezuma its first loss.

Colfax-Mingo split a South Iowa Cedar League doubleheader against BGM. In Heart of Iowa Conference play, CMB teams lose against South Hamilton while PCM boys win, girls lose in overtime at North Polk.

Newton boys 74, Dallas Center-Grimes boys 62

GRIMES — Newton High’s Cardinal boys were ready for the special defenses — box-and-one and triangle-and-two — thrown at them Friday night by host Dallas Center-Grimes. Two weeks ago Norwalk shut down Connor Gholson with a box-and-one, Newton lost in overtime.

“When teams use those defenses, they forget we’re a basketball team. We have players who can step up and hit shots, play defense and rebound up and down the lineup,” Newton head coach Bill Liley said after the Cardinals notched a 74-62 win over the Mustangs.

Going on the road and winning a close game against a good team is something, Newton’s players and coaches wanted to do after a couple of road losses. The Cardinals netted their 10th win of the season and improved to 5-3 in Little Hawkeye Conference play.

“I’m proud of our guys and they worked together to win this one,” Liley said.

The special defenses didn’t shut down Newton’s top scorers — Gholson and Garrett Sturtz. When Gholson was being guarded tough in the first quarter and had to sit out the second quarter with two fouls, Jwan Roush was there to pick up the slack. Roush scored seven of Newton’s 12 first-quarter points.

Sturtz had four points in the second quarter to help the Cardinals tie the game up at 18-18 after trailing 16-12 after one quarter of play. Joseph Banfield started the run for Newton in the period and Drew Stout came off the bench to drain a 3-pointer, which put the Cardinals in front for good.

The Cardinals had an answer for each challenge put up by the Mustangs. A trey by Roush, who finished with 17 points, handed the Cardinals a 28-24 halftime lead.

Newton’s Morgan Maher got in on the scoring to begin the third quarter then Gholson pushed Newton’s lead to 10 points. Gholson had back-to-back three-point plays to give the Cardinals a 36-26 lead with 6:16 left.

The Mustangs battled back to within four, 44-40, with two minutes left in the third quarter. Stout’s basket made it 49-42 heading into the fourth quarter.

It was 57-51 with just less than six minutes to play. Newton’s Sturtz went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line, Gholson and Banfield also hit free throws down the stretch to keep the Mustangs from getting any closer.

Sturtz finished with 23 points, 13-of-13 at the line, 13 rebounds and three assists. Gholson added 18 points, going 6-of-6 at the line. Roush and two steals. Newton was 24-of-28 at the foul line for the game. Banfield claimed seven rebounds and dished out four assists.

DCG got 20 points from Doug Heritage and 15 points from Steve Borneman. The Mustangs cashed in on 15-of-18 free throw attempts.

Newton’s junior varsity won 38-36 led by Greyson Graham with 15 points and Trey Vanderlaan with 13.

Newton has a non-conference game at home Monday against Class 3A 10th-ranked Chariton. The Cardinals host Grinnell in a Little Hawkeye Conference showdown Tuesday. Both games tip off at 7:30 p.m. at NHS gym.

Dallas Center-Grimes girls 50, Newton girls 33

GRIMES — Falling behind 34-19 with a minute left in the third quarter, Newton High’s Cardinals picked themselves up off the Dallas Center-Grimes basketball floor and got back in the game. The Cardinals scored 12 unanswered points to close the gap to three points, 34-31, against the Fillies.

The Class 4A 15th-ranked Fillies bolted from that point, outscoring the Cardinals 16-2 the final 6:30 minutes Friday. DCG nailed down a 50-33 decision over Newton in Little Hawkeye Conference play.

They did it from the free-throw line, hitting 11-of-13 foul shots in the fourth quarter. For the game the Fillies were 20-of-28 from the line while the Cardinals were 7-of-11.

“We played really hard and had a great start to the game,” Newton head coach Brandon Sharp said. “Defensively, we were pretty good. We held them to 28 percent shooting from the field. We shot 33 percent.”

Sharp pointed to turnovers. Newton didn’t take care of the ball well enough against the Fillies. The Cardinals average 18 turnover a game.

“We have to stay below the magic number of 17 for turnovers. Every turnover you have over 17 drops your percentage of winning by 1 percent,” Sharp said.

Newton had a 6-2 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter and was up 8-7 going into the second quarter. The Fillies opened with a 10-0 run to go up 17-8 by the 3:34 mark of the second period.

Newton’s Alex Hutchinson had a three-point play followed by a basket by Ryanne Rausch to make it a four-point game. Two free throws with a minute left and a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer lifted DCG to a 22-13 halftime lead.

The Fillies extended their lead to the 34-19 margin in the third period.

Hutchinson led the Cardinals with 11 points. The rally in the fourth quarter was started on back-to-back 3-pointers from Courtney Jacobsen, who finished with six points.

Rachel Lowray tossed in 15 points and Jenna Borchers had 13.

Newton is 8-8 overall and 3-5 in LHC play. The Cardinals play at home Monday against Chariton in non-conference action and host Grinnell Tuesday in conference action. Both games are at 6:15 p.m.

Lynnville-Sully boys win, girls lose

SULLY — It was first losses of the season for Class 1A Lynnville-Sully’s girls and the Montezuma boys Friday night.

Lynnville-Sully’s boys avenged their lone loss of the season by handing the visiting Braves a 57-38 setback. The Hawk boys and the Braves are each 16-1 overall. In South Iowa Cedar League action, the Braves are 14-1 and the Hawks are 12-1.

“The guys played a great game tonight,” L-S boys’ head coach Nick Harthoorn said. “We did a lot of nice things on both ends of the floor. We did an excellent job taking care of the basketball against a team that pressures you.”

Lynnville-Sully led Montezuma 13-6 after one quarter and 26-15 at the break. The Braves outscored the Hawks, 14-11, in the third quarter, but Lynnville-Sully still led by eight going into the fourth quarter. The Hawks used a 20-9 scoring edge to finish off the victory.

Kyle Van Dyke had a double-double with 19 points and 16 rebounds and he blocked six shots. Jesse Van Wyk tossed in 16 points and had four assist. Tyler Van Zante and Sage Ehresman each had four assist.

Brody McKeag scored 13 points for Montezuma and Logan Price had 10. The Braves shot just 26 percent from the field to the Hawks’ 42 percent.

It was a battle of ranked teams in the girls’ game at Sully Friday. Class 1A ninth-ranked Lynnville-Sully’s Hawk girls put their 18-0 mark on the line against 1A 12th-ranked Montezuma. The Bravettes controlled things from the opening tip, leading 24-20 at halftime on their way to a 49-38 win over the Hawks.

The Hawk girls and Bravettes are 18-1 overall and 14-1 in SICL play.

“We didn't play very well. We could never calm ourselves down to execute what we wanted to do on either end of the floor,” Lynnville-Sully girls’ head coach Jerry Hulsing said. “Montezuma played well, they were the better team tonight.”

Montezuma was up 13-10 by the end of the first period and led the Hawks 24-20 at halftime. Lynnville-Sully faced a 31-26 deficit after three quarters and was outscored 16-12 in the final eight minutes.

The Hawks shot 28 percent from the field. Brenna Lanser had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Kasiah Ehresman had 10 points and two steals.

Montezuma got 14 points from Shelby Helm and 10 points from Breck Goodman.

The Lynnville-Sully teams play at Colfax-Mingo Tuesday in SICL action.

PCM boys 59, North Polk 41

ALLEMAN — The Mustang boys moved into sole possession of second place in the Heart of Iowa Conference following a convincing win over North Polk.

The Comets and Mustangs came into the game with three conference losses, but PCM left no doubt after leading 23-9 after one quarter.

Logan Gilman, the HOIC's leading scorer, scored 26 points in the win, while Luke Greiner and Austin Brown each scored eight.

After the first quarter, PCM only outscored the Comets by four, but the first quarter domination was good enough to help the Mustangs to a double-digit win.

Brett Haun scored 20 points to lead the Comets, while Grant Rampton had 12.

The Mustangs have won four straight games and five of their last six to improve to 12-5 overall and 9-3 in conference play. North Polk came into the game winners of five of six but dropped to 10-6 overall and 9-4 in the HOIC.

The victory for PCM gives it a split this season. Haun hit a game-winning 3-pointer to give the Comets a 60-58 win in Monroe earlier this season.

North Polk girls 52, PCM 46

ALLEMAN — Maddy Hill buried a game-tying 3-pointer with 3 seconds to go in regulation and then the Comets outscored the Mustangs 9-3 in overtime.

The win moved North Polk into third place in the Heart of Iowa Conference.

Kayla Jennings scored 12 points and had three assists to lead the Mustangs, who dropped to 10-8 overall and 9-4 in the HOIC. Katie Vande Wall scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds in the loss.

The Mustangs missed the front end of three one-and-ones and were 5-of-11 from the line in the game.

"I was proud of how hard we played in this game, even though it didn't turn out the way we wanted it to," PCM coach Jeff Lindsay said. "That's a good team. They have been playing well. For us to go there and play like that, I was proud of that effort."

North Polk (11-6, 10-4) has won four of its last five games. The Mustangs have lost two of their last three games.

Jayci Vos scored seven points and had three steals, while Lexi Timmins scored seven. Karina Van Dyke grabbed seven boards and blocked three shots, while Bailey Brodersen and Rachel Stafford had seven and six rebounds, respectively.

The win for North Polk completes the season sweep. The Comets won 44-36 in Monroe earlier this season thanks to a 16-7 advantage in the third quarter.

South Hamilton boys 74, CMB 49

BAXTER — South Hamilton shot 60 percent from the floor, made 8-of-14 from the 3-point line and hit 14-of-17 from the free-throw line during a win over the Raiders on Friday night.

The Raiders fell behind early and never recovered. They trailed 20-10 after one and 40-22 at halftime.

Junior Brady Kemp was the only CMB player to reach double-figures as he had 16 points. CMB made 48 percent of its shots, but hit just 4-of-16 from long range.

Three of the Hawks' eight treys came in the first few minutes as Conner Hill got them started and Marco Balderas canned back-to-back 3-pointers to put the visitors up 13-2.

Collin Hill led four South Hamilton players in double figures with 17 points, while Conner Hill chipped in 14. Trey Woodall and Balderas had 11 each.

The Raiders (2-14, 2-11) has lost four in a row, while the Hawks got back on track after losing three of their last four.

The win for South Hamilton (7-8, 6-6) gave it a split against the Raiders this year. CMB won the previous meeting this year on a buzzer beater by Brady Stover.

South Hamilton girls 31, CMB 20

BAXTER — The Raiders scored 10 points in the first quarter but managed just 10 the rest of the way in losing their fourth straight.

CMB led 10-7 after one quarter but did not score in the second quarter to allow the Hawks a little bit of momentum.

Mikayla Eslinger led the Raiders (2-15, 1-13) with 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals in the loss. But CMB played the game without senior Carter Larson and junior Megan Ritter because of injuries.

That gave CMB just eight players in uniform.

The Raiders trailed by two after three but ran into trouble when Sydney Ziesman picked up her fourth and fifth fouls in the first minute of the fourth quarter. A technical foul on the CMB bench helped the Hawks pull away with 11 straight points.

The win ended a 10-game losing streak for the Hawks (2-15, 2-11). Their only two wins this season have come against CMB.

The earlier meeting also featured a big fourth quarter for South Hamilton. The Hawks outscored CMB 10-3 in that one and won by two.

Kathleen Baldwin had four points and 10 rebounds, while Ziesman scored four points and grabbed nine boards. Eslinger blocked three shots.

Colfax-Mingo boys 49, BGM 41

BROOKLYN — Colin Lourens had 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, Jared Myers scored a season-high 14 points and Jarod Nichols collected 13 boards as the Tigerhawks rallied from an early deficit to win its 11th game of the year.

Colfax-Mingo trailed 14-7 after one quarter but got within 21-20 at halftime. A 12-8 advantage in the third gave the Tigerhawks a 32-29 lead after three and Lourens hit several free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

"It was a really slow start for us tonight," Colfax-Mingo coach John Borts said. "We didn't score a point for the first four minutes of the game but battled back. It was a close game until the last couple of minutes."

It was the eighth win in the last 11 games for the Tigerhawks, who improved to 11-6 overall and 10-5 in the SICL. BGM dropped to 10-8 overall and 8-7 in league play.

Kaiden Fieblekorn (20) and Tanner Jansen (14) scored 34 of the Bears' 41 points.

Myers added four rebounds and four assists to his 14 points. Blake Summy and Jacob Lietz each had six rebounds.

"Our defense stepped up tonight when our offense had trouble finding a rhythm," Borts said.

The road win gives Colfax-Mingo a season split against BGM. The Bears won 67-54 in Colfax earlier this season. Fiebelkorn and Jansen had 57 of the team's 67 in that one.

BGM girls 55, Colfax-Mingo 33

BROOKLYN — The Bears pulled away from a close game with a 15-2 advantage in the second quarter and extended the lead following a 20-8 third quarter.

The Tigerhawks have lost three of their last four games and dropped to 5-13 overall and 5-10 in South Iowa Cedar League play. BGM won its second straight game and is now 10-9 overall and 7-8 in conference play.

The Bears swept the season series.