March 19, 2024

Cardinals girls push Pella to final seconds

Image 1 of 2

Hannah Rhoads’ shot from the right corner was lined up. When the Newton High senior fired the 3-point shot, it appeared the game would be tied.

The Cardinals’ bid for an upset of Class 4A eighth-ranked Pella in front of a packed home crowd bounced off the rim. The Lady Dutch’s Kiara Bradley claimed the rebound to preserve her team’s 66-63 Little Hawkeye Conference victory Tuesday at Newton.

Just less than a month ago at Pella, Newton was never in the first meeting of the two LHC teams, losing 71-33. The Cardinals rallied from a 39-27 halftime deficit Tuesday to one point, 64-63.

Senior guard Sydney Jenkins drained her sixth 3-pointer of the night with 30 seconds left in the game, pulling the Cardinals to within one. Following a timeout, Pella’s Katie Vander Molen converted on a one-and-one at the free-throw line to push her team’s lead to three.

Courtney Jacobsen had a 3-point attempt blocked out of bounds with eight seconds on the clock. That set up Rhoads’ shot at the end.

“It was fun to be a part of this game,” Newton head coach Brandon Sharp said. “I was sure that last shot was going in. I knew we were resilient but didn’t know we were that resilient. Tonight, I learned a lot about these kids and a lot about our team.”

The Cardinals could have folded early. Pella started off on fire taking a 21-3 lead by the 2:26 mark of the first quarter. Newton didn’t go away, going on a 13-1 run to close out the first period to trail 22-16.

“In the first quarter, they put the ball in the basket a lot. They just made a bunch of shots,” Sharp said. Pella rang up six of its eight 3-pointers in the first quarter. The Lady Dutch had six field goals in the opening eight minutes — all from behind the 3-point arc.

Junior Ryanne Rausch drilled a trey for the Cardinals and had a putback basket to open up the run. Senior Alex Hutchinson scored as the Cardinals played solid defense to keep the Lady Dutch from scoring. The only point for Pella came on a free throw by Emily Holterhaus.

Jenkins knocked down back-to-back treys, the second one coming at the quarter buzzer, and Newton was down by six points. Pella opened the second period with a 3-poitner by Kloe Lambert and two free throws from Chloe Van Vliet.

Down 28-12, Rhoads broke through the Pella press and made a pass to senior post player Jessica Reynolds. Reynolds drove down the baseline for a basket. Pella’s final 3-pointer of the game was delivered by Vander Molen at the 3:21 mark to push her team’s lead to 31-20.

The Lady Dutch went on a 8-4 run, but Jenkins kept Newton within reach with a 3-pointer just before the break. Newton was down 39-27 at halftime.

Sharp said he likes to hoard his timeouts, but he was out of his comfort zone going into the second half with just two timeouts remaining.

“I just used the timeouts in the first half when we needed them. There were a couple times we got trapped in their press and needed a timeout, so I took it,” Sharp said.

Newton was down 42-29 when Jenkins was fouled on a 3-point field goal attempt. She sank all three free throws to trigger a 9-0 run by the Cardinals. They got baskets from Reynolds, Jenkins and junior Ellie Horn.

The Cardinals had the deficit trimmed to 43-38 with 3:24 left in the third quarter. A couple of turnovers led to quick transition baskets for Pella and the Lady Dutch extend their lead to 51-38.

Back came the Cardinals. Rhoads downed two foul shots then pulled down a defensive rebound, drove to just outside the 3-point arc, spotted up and drilled a trey. Going into the fourth quarter, Newton trailed 52-43.

The Lady Dutch appeared to pull away for good in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter taking a 58-45 lead. Not so.

Jenkins nailed a 3-pointer followed by a steal by Rhoads leading to a fastbreak bucket by Rausch. Rausch was fouled, missed the free throw but Reynolds gathered in the rebound to score. The Cardinals cashed in a steal by Rausch with a follow shot by Hutchinson.

Newton was within four points, 58-54, with four minutes remaining in the game. Holterhaus scored on an offensive rebound for Pella. Jenkins answered with a trey. Newton was behind 64-58 and turned the ball over.

Rhoads swiped it right back and scored. Sharp took one of his last two timeouts. He said bench players Taylor Moon and Taylor Shipley went in at the end of the game to execute what he wanted to force Pella to put the ball in hands of the player Newton wanted it to be in so the Cardinals could foul.

Newton had fouls to give to get to seven so the Lady Dutch had to go to the line for a one-and-one. Annika Pingel missed at the line and Newton got the rebound to set up Jenkins’ final 3-pointer. Sharp called his final timeout with 28 seconds on the clock.

“We kept battling back one stop at a time. Every one contributed tonight. There’s no secret formula for us — take care of the ball, get a shot on offense and hold them to one shot on defense. That was the formula the second half,” Sharp said. ‘Pella has these spurts offensively from six points to 20 points, and tonight, we did a nice job of containing their spurts.”

Unofficially, the Cardinals shot 46 percent, 23-of-50, from the field and the Lady Dutch we’re 23-of-41 for 56 percent. Each team ended up with eight 3-pointers. Pella hit 12-of-18 free throw attempts to Newton’s 9-of-16.

“Our girls played so well tonight. They had each other’s back, which feels like we’re back where we were earlier in the season. It is where we need to be and can be as we head into the playoffs,” Sharp said. “Ellie Horn had her best game of the season.”

Jenkins led all scorers with 23 points and Rhoads added 13 points. Pella (18-2, 10- 1 LHC) got 22 points from Vander Molen and 11 from Bradley.

Newton goes into its final regular-season game Friday with a 10-10 mark. The Cardinals are 4-7 in Little Hawkeye Conference play and host Norwalk in a conference contest for Senior Night.

The Cardinals could face Pella one more time if they win their opening round home game in the Class 4A Region 7 tournament Feb. 17 against Bondurant-Farrar. The winner goes to Pella in the semifinals Feb. 20.

Newton’s junior varsity beat Pella, 44-38, Tuesday. Taylor Ryan paced the Cardinals with 15 points and Ali Bestell added eight.

Pella  22-17-13-14—66

Newton  16-11-16-20—63

Newton (FG/3-pt): Jenkins 1/6-3-3-23, Moon 0-0-1-0, Rausch 2/1-1-4-8, Hutchinson 3-2-3-8, Reynolds 4-0-0-8, Shipley 0-0-1-0, Jacobsen 0-0-1-0, Horn 1-1-2-3-4, Rhoads 4/1-2-0-13. TOTALS: 15/8-9-15-63.

Pella (FG/3-pt): Canfield 0-0-1-0, Pingel 3-0-1-6, Bradley 3/1-2-2-11, Buchheit 0/2-0-2-6, Lambert 1/1-0-0-5, Vander Molen 5/2-6-4-22, Van Vliet 1/2-1-0-9, Holterhaus 2-3-2-7. TOTALS: 15/8-12-12-66.

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