March 18, 2024

No. 12 Boone defeats Cardinal girls

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A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Randi Walters to end the first quarter and a 3-pointer from Ryanne Rausch to open the second period had Newton High’s Cardinal girls tied with Class 4A No. 12 Boone Tuesday night.

A putback shot by Ellie Horn and a free throw on the next trip by Horn pushed the hosting Cardinals to a 21-18 lead. Horn drew a third foul against Boone’s post player Claire Sandvig with 5:05 left in the second quarter, and Sandvig went to the Toreador bench.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals weren’t able to take advantage, trailing 31-25 at halftime. Courtney Jacobsen’s trey to open the third quarter pulled the Cardinals with within three again, 31-28, but that was as close as they got.

The Toreadors used a 15-5 run in the third quarter to pull away from Newton. Boone won the non-conference contest, 59-40.

“This game was closer than the final score indicates. We’re right there against these ranked teams,” Newton head coach Brandon Sharp said. “It’s about putting a full game mentally together. We sustained things for 11 minutes then dropped it, but couldn’t get back to that focus quick enough. Boone took advantage of that.”

Sharp said the way the Cardinal post players — Horn and Ali Bestell — have been playing over a five-to-six game stretch, they are going to draw fouls on opponents when the Cardinals get the ball inside. He said Newton had success going inside in the first half Tuesday night against Boone.

“We went away from that in the second half. You can’t settle offensively against a team like Boone. Boone is a very disciplined team offensively. They do what they do and do it very well,” Sharp said.

A factor in the game came at the free-throw line as the Cardinals hit just 7-of-17 foul shots. The Toreadors downed 16-of-26 attempts at the line. Boone outrebounded Newton, 33-25, and some of those were key offensive rebounds which Boone scored on.

Boone had a 9-4 lead when Rausch scored to keep the Cardinals going forward against the Toreadors. It was 18-12 when Walters’ drained the first-quarter buzzer-beater for three.

Newton went on the 6-0 run to open the second period which was answered with a 5-0 surge by Boone to take a 23-21 lead. Taylor Shipley hit both attempts on an one-and-one from the line to tie the game and the teams traded baskets.

Boone scored the final six points of the first half to grab a 31-25 lead at the break.

Walters, who had two assists in the game, found Jacobsen on a long pass and Jacobsen buried a 3-pointer to start the third quarter.

The Cardinals were held to just one more basket in the period as Boone — with Sandvig on the bench with four fouls — stretched its lead to 46-30 by the end of the third quarter.

A trey by Jacobsen combined with a basket by Shipley and a free throw by Bestell made it 48-36 at the 4:45 mark of the fourth period. Boone worked time off the clock each offensive possession, scoring from the field or the free-throw line down the stretch.

“We just didn’t weather the storm tonight,” Sharp said as Newton dropped to 5-8 on the season. “To turn the corner? We need to get a signature win, and I’m confident this group will get one. I’m not sure we’ll get it in this three-game stretch against Indianola, Dallas Center-Grimes and Grinnell (all ranked teams), but it’s coming.”

Newton is 2-5 in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The Cardinals start the second round at 6:15 p.m. Friday at home against Class 5A top-ranked and undefeated Indianola.

On Tuesday, Walters led the Cardinals with 14 points against Boone. Rausch added nine points, four rebounds and two assists. Horn controlled 10 rebounds and Shipley and five rebounds. Jacobsen dished out two assists.

Boone (11-3) had four players score in double figures led by Caitlynnne Shadle with 16 points. Emma Rouse and Sandvig each scored 11 points and Laura Anderson had 10 points.

Newton won the junior varsity game, 55-32, after leading 24-16 at halftime. Abbie Barr topped the Newton scoring list with 15 points. Addy Blom tossed in nine points and Peyton Maher had eight.

Mackenzie Baker and Emily Valtman each scored six points for the Cardinals. Lakin Jenkins had four followed by Anna Coyle with three points. Harlie Durr and Maddison Thayer had two points each.

In the freshman game, Newton and Boone were tied 9-9 at halftime, but Boone won 22-15.

Liz Whitten had seven points and four rebounds for Newton. Priscila Amador and Kameron Nehring had three points each and Kameron Johnston had two points. Nehring had five steals and Courtney Dawson grabbed five rebounds.

Boone 18-13-15-13—59

Newton 15-10-5-10—40

Newton (FG/3-pt): Rausch 3/1-0-3-9, Forsyth 0-0-1-0, Walters 3/2-2-2-14, Marvelli 0-0-1-0, Shipley 1-3-4-5, Jacobsen 0/2-0-0-6, Horn 2-1-3-5, Bestell 0-1-4-1. TOTALS: 9/5-7-18-40.

Boone (FG/3-pt): Danner 1/1-1-2-6, Shadle 5/1-3-3-16, Rouse 3-5-1-11, Graham 0-2-0-2, Calkins 0/1-0-1-3, Anderson 5-0-3-10, Sandvig 3-5-4-11. TOTALS: 17/3-16-14-59.

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