Newton boys knock off 3A No. 2 Pella, girls lose to 4A No. 4 Pella; Area Prep Basketball Roundup

On the road Friday night, Newton High’s boys knock off Class 3A No. 2 Pella while the Newton girls lose to 4A No. 4 Pella. In Heart of Iowa Conference play, Prairie City-Monroe’s teams lose to Nevada and Collins-Maxwell/Baxter’s teams split a twin bill at South Hamilton. The South Iowa Cedar League girls’ teams played cross-over games Friday with Lynnville-Sully losing and Colfax-Mingo winning.

Newton boys 68, 3A No. 2 Pella boys 45

PELLA — Connor Gholson and Morgan Maher set the tone quickly for Newton High’s boys as Gholson drained a 3-pointer to open the game and Maher and back-to-back baskets inside. The Class 3A second-ranked Pella Little Dutch didn’t know what hit them, trailing 14-1 at one point.

Newton’s Cardinals cruised to a resounding 68-45 road victory in Little Hawkeye Conference play Friday night. When the two teams met earlier this season in Newton, Pella escaped with an 84-83 win in overtime.

“The Little Hawkeye Conference has made us the team we are right now. It is one of the toughest conferences in the state with very good players and very good coaches,” Newton head coach Bill Liley said. “We’ve made adjustments to our game to play with and to beat the teams in this conference.”

Liley pointed to not just how well his players played offensively, but the defensive effort the Cardinals had Friday against the top-rated offensive team in Class 3A. Newton held Pella to four points in the first quarter.

The Little Dutch made a run at the Cardinals in the second quarter to pull within four points, 25-21, by halftime. Then came the third quarter where Gholson, Garrett Sturtz and Trey Vanderlaan lit it up from long range combining for seven 3-pointers.

Newton outscored Pella 28-9 to lead 53-30 heading into the fourth quarter. There was no letting up by the Cardinals. Sturtz and Josh Ventling had baskets with a trey in between by Vanderlaan to open the final period and lead Pella 60-30.

The Cardinals are on a six-game winning streak to improve to 13-4 overall. They are 8-4 in LHC action. They handed Pella is second loss of the season, 16-2, and second loss in conference play, 10-2.

Sturtz, a junior, fired in 24 points for Newton plus had six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Seniors Gholson and Vanderlaan finished with 20 points and 14 points, respectively. Ventling, another senior, dished out four assists, and Maher, a senior, took two charges.

Ryan VanWyk scored 12 points and Nick Finney had 11 points for Pella. The Little Dutch played without senior Drew Pringle, who was sidelined with an ankle injury.

“Our kids played a great basketball game right from the beginning. The effort they had from the start was phenomenal. We played tough defensively and took charge of the game. We were physical which was huge for what we wanted to do defensively and rebounding,” Liley said.

Newton is back on the LHC road Tuesday playing a 7:30 p.m. game at Norwalk.

4A No. 4 Pella girls 65, Newton girls 42

PELLA — Newton High’s girls lost to Class 4A No. 4 Pella by 23 points Friday night, but even the Lady Dutch would agree the Cardinals are not an easy-out for opponents.

After Pella opened an 8-0 lead, the Cardinals got things going offensively with a 3-pointers by seniors Courtney Jacobsen and Ryanne Rausch and junior Randi Walters to make it 13-9. A basket by junior Ali Bestell made it 19-13 at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Dutch maintained their lead in the Little Hawkeye Conference game with a 10-7 scoring edge in the second quarter. Newton trailed by nine, 29-20, at halftime.

Pella stretched things out in the third period on a 20-10 run. Newton continued to battle, but could not overcome a 19-point deficit.

“Our girls gave another good effort tonight. We only had 13 turnovers, but they came in groups and not spread out throughout the game,” Newton head coach Brandon Sharp said. “We did a good job on Emily Holterhaus. We didn’t have an answer for the Bradley girl.”

Holterhaus scored eight points, but Kiara Buchheit fired in 22 points for Pella. Katie VanderMolen addd 13 points.

Newton was led by Rausch with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Bestell scored 11 points and pulled down five rebounds. Walters dished out four assists. Senior Ellie Horn blocked four shots.

“We move on to Norwalk on Tuesday,” Sharp said.

Newton falls to 3-9 in LHC play and 6-13 overall. The Cardinals play at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at Norwalk in conference action.

Sigourney girls 51, 1A No. 11 Lynnville-Sully girls 45

SULLY — It was an off night for Class 1A 11th-ranked Lynnville-Sully’s girls. In the final regular-season game at home was a South Iowa Cedar League conference cross-over contest.

SICL East Division winner Sigourney had a big second half to trip up the Hawks 51-45 Friday night. It was only the second loss of the season for the Hawks, who won the SICL West and the 2017 SICL conference title.

“We stood around too much on defense, letting Sigourney cut anyway they wanted,” Lynnville-Sully Jerry Hulsing said. “Our communication wasn’t very good. We didn’t move the ball well on offense, so we didn’t get their zone to shift so we were not able to attack gaps.”

Brenna Lanser scored 21 points for the Hawks. Carson Fisk had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Lynnville-Sully went 16-of-22 from the free-throw line.

Sigourney got 16 points from Autumn Barthelman, 11 points from Anna Ohland and 10 points from Summer Barthelman. The Savages were 16-of-32 from the line.

Lynnville-Sully (19-2) prepares for Class 1A Region 5 play. The Hawks will host the winner of Thursday’s Tri-County vs. English Valleys game at 7 p.m. on Feb. 14 in Sully.

Colfax-Mingo girls 61, Iowa Valley 42

COLFAX — The Colfax-Mingo girls basketball team played well in spurts during several games this season, but coach Larry Roberts was waiting for his Tigerhawk squad to put together solid play for an entire game.

That came Friday night during the South Iowa Cedar League Cross-Over game against Iowa Valley.

The Tigerhawks had lots of energy and effort on the defensive end of the floor and crisp passing and quick ball movement at the other end gave them good looks at the hoop.

Sophomore Payton Rhone buried all four of her 3-pointers in the second quarter to give Colfax-Mingo a big halftime lead and the home team never trailed again, winning 61-42.

Rhone scored all 14 of her points during a 23-point second quarter. Junior Ries Wilson tallied 11 points and 14 rebounds, and junior McKeely Tjaden put in 12 of her game-high 16 points in the second half to preserve the lead.

"It felt good. We were a lot more aggressive tonight and played well as a team," Wilson said. "We wanted to finally put on a good show for the fans."

In the first meeting, Iowa Valley out-rebounded the Tigerhawks 34-25 and won by eight in Marengo. Friday, Colfax-Mingo, which snapped a three-game losing streak, flipped the script on the boards with Wilson leading the way. Senior Dakota Hostetter grabbed nine rebounds, while senior Amy Russell and sophomore Mackensie Brown each had six boards.

"They killed us on the boards in the first game this season," Colfax-Mingo coach Larry Roberts said. "We gave up way too many second-chance points. We told them if we controlled the boards tonight we'd have a chance. They deserve a game like that for what they've been through this year. I am happy for them."

Colfax-Mingo (5-15) scored the final four points of the first quarter to take an 11-8 lead after eight minutes. Then Rhone caught fire from outside.

Rhone buried three 3-pointers on three consecutive Tigerhawk possessions to put C-M up 20-10, and then Wilson nailed one from long range.

Rhone's fourth 3-pointer put the Tigerhawks up 28-12 and Colfax-Mingo led 34-19 at halftime. The home team outscored Iowa Valley 23-11 in the second.

"I was proud of their effort tonight at both ends," Roberts said. "This was our best game all season."

Iowa Valley (10-11) rallied to get its deficit to single digits in the third quarter, but Tjaden converted a 3-point play and then drained two free throws on the next possession to keep the Tigerhawks' advantage at 11 after three.

Junior Cherrise Ward, Iowa Valley's leading scorer, cut the Tigers' deficit to nine early in the fourth before Wilson's back-to-back buckets extended the lead back to 13.

The Tigerhawks, who came into then game with losses in five of their last six games, held off the Tigers in the fourth following two buckets by Tjaden, a 3-point play from Russell and baskets by Wilson and sophomore Camilla Schlosser.

"They have been playing really well. We knew they would make a run somewhere," Roberts said. "They did that but we responded."

Russell, Brown and Hostetter all scored six points for the Tigerhawks. Russell and Wilson each dished out six assists, Russell collected three steals and Hostetter blocked two shots.

Iowa Valley, which won two straight and five of its last six coming into the game, was led by Ward's 11 points. Freshman Taylor Smith put in 10 points.

CMB girls 49, South Hamilton 32

JEWELL — Five players scored at least six points, and the Collins-Maxwell/Baxter girls basketball team grabbed an early lead over South Hamilton and was never challenged in a 49-32 road win during Heart of Iowa Conference play Friday night.

Junior Brianda Bane scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while senior Mikayla Eslinger added six points and six rebounds and junior Sailor Hinegardner chipped in seven points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists to lead CMB (10-11 overall, 8-8 in the HOIC).

Sophomore Josie Wierson scored a career-high six points and grabbed three boards, sophomore Sydney Schmidt grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and senior Emily Coughenour dished out four assists. Senior Kathleen Baldwin pulled down five rebounds, sophomore Gracie Cheville scored six points and senior Heather Jessen put in four points.

CMB led 18-6 after one quarter and the lead grew to 36-15 at halftime.

South Hamilton (2-17, 1-14) lost its third straight game.

Class 4A No. 2 Nevada girls 52, Class 3A No. 15 PCM 46

NEVADA — The Mustangs held around one of the best teams in the entire state Friday night on the road during Heart of Iowa Conference play.

PCM trailed by one at halftime but fell too far behind in the third quarter to pull off the upset. The Mustangs outscored the Cubs by four points in the fourth, but it wasn't enough to complete the rally.

Nevada (18-1 overall, 15-0 in the HOIC) won its 18th straight game and clinched its fourth straight HOIC title.

PCM (16-4, 13-2) has a one game lead over North Polk for second with one game against the Comets to play. The Mustangs' four losses this season have come to ranked teams.

"I was super proud of the girls tonight," PCM coach Jeff Lindsay said. "They did a great job."

Freshman Regan Freland scored a team-high 13 points and had three assists, while senior Kayla Jennings added eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Senior Rachel Stafford scored seven points and grabbed four boards, senior Kaylee Townsend scored seven points and senior Katie Vande Wall grabbed five rebounds.

"I was happy with the effort," Lindsay said. "We wanted to hang around and give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter, and we did that. We got some good looks, but (Nevada) just had too many easy points inside."

Nevada junior Lexy Koudelka scored 21 points to lead Nevada, while Izzy Kaputska scored 13 and Hattie Rhoads chipped in 11. The rest of the Cubs' combined to score seven points.

Nevada outscored PCM 16-7 in the third quarter. That was enough to hold off PCM's shot at the upset.

"They took away things that were working for us in the first half," Lindsay said. "We adjusted to their adjustment and gave ourselves a fighter's chance."

Nevada boys 66, PCM 50

NEVADA — The Mustangs couldn't maintain momentum after a solid first quarter during a 66-50 loss to Nevada during Heart of Iowa Conference play Friday night.

PCM led 16-12 after one quarter but was outscored 23-8 in the second frame and never recovered.

Junior Jackson Thomas scored 16 points to lead the way for PCM, which dropped a fifth straight game. The Mustangs are now 9-9 overall and 8-6 in HOIC play.

Sophomore Andrew Van Ryswyk scored eight points, while senior Mark Bruxvoort added seven points.

Nevada (13-6, 10-4) got 17 points from Trent Stahl and 12 points from Tyler Sansgaard.

South Hamilton boys 82, CMB 36

JEWELL — Sophomore Will Clapper scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds, but the Raiders couldn't overcome two bad quarters in which they were outscored 56-16.

CMB is now 4-14 overall and 3-11 in Heart of Iowa Conference play. South Hamilton remained on top of the HOIC with a third straight win. The Hawks are now 16-2 overall and 11-2 in conference play.

South Hamilton got 27 points from Collin Hill, 16 points, six assists and seven rebounds from Marco Balderas and 10 points from Logan Peters.

The Raiders were outscored 28-7 in the first quarter and 28-9 in the third.