Cardinals push No. 1 Trojans to brink in state loss

DES MOINES — When Newton High’s Cardinals and Iowa City West’s Trojans stepped on the Wells Fargo Arena basketball court Wednesday afternoon, there were no records, no rankings, no seedings. Each team came into the 2017 Iowa Class 4A Boys’ State Tournament even — 0-0.

The Cardinals proved they indeed belonged in the 4A state tournament, going toe-to-toe with the Trojans. Newton led at halftime, 30-28, and after three quarters. 45-43.

With the game’s outcome still hanging in the balance, Newton senior Connor Gholson hit a jumper to make it 52-51 with 41 seconds left to play. The Trojans sealed the victory by hitting 5-of-8 free throws and grabbing two defensive and one big offensive rebound in the final 40 seconds.

Top-ranked and top-seeded Iowa City West escaped with a 57-51 quarterfinal victory. The Trojans advance to the state semifinals against Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Friday.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy beat Dubuque Hempstead 55-47 in Wednesday’s opening round. Sioux City East got past Bettendorff 61-53 and defending 4A champion Valley edged out Des Moines North 57-55 in the other two quarterfinal games.

Newton was seeded No. 8 in the tournament and made its first appearance at the state tournament in 25 years. The Cardinals (19-6) concluded its best season since the 1964 state championship team went 23-3 in front of one of the biggest “home” crowds at the state tournament.

“The fans were a big part of us not being intimidated in playing in our first state tournament,” Gholson said after the game. “Walking out of that tunnel and seeing a sea of black and red, white and gray, it was crazy how loud it was out there. Coach (Liley) telling us we could do this. We weren’t playing against the name on the front of the jerseys. We were playing other basketball players just like us.”

Newton head coach Bill Liley said the large Newton crowd meant everything. He said the town of Newton was excited about basketball and described people lining the street as the team bus left Newton for Des Moines Wednesday morning.

“It was amazing to see,” Liley said. “On behalf of Newton High School and the community of Newton, we are very honored to represent them. I’m proud of my team because they gave all they had today. They did not flinch at all dealing with a great opponent today.”

It was not a game many would expect between the No. 1 seed and No. 8 seed. It was a game which was tied seven times — four times in the third quarter — and had 10 lead changes.

The Trojans bounced out to a 5-0 lead. Newton junior Garrett Sturtz got the Cardinals on the scoreboard with a basket at the 6:46 mark. Sturtz’s second basket was followed by a 3-pointer from Gholson to put Newton up 7-6.

Iowa City West’s Connor McCaffery responded with a trey of his own. Sturtz, who had nine of the Cardinals’ 14 first-quarter points, tied then made a steal and was fouled, hitting one of two free throws.

The Trojans scored six unanswered points, four coming on a 4-point play — a trey and a free throw — by Devontae Lane. Newton trailed 19-14 at the end of the first quarter.

“As a team we got down a little, but we stuck to it. Our coaches kept telling us to keep going, keep going,” Newton senior Trey Vanderlaan said. “We hit a couple of shots and kept going. At the end it was close, but the outcome was not what we wanted. We put up a great fight.”

Gholson opened the second period with a jump shot. The Cardinals held the Trojans to nine points in the next eight minutes — three 3-pointers. Gholson, Sturtz and Vanderlaan had baskets for Newton, but the Cardinals trailed by three.

The Trojan lead expanded to six on a 3-pointer from Connor McCaffery at the 3:59 mark. The Cardinals reeled off an 8-0 run to end the first half. Gholson scored then Vanderlaan drained a 3-pointer.

Sturtz ended up on the free-throw line after a steal when he was fouled by Patrick McCaffery. He sank one of two tosses to tie the game a 28-28 with 1:14 left. The last points of the second quarter came on a drive to the basket by Gholson just before the buzzer, lifting Newton to a 30-28 halftime lead.

“It was obvious who we were playing and we accepted that. Coach did a good job of giving us a game plan,” Sturtz said. “We stuck to it. We knew if we kept grinding away, we could play with these guys. We were up for the challenge, but it didn’t come out the way we wanted.”

Following a turnover by the Trojans to start the third quarter, Sturtz put the Cardinals up 32-28 on two free throws. Iowa City West came back with a basket by Connor McCaffery and a 3-point play by Hakeem Odunsi.

Gholson drilled two 3-pointers in a minute stretch to put Newton up 38-36. He had a 3-point play at the 3:38 mark to break another tie. A tip-in by the Trojans’ Seybian Sims and a free throw by Connor McCaffery knotted the game at 41-all.

Gholson and Lane traded baskets. With six seconds showing on the clock, Sturtz delivered two free throws to give Newton a 45-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Scoring was a premium in the fourth quarter. Two free throws by Connor McCaffery, who was 6-of-10 at the line, tied the game at 45-45 with 7:24 left. It stayed tied for three minutes.

A putback by Lane and a basket by Connor McCaffery — each finished with 18 points — came two minutes apart. The Trojans led 49-45 with 2:25 left in the game and did not have another field goal the rest of the contest.

Iowa City West cashed in on 19-of-28 free throw attempts in the game. The Trojans went 8-of-14 down the stretch to keep the Cardinals from catching up.

“They made some adjustments defensively, which made it a little tougher for us to execute and get the ball where we wanted,” Liley said. “That’s a really good basketball team and they are well coached. We countered well, but missed a couple easy shots. They got the upper hand, went to their spread delay game, made free throws and got separation down the stretch.”

Gholson had a game-high 24 points for Newton and had five rebounds. Sturtz finished with 20 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and blocked three shots. Maher dished out three assists and claimed six rebounds.

The Cardinals shot 50 percent, 20-of-40, overall from the field. They were 7-of-10 at line. The Trojans shot 47 percent, 16-of-34, from the field.

Iowa City West connected on 6-of-14 3-point field goal attempts and all came in the first half. Newton was 4-of-10 from behind the 3-point arc.

Each team had 10 turnovers. Iowa City West had a 24-20 rebounding edge over Newton.

Newton was one of four teams out of the Little Hawkeye Conference to reach the state tournaments — Pella Christian in Class 2A, Pella and Dallas Center-Grimes in Class 3A. Pella Christian advanced to the 2A semifinals. Pella and Dallas Center-Grimes lost out in the opening round of the 3A tournament.

“We play in the best conference in the state of Iowa. In the Little Hawkeye Conference, we get tested every night we play. The coaches in the conference are phenomenal, and it has been a two-year coaching clinic for me. I’ve learned a lot from those guys. We’re sitting here because of the competition we have in our conference,” Liley said.

Four senior starters — Gholson, Vanderlaan, Maher and Josh Ventling — played their final game for Newton High on Wednesday. Liley said the seniors did whatever was asked of them in order to turn the NHS program into one on the rise and to prove the Cardinals as a worthy opponent.

“What these young men did for Newton basketball and Newton as a community, well, there are not enough thank yous for what they did,” Liley said. “Garrett returns next year as one of the best players in the state of Iowa. We had a lot of younger boys here watching these guys play today which means they’ll be out shooting basketballs and dreaming of being back here at Wells Fargo Arena for Newton someday.”

Newton 14-16-15-6—51

Iowa City West 19-9-15-14—57

Newton (FG/3-pt); Sturtz 7-6-3-20, Gholson 7/3-1-1-24, Vanderlaan 1/1-0-2-5, Ventling 0-0-5-0, Maher 1-0-5-2, Graham 0-0-4-0. TOTALS: 16/4-7-20-51.

Iowa City West (FG/3-pt): Lane 3/2-6-3-18, Disterhoft 0-1-0-1, P. McCaffery 0-3-5-3, C. McCaffery 3/2-6-2-18, Ono-Fullard 0/2-1-0-7, Sims 2-0-0-4, Odunsi 2-2-2-6. TOTALS: 10/6-19-12-57.

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