March 29, 2024

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

Newton High’s basketball teams split a Little Hawkeye Conference twin bill on the road Friday. Colfax-Mingo and Lynnville-Sully had doubleheader sweeps at home in South Iowa Cedar League play. Prairie City-Monroe’s girls won, the boys lost at home in Heart of Iowa Conference action. Baxter lost a Iowa Star twin bill at home.

Newton boys 53, Grinnell boys 51

GRINNELL — A winless team is alway dangerous, especially on its home court. Newton High’s Cardinal boys found that out on Friday against the Grinnell Tigers.

The Cardinals escaped with a 53-51 win over the Tigers in Little Hawkeye Conference action at Grinnell. The game was close throughout right to the final buzzer.

Senior point guard Garrett Sturtz ripped the nets for 37 points in guiding the Cardinals to the road win. Sophomore Kyle Long and senior Grant Garvis drilled crucial 3-pointers in the fourth quarter when the Tigers pulled to within one point — 37-36 and 40-39.

Sturtz and sophomore Quintrail Coley had back-to-back baskets and Sturtz hit both ends of a one-and-one to put Newton up 49-41 with less than three minutes remaining the game. The Tigers didn’t back down with 3’s by Jayden Gibson and Cole McGriff to offset two free throws by Sturtz.

It was 51-49 with 8.6 seconds on the game clock. The Tigers fouled Sturtz, who sank two free throws to seal the win. Jake Hull got a basket for Grinnell at the end.

Newton opened a 17-10 lead by the end of the first quarter on a trey by Garvis at the buzzer. The teams combined for four consecutive 3-pointers to begin the second period. Newton held on for a 29-25 halftime lead.

Scoring slowed a bit coming out of the break as the Cardinals tossed in six points, all by Sturtz, and the Tigers got seven points from Hull. Newton headed into the fourth quarter leading 35-32.

Ethan Mitchell, who fouled out late in the fourth quarter, led the Tigers with 15 points. Hull had 14 points for Grinnell (0-6, 0-3).

Newton improved to 2-1 — the loss to a ranked Dallas-Center Grimes team — in LHC play and 4-1 overall. The Cardinals host Class 3A No. 5 Oskaloosa (7-0, 3-0) on Tuesday. Oskaloosa upended DCG 56-49 on Friday night.

Newton won the junior varsity game at Grinnell, 48-39. Logan Schilling scored 26 points for Newton.

4A No. 4 Grinnell girls 76, Newton girls 40

GRINNELL — It was close early then it wasn’t. Newton High’s Cardinals just wasn’t able to hold back the Class 4A fourth-ranked Grinnell Tigers in Friday’s Little Hawkeye Conference game at Grinnell.

It was 5-5 then Grinnell had a five-point run to launch the Tigers on a 23-3 surge spanning from the first quarter to the second period. The Tigers outscored the Cardinals 31-12 in the second period en route a 76-40 win.

Newton could not stand up to the Tiger full-court pressure. The Cardinals turned the ball over 24 times in the game. They trailed 18-8 after one quarter and fell behind 49-20 by halftime.

The Tigers ripped open a 63-27 lead to trigger the continuous clock in the third quarter. They led 63-36 after three quarters.

Newton got 14 points from senior guard Randi Walters. Senior Anna Forsyth had three assists. Senior Ali Bestell and junior Peyton Maher each handled four rebounds.

Grinnell senior Kameron Moore poured in 23 points and junior Macy Harris added 21 points. The Tigers held a 32-25 rebounding edge.

Newton slips to 0-3 in LHC conference play, losing all three to ranked teams. The Cardinals (2-5) finish their first semester of action at home Tuesday against Oskaloosa (0-6, 0-3), which lost 81-7 to Dallas Center-Grimes on Friday in LHC action.

Lynnville-Sully girls, boys win in runaways

SULLY — Lynnville-Sully’s basketball teams put Friday’s home games out of reach of the visiting Keota squads in South Iowa Cedar League play. The Hawk girls rolled to a 58-20 win followed by the Hawk boys powering past the Eagle boys, 79-50.

Lynnville-Sully’s boys (6-1) remain undefeated (6-0) in SICL play with the win. They led 43-18 at halftime, stretching their advantage over Keota to 67-30 early in the fourth period.

“The guys did a great job of executing the game plan,” Hawk boys’ head coach Nick Harthoorn said. “It was fun to watch the boys work together to slow up a good offensive team. Our ball movement continues to improve and our offensive rebound was excellent. It was a good win for the Hawks.”

Senior Jesse Van Wyk and junior Rylan James each had a double-double to lead the Hawks. James had 24 points and 15 rebounds while Van Wyk scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds. Van Wyk dished out four assists and blocked three shots. James blocked two shots.

Senior Tanner Foster added 13 points for Lynnville-Sully. Brevin Hansen, another senior, had six assists.

Lynnville-Sully’s boys shot 47 percent from the field and cashed in on 16-of-22 free throw attempts. The Eagle boys were held to 30 percent field goal shooting. They hit 12-of-18 at the free-throw line.

Keota’s boys were led by Luke Griener with 14 points. Hunter Wilson scored 11 and JD Stout had 10 points.

Lynnville-Sully’s girls had no let up in the second quarter like they had in Tuesday’s home win. The Hawks bolted to a 22-3 first-quarter lead and kept going for a 42-7 halftime lead over Keota.

With the victory, the Hawk girls are 7-2 overall and 5-2 in SICL play.

“The girls did a better job of focusing in on the details of the game and working to take away what Keota was trying to do on the defensive end and we rebounded the ball well,” Hawk girls’ head coach Jerry Hulsing said. “On offense, we did a good job of seeing the open areas or girls which led to some good shots. Our execution was better tonight.”

No Hawk girls scored in double figures but two had nine points and three each had eight points. Senior Jataya Meyer and junior Shiloh Cunningham each had nine points. Meyer had five rebounds and two steals.

Lynnville-Sully shot 53 percent from the field to Keota’s 22 percent. The Hawk girls held a 30-16 rebounding edge over the Eagles.

Addison Sprouse scored seven points and Jillian Schulte had six points for Keota.

Lynnville-Sully’s teams are at Sigourney on Tuesday in conference action.

PCM girls 51, South Hamilton girls 33

MONROE — With 4:05 to play in the first half, the Prairie City-Monroe girls basketball team trailed South Hamilton by a point.

Then, the Mustangs' top two scorers went to work.

Sophomore Regan Freland and freshman Lilli Baird triggered a 19-0 run that spanned the end of the second quarter and the start of the third, and that spurt was more than enough to push the home team to a 51-33 victory during Heart of Iowa Conference action Friday night.

Baird started an 11-0 run that ended the second frame with a layup and then Freland scored the next nine on two 3-point plays and a 3-pointer.

The Mustangs (4-4 overall, 3-2 in the HOIC) led 26-13 at halftime and scored the first eight points of the second half to put the game away. Baird opened the half with back-to-back 3-pointers and then Freland end the 8-0 spurt with a jumper.

The returning sophomore all-stater added a 3-pointer and a layup later in the quarter as the Mustangs doubled up the Hawks 42-21 after three quarters. They would go on to win by 18.

Only four Mustangs scored in the game. Freland finished with a game-high 24 points and added six assists, four rebounds and three steals.

Baird added a career-high 19 points on five 3-pointers and three steals. The freshman came into the game averaging eight points per game.

Juniors Morgan Uhlenhopp and Sloan Hjortshoj were the other two Mustangs to crack the scoring column. Uhlenhopp finished with five points and six rebounds, and Hjortshoj chipped in three points and six boards.

Junior Camryn Wignall had three assists and two steals, and junior Mack Bussan grabbed four rebounds off the bench.

PCM buried eight 3-pointers in the win and collected 13 steals.

South Hamilton (2-6, 1-4) was led by Sydney Friest's 11 points. Rylee Woodall put in seven. Seven Hawks scored but three only had two points each.

South Hamilton boys 70, PCM boys 68, overtime

MONROE — The Mustangs rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but Class 2A No. 6 South Hamilton stayed unbeaten with a 70-68 overtime win during HOIC action Friday night.

The Mustangs trailed by 10 with 5:16 to go and were down 58-51 with 1:48 to play before forcing overtime.

South Hamilton led by four with 46.5 seconds to go in the extra session, but PCM junior Reed Worth made it a two-point game with 33.5 to play.

The Hawks turned the ball over on an inbounds pass, and PCM had the final shot with 23 seconds on the clock. South Hamilton's strong defense forced Worth into a tough 3-pointer that fell short inside of 10 seconds. Sophomore Derek Brown got the offensive rebound, but his contested game-tying attempt in traffic at the buzzer was long.

South Hamilton improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the HOIC. PCM fell to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play.

PCM led 12-10 after one quarter and the game was tied at 23-all at halftime. But the fouls were mounting for PCM.

With the Mustangs dealing with major foul trouble, South Hamilton took a 44-37 lead into the fourth quarter. PCM rallied late in the game without the services of senior Jackson Thomas and junior Andrew Van Ryswyk, who both fouled out.

The Mustangs also played most of the fourth quarter and overtime with four reserves on the floor.

Sophomore Jason Stafford, who finished with 12 points off the bench, hit a 3-pointer with 1:11 left in regulation to pull the Mustangs to within four.

Then junior Elijah Sperfslage took over. He returned to the floor with four fouls with less than 2 minutes to play. He scored twice inside the lane to keep the Mustangs within one possession and then buried a game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left on the clock.

South Hamilton called timeout with 4 seconds to play, but PCM blocked the attempted game-winner to force overtime.

PCM missed two free throws in overtime and junior Isaac Telfer was called for traveling inside the lane with his team trailing by two with less than 2 minutes to go. The Mustangs committed 15 turnovers in the game.

South Hamilton and PCM both made 23 shots from the floor. The Hawks had seven more 2-pointers and PCM hit eight more shots from long range. The difference came at the free-throw line where the Hawks were 25-of-35 and PCM finished 13-of-22. The Mustangs were called for 11 more fouls.

Sperfslage finished with a team-high 16 points and six rebounds for PCM. Worth added 13 points, four assists and four steals and Stafford was the only other Mustang in double-figures with 12.

Van Ryswyk finished with eight rebounds in limited action, Brown scored seven points off the bench and Telfer delivered five assists off the bench.

Cole Berg came into the game averaging 9.2 points per game but scored a game-high and career-high 22. Conner Hill put in 16 points and Logan Peters added 14 for the Hawks.

Colfax-Mingo girls 53, English Valleys girls 44

COLFAX — Junior Payton Rhone buried six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points to lead the Colfax-Mingo girls basketball team to a 53-44 home win over English Valleys during South Iowa Cedar League action on Friday night.

The Tigerhawks ended a two-game losing streak with a big second quarter that gave them a 30-21 lead at halftime. Colfax-Mingo trailed by two after one but outscored the Bears 20-9 in the second.

Junior Mac Brown added 10 points for the Tigerhawks, who improved to 3-5 overall and 3-3 in the SICL. Junior Camilila Schlosser chipped in six points and senior McKeely Tjaden scored five.

Colfax-Mingo had a 14-point advantage at the free-throw line. The Tigerhawks made 16-of-29 at the line, while English Valleys was just 2-of-8.

Audrey Grove scored 15 points for the Bears, but picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter.

Colfax-Mingo boys 72, English Valleys boys 15

COLFAX — The Tigerhawks won their fourth straight game behind 30 points and 15 rebounds from senior Jarod Nichols.

Two other players scored in double-figures, and the Tigerhawks collected 20 steals in a 72-15 win over English Valleys during South Iowa Cedar League action Friday night.

Colfax-Mingo led 21-5 after one, 43-9 at halftime and then outscored the Bears 23-0 in the third quarter.

Senior Jonathan Jacobs put in 13 points, dished out seven assists and had six steals for the Tigerhawks, who are now 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the conference. Junior Holister Koenig chipped in 10 points, six rebounds and three assists and sophomore Brady Berkey tallied six points, eight assists and four steals. Senior Alex Lewis collected nine points and three steals.

The Tigerhawks made 34 of their 54 attempted shots from 2-point range but missed all eight of their 3-point tries and were only 4-of-9 from the free-throw line.

English Valleys fell to 0-8 on the season and 0-7 in SICL play.

Baxter hoop teams swept by Grand View Christian

BAXTER — The Baxter basketball teams were swept by Grand View Christian during a non-conference doubleheader on Friday night.

In the girls' game, Grand View Christian defeated the Bolts 54-35. The 1A No. 2 Thunder won the boys' game 80-58.

Leading the Baxter girls was senior Kaitlynn Kelly, who finished with a career-high seven points with three rebounds and four steals. Senior Jordynn Wesselink added six points and eight rebounds, sophomore Holly Jessen had six points and five boards and senior Sailor Hinegardner finished with six points, three rebounds and two assists.

Junior Kaylin Van Ryswyk grabbed six boards and freshman McKenzie Eslinger had five rebounds.

The Bolts made 13-of-56 from the floor and were 7-of-20 from the foul line.

There were no boys' statistics available at press time.