April 26, 2024

Cardinal girls overpowered by No. 11 Indianola

By Jocelyn Sheets
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With a little hook-shot action, Newton High senior Taylor Ryan (22) finishes her drive into the lane against Indianola defenders with a field goal. Ryan had nine points to lead Newton in Friday’s 77-27 loss at home against Class 5A No. 11 Indianola in Little Hawkeye Conference play. (Jocelyn Sheets)

Facing challenges from the beginning, Newton High’s girls continue to trust in the program’s process as they struggle to win on the basketball court.

There was no stemming the tide for the Cardinals at home in Little Hawkeye Conference play Friday night. The Class 5A 11th-ranked Indianola Indians washed across the Cardinals with waves of scoring in a 77-27 win.

Newton’s challenges got harder as of Friday with leading scorer and rebounder senior Randi Walters ruled academically ineligible for the rest of the season.

“This was a rough way to figure out how you’re going to play the remainder of the season without a key offensive piece to your team. It’s a challenge, but we’re up for it,” Newton head coach Brandon Sharp said.

The Indians led 19-0 when Newton senior Ali Bestell scored with 43 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Newton trailed 24-2 at the end of the period and faced a 41-9 halftime deficit.

“If you have two Division I players on your team and the other has zero, you should win this game. We knew we had a challenge going into the game against Indianola,” Sharp said. “I’m proud of how our players competed for 32 minutes.”

Sharp said the Newton players are focused on getting better each day as a team. The Cardinals struggled to score despite getting shots.

“Our shots were not going in. Our players worked hard on both ends of the court, but Indianola is just a much better team than we are,” Sharp said.

Newton shot 26 percent, 11-of-42, from the field for the game. The Cardinals sank 2-of-4 free throw attempts. The Indians held a 36-29 edge over the Cardinals in rebounding.

Senior Taylor Ryan came off the bench to lead the Cardinals with nine points. Junior Peyton Maher had six rebounds, five assists and blocked three shots. Bestell had seven rebounds.

The Indians (12-3, 8-0) were paced by junior Maggie McGraw with 21 points and senior Grace Berg with 19 points. Indianola want 5-of-9 from the free-throw line.

“We told our players to just worry about competing together for 32 minutes each game. None of them have to do this by themselves,” Sharp said. “Our players are determined to move forward. We as a coaching staff are working to find ways to put the players in the best situations on the court to win games and be successful.”

Indianola won the junior varsity game, 67-33.

Newton is 1-7 in LHC play and 3-12 overall. The Cardinals are on the road for a 6:15 p.m. game on Tuesday at 4A No. 13 Dallas Center-Grimes.

Indianola 24-17-18-18—77

Newton 2-7-9-9—27

Newton (FG/3-pt): Forsyth 1-0-0-2, Marvelli 2-0-2-4, Rhoads 0/1-0-0-3, Ryan 3/1-0-0-9, Callaghan 1-0-1-2, Maher 0-2-1-2, Bestell 1-0-0-2, Blom 0/1-0-2-3. TOTALS: 8/3-2-6-27.

Indianola (FG/3-pt): Clatt 0/3-0-0-9, McGraw 6/3-0-1-21, Sorensen 2-1-1-5, Kuehl 2-0-0-4, Lathrum 1/1-0-2-5, Forbes 2-1-0-5, Coffey 1-0-0-2, Blake 1-0-1-2, Berg 8-3-0-19, Litchkey 0/1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 23/8-5-5-77.

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