Indians’ second-half run beats Cardinals

It was the best of times and the worst of times, borrowing from Charles Dickens.

“We played our best basketball and our worst basketball of the season in the same game tonight,” Newton High boys’ head basketball coach Bill Liley said after a 60-46 loss to visiting Indianola on Friday night.

The Cardinals owned the first half, leading 14-2 after the first quarter and holding a 32-16 halftime advantage. Indianola’s Indians outscored Newton, 44-14, over the third and fourth quarters to capture the Little Hawkeye Conference win.

“We played a great first half. In the second half we were not hitting shots, and unfortunately, when we don’t hit shots it affects us at both ends of the court,” Liley said. “Give Indianola credit for making adjustments at halftime to force us into taking contested shots.”

The Cardinals appeared to have their A-game going even with a slow start from senior Garrett Sturtz. Junior Aaron Bartels drained back-to-back 3-pointers to give Newton a 6-0 lead. Bartels scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the first quarter.

With Sturtz — Newton’s leading scorer — scoring just four points in the first half, the Cardinals had others step up offensively. Sophomore Quintrail Coley scored four points in the lane. Sophomore Kyle Long found success from the same spot as Bartels and senior Grayson Graham for two 3s.

Newton was pulling away from Indianola, up 28-6 with 3:53 left in the second quarter. The Indians were sparked on an 8-4 run by Evan Gauger to finish the period.

Gauger fueled the come-from-behind win for Indianola with a 27-point second half. The Indians trimmed the Newton lead to 42-34 after three quarters of play.

On back-to-back baskets, Gauger forged a 42-42 tie with 4:47 left in the game. Graham’s jumper put the Cardinals up again. Gauger scored and hit a free throw to hand the Indians their first lead of the game. They never gave it up.

Newton trailed 49-45 when Sturtz’s 3-point attempt came up short and Gauger pulled the defensive rebound. The Indians extended their lead from the free-throw line, hitting 11-of 12, including two on a technical foul accessed against Liley with 47 seconds remaining.

“We have the same record as we did last year — 8-4 — at this time. We’re still a team of players learning and have work to do,” Liley said. “With Grayson sharing the point guard duties with Garrett, we’re giving teams a different look when we come down the court. It will make us more effective later.”

Liley said the Cardinals are working to be at their best at the end of the regular season moving into postseason play.

“If we’re good in Game 22 that will give us Game 23. We are working to have a chance to survive and advance,” Liley said.

Sturtz finished with nine points, scoring under 10 points for the first time since Jan. 24, 2017 when he had five in a win against Dallas Center-Grimes. Sturtz grabbed 12 of Newton’s 19 rebounds in the game on Friday. He also had seven assists and four steals.

Newton shot 39 percent, 18-of-46, from the field for the game, hitting 6-of-17 3-pointers. The Cardinals were 4-of-7 at the free-throw line.

Indianola finished the game shooting 41 percent, 20-of-49, from the field. The Indians cashed in on 15-of-18 foul shots.

Gauger fired in 31 points, going 12-of-13 at the foul line, for the Indians.

Newton’s junior varsity pulled out a 42-40 win over Indianola.

Newton fell to 4-4 in LHC play and 8-4 overall. The Cardinals play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against Dallas Center-Grimes in conference action in Grimes.

Indianola 2-14-18-26—60

Newton 14-18-10-4—46

Newton (FG/3-pt): Sturtz 3-3-3-9, Davis 0-0-1-0, Long 0/2-0-1-6, Graham 1/1-0-2-5, Garvis 2-0-5-4, Bartels 4/3-0-3-17, Coley 2-1-2-5. TOTALS: 12/6-4-17-46.

Indianola (FG/3-pt): Gauger 8/1-12-1-31, Vesey 2-3-3-7, Held 2-0-3-4, Scott 4-0-1-8, Marvelli 0-0-1-0, Orwig 1-0-2-2, Deike 0-3-1-3, Smith 2-1-1-5. TOTALS: 19/1-15-13-60.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
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or jsheets@newtondailynews.com