Garrett Sturtz led the Little Hawkeye Conference in scoring during the 2017-18 basketball season by more than 200 points. Sturtz was named to the All-Little Hawkeye Conference first team unanimously for the second straight season.
Sturtz, a 6-foot-4-inch guard, was one of three Newton High School basketball players who earned 2018 All-Little Hawkeye Conference honors. Senior Grant Garvis and junior Aaron Bartels received honorable mention honors from the LHC coaches.
The conference coaches released the 2018 All-Little Hawkeye Conference basketball teams following conference teams — conference co-champions Oskaloosa and Norwalk — finishing their runs in last week’s Class 3A state basketball tournament. Oskaloosa was the 3A runner-up losing 66-62 to champion Glenwood. Norwalk lost 67-58 to Glenwood in the first round.
Sturtz was one of six unanimous selections to the 2018 All-LHC first team of eight players. Joining Sturtz were Oskaloosa’s senior Jared Kruse and junior Cole Henry, Norwalk senior Luke Vaske and sophomore Bowen Born and Indianola junior Evan Gauger. Rounding out the first team were Dallas Center-Grimes senior Steve Borneman and Oskaloosa sophomore Xavier Foster.
Oskaloosa and Norwalk were 12-2 in LHC play and finished as No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in the final 3A regular-season poll. Indianola was third at 8-6 followed by Newton (14-8) and Dallas Center-Grimes tied for fourth at 7-7.
Pella and Pella Christian each finished at 5-9 in conference play. Grinnell went 0-14.
Sturtz became Newton’s all-time leading scorer during the season, 1,746 points. He was the school’s single-season scoring leader with 764 points. Sturtz recorded the top six single-game scoring marks in Newton history during the season — four came in conference play.
Sturtz’s 457 points in conference games led the LHC with Indianola’s Gauger with 278 points. Sturtz averaged 32.6 points a game against LHC teams. He scored 47 points against Grinnell, and 44 points against Indianola and Oskaloosa, twice.
Sturtz was the Little Hawkeye Conference top free throw shooter, cashing in 151-of-176 attempts for 85.8 percent. He led the conference with the most field goals made, 146-of-317 for 46.1 percent. Sturtz hit 14-of-58 3-point field goal attempts for 24 percent.
Sturtz was second in the conference in rebounding with 124, but his 92 defensive rebounds was tops in the LHC. He finished second in steals with 29, fourth in assists with 58 and fourth in blocked shots with 17.
Sturtz led the Cardinals in scoring, rebounding (191), assists (84), steals (47) and blocked shots (23). Overall, he was 227-of-259 from the free-throw line, 87.6 percent, and was 254-of-516 from the field for 49.2 percent. The only offensive category he didn’t lead in was 3-point field goal shooting in which he was 29-of-92 for 31.5 percent.
Sturtz scored 56 points in an 78-74 win over Winterset to set the Newton single-game scoring mark for the fourth time during the season. Four days later, he scored 54 points in a 63-62 loss to Indianola in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Sturtz’s 764 points was second in total points scored in Iowa high school basketball this season. His 34.7-point per game average was tops in the state. Sturtz led the entire state in free throws made with 227.
Garvis, a 6-foot-4 forward, was Newton’s second-leading rebounder and fifth-leading scorer. Against LHC teams, he had 60 rebounds and was sixth in steals with 20. He dished out 33 assists in conference games, which was 11th in the LHC.
Garvis made 20-of-48 3-point field goals, 41.7 percent, which was 14th among LHC players, as he shot 42.9 percent, 30-of-70, from the field overall. He was 9-of-16 from the line. Garvis scored 89 of his total 112 points in conference games.
Garvis had a total of 107 rebounds and 69 assists, which was second on the team. He had 26 steals for the season and had 11 blocked shots. He shot 39.1 percent, 25-of-64, from 3-point range and went 39-of-94 for 41.5 percent from the field overall. He was 9-of-18 from the free-throw line.
Bartels, a 6-foot-1 guard, finished seventh among LHC players in 3-point field goals made, going 27-of-76 from beyond the arc for 35.5 percent. He scored 114 points in conference games, shooting 40 percent, 39-of-97, from the field overall. He was 9-of-14, 64.3 percent, from the free-throw line.
For the season Bartels was Newton’s second-leading scorer with 196 points, averaging 8.9 points a game. His 37.7 percent, 49-of-130, for 3-point field goal shooting led the team. Bartels shot 40.2 percent, 66-of-164, from the field and went 15-of-21 from the line. Bartels finished the season with 44 rebounds, 17 assists and 11 steals.
Newton led the Little Hawkeye Conference in free throw shooting, 197-of-250, for 78.8 percent. It was third in field goal shooting, 43.9 percent, 287-of-654, and third in 3-point field goals made, 92-of-285, 32.3 percent.
The Cardinals had 80 steals in conference action for fourth and was eighth in assists with 135. The team recorded 29 blocked shots.
Little Hawkeye Conference
Boys’ Basketball
2017-18 All-Conference
First Team
*Garrett Sturtz, Newton, Sr.
*Jarad Kruse, Oskaloosa, Sr.
*Cole Henry, Oskaloosa, Jr.
Xavier Foster, Oskaloosa, So.
*Luke Vaske, Norwalk, Sr.
*Bowen Born, Norwalk, So.
*Evan Gauger, Indianola, Jr.
Steve Borneman, Dallas Center-Grimes, Sr.
*unanimous selection
Second Team
Spencer Tucker, Oskaloosa, Sr.
Daniel Geistler, Norwalk, Sr.
Blake Johnson, Norwalk, Sr.
Tyler Endres, Norwalk, Jr.
Quinn Vesey, Indianola, Jr.
Nick DeJong, Pella, Jr.
Alex Huisman, Pella Christian, Sr.
Ethan Mitchell, Grinnell, Sr.
Honorable Mention
Aaron Bartels, Newton, Jr.
Grant Garvis, Newton, Sr.
Jordan Humphreys, Dallas Center-Grimes, Sr.
Damon Clapper, Dallas Center-Grimes, Sr.
Jake Hull, Grinnell, So.
Jack Orwig, Indianola, Sr.
Brady Held, Indianola, Sr.
Tyler Johnson, Norwalk, So.
Rian Yates, Oskaloosa, Jr.
Tanner DeKock, Oskaloosa, Sr.
Jake Pringle, Pella Christian, Jr.
Dan Jungling, Pella Christian, So.
Ryan Gustafson, Pella, Jr.
Landon Vander Leest, Pella, Sr.
Little Hawkeye Conference
2017-18 Boys’ Basketball
Final Standings
Team Conference Overall
Oskaloosa 12-2 23-4
Norwalk 12-2 22-3
Indianola 8-6 15-8
Newton 7-7 14-8
Dallas Center-Grimes 7-7 13-10
Pella 5-9 11-12
Pella Christian 5-9 8-15
Grinnell 0-14 1-21
Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com