March 28, 2024

Cardinal girls' season ends

BONDURANT — Newton High’s Cardinal girls closed their first season with head coach Jason Carter with a first-round loss in Class 4A Region 4 play on Wednesday night.

“Our record does not reflect the improvement this team has made over the course of the year,” Carter said following a 51-37 loss to Bondurant-Farrar to put the Cardinals’ final record at 3-18. “The first thing the Bondurant coach said to me tonight was ‘you look much better than a 3-17 team on film.’ These girls have grown and taken strides forward this season.”

Against the Lady Jays in the regional quarterfinal at Bondurant, Carter said his team got off to a rough start down 10-2. The Cardinals battled back to get to within six, 13-7, by the end of the first quarter.

Newton kept chipping away and holding B-F scoreless to close the gap to 13-12. Carter said the Lady Jays ended the first half on an 11-0 run including a just-behind half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Cardinals faced a 24-12 halftime deficit.

“We came out and played one of our better second halves all season. We couldn’t make enough stops to cut into their lead but the girls fought hard,” Carter said. “We scored 25 points in the second half, which is above our average for a second half.”

Bondurant-Farrar led 38-23 after three quarters. The Cardinals had a 14-13 scoring edge in the fourth quarter. The Lady Jays stayed the course by cashing in on 20-of-32 free throw attempts in the game.

Senior Petyon Maher led the Cardinals with 13 points, hitting two 3-pointers. Senior Rachel Rhoads netted two 3-pointers on her way to seven points and senior Mackensie Brown had five points. Senior Abbie Barr didn’t score in her final game for the Cardinals.

“We lose four really important players in our seniors. They showed great leadership this season. We had good minutes out of some of our younger players tonight,” Carter said.

Freshman Aurora Nehring tossed in six points and junior Mackenzie Baker had four points. Sophomore Chassidy Henwood scored two points. Newton went 5-of-11 at the free-throw line.

“I’m proud of how hard our girls played tonight and throughout the season. We’re headed in the right direction,” Carter said. “We’ll build on the progress we made this season for next year.”

Bondurant-Farrar (12-9) was led by sophomore Avery Fried with 13 points and freshman Mia Miller with 12 points. Sophomore Katie Fogarty added 10 points.

The Lady Jays play at Class 4A 11th-ranked Ballard at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the regional semifinals.

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