From the Sidelines: Thompson, tough ‘D’ triggers turnaround

What a difference a year makes. With a little more experience, a missing link back in the lineup and improved play on the defensive end of the floor, the Newton girls basketball team has found a ton of success this season. And they are loving every minute of it. “We are way more positive, and we have better attitudes,” said senior post player Amy Vos, who is leading the team in scoring and rebounding this season. It was one season ago that the Cardinals won just three games, struggled with a young group of guards and made too many mistakes in a very tough league. This year, Newton already has eight wins, is taking care of the basketball and playing at a very high level in a league still featuring multiple ranked teams. “We have a lot more confidence in ourselves and in each other,” senior guard Jordyn Thompson said. “We all know the game better, too.” Newton head coach Judy Nissly’s expectations coming into this year were much higher than her thoughts heading into last season. And make no mistake about it, the biggest reason for the turnaround involves the return of Jordyn Thompson to Newton’s backcourt. Thompson, who is averaging around 14 points per game this year, has been playing on varsity since her freshman season but was lost for all but one game last year due to an ACL injury. This year, she is back to full strength and has provided the Cardinals with a much-needed outside punch to go along with Vos’ dominance down low. “I have more drive to come to practice this year,” Vos said. “Last year, we knew the team was inexperienced. It makes us want to work harder this year.” The third member of the senior trio is Mallory Sturtz. Together, Vos, Thompson and Sturtz are averaging 39 points per game, are the team’s three top rebounders and Vos and Thompson lead the team in steals and assists. “The rest of the team knows if we’re going to be successful, those three are going to have to be the focus,” Nissly said. “The rest of the team is doing whatever it takes to get the job done.” The trio of Vos, Thompson and Sturtz has been too good to guard most nights. Tuesday, Norwalk tried to slow down the tempo and even used a box and one on Thompson. That allowed Vos and Sturtz to go to work down low and the result ended up being another win for Newton. “They did a box and one on Jordyn because the Norwalk coach knows that Jordyn can get the ball to Amy and Mallory anytime she wants,” Nissly said. “They were trying to take Jordyn’s passing ability away from her and make someone else pass it to our post players.” That’s where the supporting cast comes in. Last year, Nissly had Vos and Sturtz down low but a plethora of young, inexperienced sophomores trying to get the ball to them. And the results during a 3-17 season were never very good. But this year has been different. Nissly said the team learned a lot last year and grew up as basketball players. Guard Val Humke is averaging nearly four points per game and has been asked to do a lot more handling of the ball. Back-up post player Jessica Mouchka has provided strong minutes off the bench to spell Vos or Sturtz when either is tired or in foul trouble. Amanda Jones has been solid on offense and a key cog in the 3-2 zone on defense, while Keria Huyser and Taylor Peska know their roles and are excelling on the defensive end of the floor. “The sophomores weren’t ready when they came up to varsity last year,” Nissly admitted. “But the experience they got last year has helped us a ton this season.” Besides the return of Thompson and a much-improved junior class, another big reason for the strong turnaround involves defense. And lots of it. “I think the team has enjoyed playing defense this year,” Nissly said. “Playing good man-to-man helps our 3-2 zone. I think they are having fun. They have grown to like defense.” It also appears evident that this squad knows that offense may be hard to come by but defense and rebounding can be done each and every night they step on the floor. “If we play defense and rebound, we’ll win a lot of games,” Sturtz said. “If (teams) can’t score, they can’t win.” Thompson added, “We may not always want to play defense in practice, but we know, come game time, defense is our game. When we have good defense, we play better offensively.” For this team to keep winning, the three seniors will continue to have to play big every night. At 8-2, winning the conference is not out of the question. To have any chance, the Cards must beat Pella and Knoxville at home in the coming weeks. “We’ll have more confidence going into the games this time around,” Vos said. “Our defense is much better now than it was when we first played them. You can always play defense, even when the shots aren’t falling.” They play the Dutch a week from Friday before hosting the Panthers Tuesday, Jan. 27. Both teams are ranked in the top 10 of the Class 3A state poll. Pella beat Knoxville by five Tuesday and is undefeated in the conference. That was Knoxville’s first defeat. Newton lost to Pella by 15 on the road earlier this year and was defeated by the Panthers in Knoxville on a last-second shot. “We need to come out ready in the first quarter against both of those teams,” Thompson said. “We can’t wait until the second half to start playing. We need to play smarter and stronger, too.”