Cardinal boys close season at substate

PELLA — A tough season for Newton High’s Cardinal boys came to a close on Monday. The sixth-ranked Pella Little Dutch beat Newton 75-44 in the opening round of the Class 3A Substate 6 tournament at Pella.

Newton went 0-20 for the 2018-19 season. In Cardinal boys’ basketball history, Newton had an 0-20 season in 1999, 1-18 season in 1997 and 0-6 campaign in 1918.

“Pella is a good team. They’re ranked third (a week ago) for a reason,” Newton first-year head coach Kyle Peta said. “It was a tough year for the players and the coaches. No one likes losing and we’ve got a lot of work to do. The offseason is going to be huge for us.”

Peta took the Newton position in August, just before the start of school, and now will have an offseason to work with the players, including a summer league schedule. He said everything starts with him as head coach.

“Defensively, we have to get better and our foot speed has to improve. I’ve got to put time into it to turn it around and make it go in the right direction,” Peta said after his team’s final game on Monday. “I have to do a better job of putting my guys in a position to be successful.”

Against Pella, which dropped from third to sixth in the latest Iowa AP basketball poll, the Cardinals got behind 8-0 then rallied in the first quarter. Junior Kyle Long get a 3-pointer to break the ice on the scoreboard for Newton with 4:56 left in the period.

Freshman Adam Mattes tossed in two free throws then classmate Noah Allen, who led the team with 12 points, had a three-point play to make it 10-8 at the 3:46 mark. Newton had an opportunity to tie it or go ahead on a 3 but couldn’t get a shot to drop.

The Dutch delivered five points to end the first quarter to lead 15-8 . It was 17-10 on a basket by senior guard McKenna Davis 31 seconds into the second period and junior post player Quintrail Coley took a charge.

Newton came up empty on another opportunity close the gap against Pella. The Little Dutch began to pull away, outscoring the Cardinals 20-9 in the second quarter for a 35-17 halftime advantage.

Pella went on a 14-5 run in the first four minutes of the third quarter and led 49-22. Newton trailed 57-31 after three quarters.

Newton shot 27 percent, 15-of-55, from the field which included a 3-of-22 mark from 3-point range. Pella netted nine 3-pointers in the game. Newton was 11-of-17 at the free-throw line to Pella’s 12-of-15.

Davis and Long each finished with nine points for Newton. Mattes added six and Coley and five points. Junior Cody Satterfield scored two points.

Pella out rebounded Newton 42-17. Davis, Mattes and junior Kaleb Dydell each had three rebounds. Davis and Coley had two steals apiece.

Pella had four players score in double figures led by Grant Nelson with 15 and John Oltman with 14 points. Karl Miller had 11 points and Ryan Gustafson added 10 points.

Newton loses two seniors — Davis and Taylor Greiner. Davis was a starter this season and Greiner came back out as a senior after not playing basketball a year ago.

“It’s always tough to say goodbye to seniors. McKenna and Taylor show strong leadership and stuck it out with us all season. It’s a tough one to have as a senior, but these to guys will always be a part of our program,” Peta said.

Pella (16-5) hosts Carlisle (10-12) in a substate semifinal at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Carlisle rallied in the second half to beat Grinnell on Monday, 63-51. Grinnell was 1-21 a year ago and winless in the Little Hawkeye Conference. The Tigers finished 9-12 this season.

Grinnell 64, Newton 40

Newton’s boys lost their regular-season and Little Hawkeye Conference finale on Friday at Grinnell College. Host Grinnell beat the Cardinals 64-40 as Newton finished 0-13 in LHC play.

Coley had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Cardinals. Long fired 12 points, hitting three of the team’s four 3-pointers. Mattes had eight points and sophomore Logan Schilling added five points. Allen had two assists and Schilling made two steals.

A more detailed account of Friday’s game is on the Newton Daily News website — “Newton boys go winless in regular season; Hawk girls advance to 1A regional final.”

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