Cardinal boys’ trio earns LHC honors

Adam Mattes kept pushing as a second-year starter for Newton High’s Cardinal boys’ basketball team. The Cardinal sophomore led the team in scoring again.

Mattes’ efforts on the court moved him up from honorable mention to second team for the 2020 All-Little Hawkeye Conference basketball honors. Senior Quintrail Coley and sophomore Noah Allen were recognized by LHC coaches with honorable mention honors.

The teams were selected at the end of the regular season but could not be released until three conference members Norwalk, Pella and Pella Christian finished their state tournament runs. Pella Christian lost in the first round of the Class 2A state tournament and Pella lost its first-round game in 3A action.

Norwalk made it back-to-back Class 3A championships for the Little Hawkeye Conference. Norwalk notched a 70-68 win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton in Friday’s 3A title game in Des Moines. Norwalk was the 2019 3A runner-up to LHC’s Oskaloosa.

Norwalk and Indianola went 12-2 in LHC play while Pella was third with a 9-5 mark. Dallas Center-Grimes was fourth at 8-6 followed by Pella Christian at 5-9. Grinnell and Oskaloosa each were 3-11 tied for seventh.

Newton finished sixth with a 4-10 conference record. The Cardinals ended up with a 7-15 overall mark under first-year head coach Jason Carter.

Mattes was the leading scorer for Newton for a second straight season. In LHC games, he scored 199 points, which was tied for eighth in the conference, as he averaged 14.2 points a game. He was 11th in assists with 33 in conference play. He had 15 steals and 37 rebounds.

Mattes, a 6-foot-1 inch forward, shot 41 percent, 72-of-177, from the field which included hitting 14-of-53 3-point attempts. He shot 72 percent, 41-of-57, from the free-throw line.

Overall, Mattes paced the Cardinals with 333 points as well leading the team in assists (53) and steals (23). He was third on the team with 67 rebounds. Mattes shot 44 percent, 126-of-284, from the field, drilled 18-of-76 3-pointer attempts and sank 63-of-88 free throw attempts for 72 percent.

Allen was the team’s second leading scorer in LHC play and overall. Against conference teams, Allen scored 178 points, averaging 12.7 a game. He was 34-of-97 from 3-point range for 35.1 percent, which was fifth on makes and fourth in attempts among conference players.

Allen shot 39 percent from the field, 61-of-158, in LHC games. Conference teams did not want Allen at the line as he shot 96 percent, 22-of-23, from the charity stripe. He had 21 assists, nine steals and 28 rebounds.

For the season, Allen, a 5-foot-10 inch guard, was Newton’s top long-range shooter, hitting 56-of-155 3-pointers for 36 percent. He finished with 284 points, 31 assists, 14 steals and 42 rebounds. He shot 39 percent, 96-of-248, from the field and hit 36-of-42 free throw attempts for 86 percent.

Coley, the Cardinals’ 6-foot-6 inch post player, finished seventh on the LHC rebounding list with 69 total and 47 of those were off the defensive glass. He was 13th in assists with 31. Coley scored 104 points in LHC games and shot 62.5 percent, 45-of-72, from the field and 70 percent, 14-of-20, from the line.

Coley ended up the team’s fourth-leading scorer with 143 points for the season. He led the team with 101 rebounds and 10 blocks. Coley shot 57 percent, 62-of-208, from the field and 68 percent, 19-of-28 at the line. He had 41 assists and six steals for the season.

As a team, Newton was second in free-throw percentage at 71.3, hitting 112-of-157 attempts. The Cardinals were last in rebounds with 327 and fourth in turnovers with 172. They scored 710 points in LHC action while giving up 856 points.

Little Hawkeye Conference

2019-20 Boys’ Basketball

Final Standings

Team Conference Overall

Norwalk 12-2 24-3

Indianola 12-2 19-4

Pella 9-5 19-6

Dallas Center-Grimes 8-6 17-1

Pella Christian 5-9 13-11

Newton 4-10 7-15

Oskaloosa 3-11 10-14

Grinnell 3-11 7-16

Little Hawkeye Boys’ Basketball

All-Conference 2019-20

First Team

*Bowen Born, Norwalk, Sr.

*AJ Toigo, Indianola, Sr.

*Tyce Johnson,Indianola, Sr.

*Logan Shetterly, Pella, Sr.

*Xavier Foster, Oskaloosa, Sr.

Tyler Johnson, Norwalk, Sr.

Cole Glasgo, Dallas Center-Grimes, So.

Luke Rankin, Dallas Center-Grimes, Jr.

Second Team

Adam Mattes, Newton, So.

Tryton Sturgeon, Pella, Sr.

John Oltman, Pella, Sr.

Josh Van Gorp, Pella Christian, Sr.

Jake Hull, Grinnell, Sr.

Scott Anderson, Norwalk, Sr.

Caden Lehmeier, Indianola, Jr.

Dan Jungling, Pella Christian, Sr.

*Unanimous

Honorable Mention: Newton-Quintrail Coley, Sr., Noah Allen, So.; Dallas Center-Grimes-Alex Thomas, Jr., Trenton Liebe, Sr.; Grinnell-AJ Wilkins, Jr., Cole McGriff, Jr.; Indianola-Blake Kennedy, Sr., Drew Kingery, Fr.; Norwalk-Joe Brown, Jr., Grant Larson, Jr.; Oskaloosa-Iszac Schultz, Sr., Noah Van Veldhuizen, Sr.; Pella-Grant Nelson, Jr., Josh Warner, Jr.; Pella Christian-Jack Vermeer, Sr., Keean Cadwell, Sr.