Balanced attack helps Newton boys to win over Pella Christian

It didn’t take Newton boys’ head basketball coach Jason Carter long to get upset at Brody Bauer during the Cardinals’ home game with Pella Christian on Friday night.

When Bauer is open, Carter wants the sophomore sharpshooter to hoist it up.

“I was actually mad at him on the first possession of the game,” Carter said. “He was open and didn’t take the shot. I had to chew on him a little bit to shoot it more. When he gets going, he can fill it up.”

Bauer filled it up in the first quarter against the Eagles. He hit four treys in the period to give the Cardinals a fast start and the home team led almost wire-to-wire during a 74-62 win in Little Hawkeye Conference play.

Bauer led four players in double-figures with 18 points. Adam Mattes had 16 points, Jake Ingle put in 15 and Zay Arguello scored a season-high 14 in the win. Keith Moko added nine points.

“Everybody has to be able to chip in offensively,” Carter said. “Most games, the other teams are making it really tough on Jake, Adam and Brody. The other guys who come in have to be ready to put the ball in the hoop, and I thought a lot of guys did that tonight.”

Newton shot 49 percent from the floor and made 10 3-pointers. Four of those 3s came from Bauer in the first quarter.

He made the first basket of the game and his back-to-back treys made it 12-4. He added another one later and Newton led 17-12 after eight minutes.

“That was huge. It helps us a ton,” Mattes said. “I think he hit two right off the bat against Grinnell, too. When someone gets going early, especially Brody, we feed of it and it helps us all get going.”

Bauer’s fifth and final triple of the game came early in the second quarter and Mattes gave Newton (7-8 overall, 5-7 in conference play) a 28-17 advantage with a trey of his own. It was 32-23 at halftime.

Ingle scored 10 of his 15 in the second half. His jumper in the third made it 38-25. And it came after a Moko dunk that got the crowd on its feet.

Moko, who had nine points and three steals, provides the Cardinals with instant energy and something other Newton players don’t have.

“He has one thing that none of us have and that’s athleticism,” Mattes said. “He can finish at the rim, get every rebound and his energy is great.”

Eric Mulder tried to keep the Eagles (10-10, 5-7) close. His two buckets were sandwiched between a Bauer layup but Arguello nailed a 3 to make it 43-29.

Mulder finished with 23 points and 11 boards for the Eagles, but Arguello’s season-high point total gave the Cardinals a big lift off the bench.

“Zay was more aggressive tonight and that opens things up for everyone else,” Carter said. “Hopefully this gets him out of the funk he’s sort of been in.”

The Cardinals led by 10 after three. Ingle hit a free throw and buried a 3 early in the fourth to push the margin back to 13. Mattes also hit a jumper, made a layup and drilled a trey during a short stretch that extended the advantage to 16.

Mattes leads the team in scoring at 15 points per game. Against the Eagles, he let the game come to him and even help set his teammates up for open looks, too. He finished with seven rebounds to go with his 16 points.

“He really wants to be a complete player. He’s starting to develop that,” Carter said. “And the more others score, the easier it is for him to score. Opposing teams can’t help and double him so much.”

Pella Christian got its deficit to single digits multiple times in the fourth, but the Cardinals had an answer every time.

After Mulder make a putback to cut it to eight, Moko answered with a layup. Ingle answered another Eagle bucket with a pair of free throws. And Arguello did the same when he converted a layup and then made three free throws in the final few minutes.

The Cardinals put the game away at the line with Ingle and Mattes both going 2-for-2 in the final minute.

Newton was 16-of-21 from the line in the game and it committed just nine turnovers. Pella Christian shot 50 percent from the floor but was just 2-of-14 from deep and committed 16 turnovers.

And with the postseason seeding meeting looming, it was a win the Cardinals most certainly will use to their advantage at the voting table.

“This win was huge. It’s a good team that has beaten some good teams in our conference,” Mattes said. “This one gives us a little bit of an edge to fight for a higher seed.”

Bauer was 5-of-6 from 3-point range and dished out five assists. Ingle had seven assists, Arguello pulled down three boards and Cole Plowman grabbed three rebounds in his first varsity start.

Notes: The 6-foot-4 Plowman could be an important piece moving forward as Carter said junior starter Kael Swarts will miss the rest of the season with an injury. “We have been working him in slowly in practice. Against a team like this that is really really big, he brings us some length. We had been planning on bringing him up at some point, so I thought what a better night to do that. He did his job. He contested everything around the rim. That was his role.” … This win over the Eagles gives Newton a strong shot at the No. 3 seed in the substate tournament that is quickly approaching. ... The 74 points by Newton were a season-high. It was the second time the Cardinals scored more than 70. They are 2-0 in those games.