Cardinal hoops lose to talented Indianola squads

Too many turnovers and a tough night at the free-throw line doomed Newton’s girls’ basketball team in a home loss to Indianola on Tuesday night.

The Cardinals turned the ball over 32 times and were just 9-of-23 from the free-throw line in a 73-52 loss to Class 5A No. 14 Indianola.

“Indianola is a tough team,” Newton girls’ coach Eric Vander Velden said. “We never stopped fighting. We did a great job of getting to the line, but we missed a lot of free throws. We are improving and learning from each game we play.”

Meg Callaghan finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and three blocks and Chassidy Henwood tallied 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and seven steals but Indianola (10-1 overall, 6-0 in the conference) led 19-11 after one and 30-18 at halftime.

Newton was down 20 in the fourth quarter. It got the deficit back to 11 but couldn’t get any closer.

Audrey Rausch added 16 points, six rebounds and three assists but junior starter Aurora Nehring missed her third straight game. Victoria Reynolds had three rebounds and six steals and Kealey Manning contributed three rebounds and three assists.

The Cardinals (2-8, 0-6) shot 41 percent from the floor and were 5-of-9 from 3-point range.

But Indianola’s Kendall Clatt buried 10 treys and scored 30 points. Clatt came into the game averaging 14 points. Lauren Blake averages 14.4 points per game but was held to four.

“We needed to do a better job of knowing where she was, but (Clatt’s) an overall great player,” Vander Velden said. “We played our zone well but need to be more active.”

BOYS

Indianola 65, Newton 37

The Cardinal boys hung around Indianola in the first half but the Indians outscored Newton 35-15 in the second half to win 65-37 in LHC play.

Adam Mattes was the only Cardinal in doubles figures with 17 points. Newton shot just 25 percent from the floor, made 6-of-26 from 3-point range and was 5-of-13 from the foul line. The Cardinals (4-5, 2-4) also turned it over 19 times.

On the flip side, Indianola (7-3, 4-2) made 48 percent from the floor and 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. Drew Kingery led the Indians with 32 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Brody Bauer had six points, Kael Swarts scored five points and grabbed three rebounds and Logan Schilling added four points and four rebounds.

Jake Ingle chipped in three points and four assists, Keith Moko pulled down four boards and Treycen Garton and Trent Hamand each had three rebounds. Mattes also grabbed four boards.