Grinnell makes 18 treys, downs Newton girls

Grinnell’s girls basketball team missed 37 shots during its Little Hawkeye Conference matchup with Newton on Friday night. And the Tigers grabbed an offensive rebound on almost half of those misses.

Pair that with a Tiger team who made 18 3-pointers and the end result was an 85-36 road win for Class 4A No. 6 Grinnell.

“They either shoot 3s or drive to the ball to the hoop,” Newton girls basketball coach Eric Vander Velden said. “We knew they were going to shoot 3s. We were hoping they would miss a lot and unfortunately they didn’t miss very many.”

Grinnell got to the line 19 times and Newton did not shoot a free throw in the game. The Tigers’ offensive rebounds led to a lot of those free free throws.

“They got too many offensive rebounds. I was frustrated with our effort on the boards,” Vander Velden said. “I took some girls out because they didn’t take pride in rebounding. We just have to do a better job.”

The Tigers (13-1 overall, 7-1 in conference play) led 32-10 after one quarter. Five different players hit eight total 3-pointers in the first and the Tigers were off and running.

Kya Butler and Jaz Cooper scored their only points in the first as both Cardinals buried a triple.

It was a much more competitive second period. Audrey Rausch scored five of Newton’s seven points, but Grinnell ended the half on a 6-0 run and led 44-17 at the break.

The second half belonged to Grinnell’s Haidyn Hull, who scored 36 points in the game. She canned eight 3-pointers overall and five of them came in the third as the Tigers outscored Newton 25-7.

The Cardinals played a box-and-one defense on Ivey Schmidt. She had nine points but took only five shots.

That opened things up for the other Tigers and Hull was the biggest beneficiary as she was 8-of-15 from long range.

Grinnell shot 18-of-41 for the game and seven different players buried triples.

“We did the box and one to take away Schmidt. We did what we were supposed to do but didn’t close out hard enough and with a purpose,” Vander Velden said. “We wanted them to take shots from outside. Unfortunately for us they made a bunch of them.”

The Cardinals (2-11, 2-7) scored 12 points in the final quarter. Half of those came from Sophia Reynolds, who finished with eight points, three rebounds and four assists.

Rausch led Newton with 12 points and added two boards and three assists. Kealey Manning and Marissa Cunningham were solid off the bench with Cunningham contributing six points and five rebounds and Manning adding four points and three rebounds.

Emily Wermager grabbed six rebounds, Alex Garvis and Rori Nehring pulled down five and Cadie Horn registered two boards.

The Cardinals shot 32.7 percent from the floor, were 4-of-12 from 3-point range and did not attempt a free throw. They committed 23 turnovers.

“Overall, we have to keep competing and run our offense,” Vander Velden said. “We want to slow the game down and give the other team fewer possessions.

“The intensity was there but not for the full 32 minutes. We took zero free throws. We need to find a way to get to the line more.”

Grinnell shot 44 percent from the floor, was 9-of-19 at the free-throw line and turned the ball over just six times.

Notes: Vander Velden said he tried out many different lineups in the game to see “what works and who works best together.” … Part of the reason for the multiple lineups is because of injuries. Butler left the game in the first quarter with a hyperextended knee and did not return. Manning played through an ankle injury.