Last season, the Newton boys basketball team lost seven games by four points or less. In the season opener on Tuesday night, the Cardinals proved they're trying to buck that trend this time around.
 

Despite blowing a 14-point halftime lead, the Cardinals (1-0), got a big 3-pointer from senior Andrew Clements and the game-winning layup from sophomore Tyler Wood with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game to grab a 53-52 victory over Boone to start the season in an exciting fashion.
 

"It was good to get that W because this is something we struggled with last year," Newton coach Nick Wilkins said. "We told them that as a coaching staff we're going to improve on getting them prepared for games, and they need to do the same on their end. But it was good to see the kids fight back."