The Newton boys basketball team had a chance to claim victory from what seemed like certain defeat, but two three-point attempts in the final minute by Tyler Wood both rimmed out giving Pella a 48-47 victory. It was a valiant attempt by the Cardinals to come back from an early hole, but they could never quite dig themselves out.

Pella’s Issac Naaktgeboren came out on a mission to make a statement in the paint.  He banged and bruised his way to 14 first half points to put Pella in control early.  The Cardinals trailed by six points at the half despite getting very few stops early and having to lean on Sophomore Nick Easley for a lion’s share of their scoring. 

The second half was a completely different story, however. The rest of the team began to get into the flow of the game on both ends. As Newton Coach Nick Wilkins noted, their defensive help around the basket vastly improved following the intermission.