March 29, 2024

Cards come out cold at Pella

PELLA — Newton’s boys fell victim to what some basketball enthusiasts call “the iron unkind” when they fell to Pella’s Little Dutch, 74-49, Friday night. The Cardinals struggled to hit shots and watched the home team rain in six 3-pointers in the first half and 10 in the game en route to the victory.

Newton started out the game with a “hang tough” mentality. Despite the cold shooting and Pella’s relative hot streak, the Cards trailed by just five points going into the second quarter. Pella increased its lead to 33-24 before halftime, giving the Cards plenty of time to mount a comeback.

After a 7-0 run to start the second half, Newton trailed by just two and looked to give the 10-2 Little Dutch a run for their money, but Pella quickly snapped back into focus, going on an 18-6 run to end the quarter. Pella’s 23 points in the final period sealed the loss for Newton, which moves the Cards to 4-8 on the year.

Tyler Wood, who was the leading 3-point shooter in Class 4A heading into Friday night, hit 3-of-10 from the field for nine points. All three of his makes were from long range. Chandler Sturtz tied Wood for the team lead in points. Sturtz shot 2-for-8 and sunk each of his four foul shots. Nick Easley knocked down 3-of-11 shots for seven points to go along with a team-high five rebounds. Connor Gholson and Jwan Roush each had six points.

Newton’s boys had trouble with Pella’s senior Bryce Bortscheller, who racked up 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting against the Cards. He also hit each of his five 3-point attempts. Jordan Pingel had 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and Isaax Naaktgeboren scored 11, knocking down 3-of-6 3-pointers.

The Cards shot 19-of-48 from the field for 39.5 percent shooting. Newton grabbed 20 rebounds and dished out 11 assists.

Pella shot just a hair less than 50 percent, going 27-of-56 from the field. The Little Dutch grabbed 34 rebounds and racked up 17 assists.

Newton’s boys will have a week to work on their game as the Cardinals will have off until they face Norwalk at home on Friday.

Newton 13-11-13-12 — 49

Pella 18-15-18-23 — 74

Newton — Sturtz 9, Wood 9, Easley 7, Gholson 6, Roush 6, Alex Bartels 4, Daquan Allen 4

Pella — Bortsheller 20, Pingel 13, Naaktgeboren 11, Garret Jansen 8, Seth Johnson 6, Payson Vande Lune 4, Noah Clayberg 4, Nathan Clayberg