NHS basketball players receive LHC honors

NEWTON — Seven Newton basketball players received postseason honors from Little Hawkeye Conference coaches. The conference coaches selected the 2014 Little Hawkeye Conference all-conference teams recently.

The Cardinal boys had four players earning honors and the Cardinal girls had three players garnering conference recognition.

Newton’s Tyler Wood, a 6-2 junior wing player, became a two-time first team All-Little Hawkeye Conference selection. Senior Chandler Sturtz, a 6-foot guard, was named to the second team while 6-3 senior wing player Daquan Allen and 5-11 junior point guard Nick Easley earned honorable mention.

For the Newton girls, 5-10 junior guard Michaela Jacobsen was selected to the All-Little Hawkeye Conference second team. Cardinal guards Lizzie Stock, a 5-4 senior, and Sydney Jenkins, a 5-6 sophomore, garnered honorable mention.

The Cardinal boys finished fourth in the LHC race with an 8-6 record. They were 12-11 overall, losing to Iowa City City High in a Class 4A substate semifinal, which was the first time the Newton boys had gone that far in the postseason since 2001.

Wood led the Cardinals in scoring with 397 points, which was 11th in Class 4A. On a team that hit at a 41-percent clip from three-point range, Wood ranked second in Class 4A in 3-point field goals made this year with 75. He was 75-of-161, 46.6 percent, from long range.

Wood set NHS records in 3-point shooting this season. He is first in 3-point field goals made in a career at 152, edging ahead of Drew Long’s 151 (2007-2009). Wood is also sits and No. 1 and No. 2 on the school’s single season list for 3-pointers made with 75 and 59. He is second in 3-point percentage for a season, 46.6, and for a career, 39.8.

Wood shot 46 percent, 133-of-289, from the field as a whole this season. He went 56- of-73 from the free-throw line. He landed at third on the Newton career free throw made list, 113-of-145. Wood climbed to fifth on the career scoring list, 739, and sixth on the single-season scoring list.

Wood was second on the 2013-14 team in rebounds with 99 and third in assists with 54. He had 20 steals.

Sturtz was Newton’s second-leading scorer for the season with 353 points. He led the team with 36 steals and was the team’s leading free throw shooter, hitting 99-of-114. Sturtz is now second on the NHS most free throw made list for season and fourth in career free throws made, 104-of-126.

Sturtz is the NHS top free throw percentage shooter for a season, 86.8 percent, and for a career at 82.5 percent. Sturtz shot from long-range at a 41-percent clip, 42-of-102, this season. He was 106-of-213 overall for 50 percent from the field.

Sturtz finished with 95 rebounds on the season. He was second on the team in assists with 73.

Allen led the Cardinals in rebounding with 112 this season. He had 11 blocked shots and 14 steals. He scored 98 points. Allen shot 50 percent, 43-of-86, from the field and went 12-of-30 from the free-throw line.

Easley dished out a team-leading 89 assists this season. That put him atop the season assist list for Newton, ahead of Jeff Buckley’s 88 assists in 1998. Easley is second the NHS career assists list with 141. Easley scored 164 points and had 26 steals this year. He shot 38.5 percent, 60-of-156, from the field, hitting six 3-pointers. He downed 38- of-61 free throw attempts for 62 percent.

FOR THE NHS GIRLS, Jacobsen was the team's leading scorer with 192 points this season. She was second in rebounds with 115. Jacobsen shot 32 percent, 70-of-216, from the field as a whole and was second on the team from three-point range, 10-of-52.

Jacobsen topped the Cardinal girls’ season list in assists with 49 and in steals with 34. She blocked 10 shots.

Jenkins finished second in scoring for the Cardinals with 149 points. She was the team’s leader from the free-throw line, cashing in 64-of-91 attempts for 70.3 percent. Jenkins was 40-of-166 from the field and hit five 3-pointers. Jenkins was second in assists with 41, made 27 steals and grabbed 54 rebounds.

Stock, the only senior on the NHS girls’ team this season, tied for fourth in scoring with 117 points. She was fifth in rebounds with 63. Stock shot 34.7 percent, 41-of-118, from the field overall. She hit five 3-pointers. Stock went 30-of-47 from the free-throw line for 64 percent.

The Cardinal girls tied for fifth in the Little Hawkeye Conference with Knoxville, both with a 5-9 record. Newton was 5-17 overall, losing to Pella in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

After checking with the high school, there are no NHS girls’ basketball records available.