No. 10 Grinnell too much for Newton girls

GRINNELL — Newton’s head girls’ basketball coach Eric Vander Velden finally got to see what his Cardinal team looked like against an opponent.

Unfortunately, that opponent was Class 4A No. 10 Grinnell. On Tuesday, in the season opener for both teams, the Tigers were quicker and simply made more shots from outside in a 65-31victory during Little Hawkeye Conference play.

The Cardinals turned the ball over 31 times, made 34 percent of their shots and were just 1-of-10 from 3-point range.

But Newton’s on-ball defense was more concerning for Vander Velden.

“They are quick. They want to drive the ball and shoot 3-pointers,” Vander Velden said. “Our defense needs to be better. We have stressed defense the last week. And there were things we didn’t do at that end of the floor tonight that we were doing in practice. We just need to get better at it.”

The Cardinals were hanging tough in the first few minutes. Senior Meg Callaghan scored the team’s first eight points of the season and her third bucket inside the lane made it 8-6 Grinnell.

But the Tigers led 21-9 after one quarter and outscored Newton (0-1 overall, 0-1 in the LHC) 20-4 in the second.

Grinnell applied full-court pressure for much of the game. Newton did a good job breaking the press, but the Tigers forced turnovers in other ways.

The Cardinals were hampered by foul trouble in the first half as senior Victoria Reynolds picked up her second foul just two minutes into the game and junior Aurora Nehring was whistled for her third foul at the 4:30 mark of the second frame.

Newton scored 18 points in the second half. Senior Chassidy Henwood scored all eight of her points in the second half. Vander Velden wants his all-conference point guard to take more shots.

“I challenged Chassidy and she played a lot better in the second half,” Vander Velden said. “She needs to look to score more.”

Vander Velden thought his team played much better in the second half. The Cardinals outscored the Tigers (1-0, 1-0) 10-9 in the fourth.

Sophomore Audrey Rausch put in half of those points and finished with seven points and six rebounds in the game.

Callaghan led the Cardinals with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Henwood finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“Audrey Rausch played a lot better in the second half, too. And Meg Callaghan was Meg Callaghan. She did what we expected her to do,” Vander Velden said. “The shots weren’t falling tonight, but that’s why I tried to get (Reynolds) and Audrey shots at the end of the game just to get their confidence back up. We only have one practice before playing again so we have to get ready to go.”

Vander Velden said Grinnell has three outstanding players and two of them hurt the Cardinals in the box score. Meredith McKnight led all scorers with 15 points and Ivey Smith added 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Newton out-rebounded Grinnell 34-26 in the game, but Vander Velden said second-chance points hurt the Cardinals. Of the Tigers’ 26 boards, 11 were offensive.

“They have three good players. And we knew those three players would be key in the game,” Vander Velden said. “We didn’t get enough stops in the first and second quarters and second-chance points hurt us. We didn’t box out well.”

Notes: Nehring grabbed four boards and dished out two assists and junior Kealey Manning pulled down four rebounds for Newton. ... Grinnell shot 47 percent from the floor and made six triples. ... Former Newton standout Casey McDermott was on the opponents' bench as she begins her second season as a Grinnell assistant coach. ... The Cardinals face Oskaloosa for an LHC girl-boy varsity doubleheader starting at 6:15 p.m. on Friday in Oskaloosa.