Newton basketball closes gap in losses to Pella

PELLA — Adam Mattes scored a season-high 28 points, but Newton’s boys’ basketball team couldn’t overcome a slow start on the road against Class 3A No. 2 Pella.

The Cardinals’ rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit with a big second half but ultimately fell to the Dutch 69-64 during Little Hawkeye Conference play.

Newton outscored Pella 38-26 in the second half.

The latest result was a big improvement from the first meeting. Pella won that one 73-35.

Mattes added three rebounds to his 28 points. Jake Ingle finished with 14 points and three assists, Brody Bauer chipped in eight points, five rebounds and four assists and Zay Arguello tallied five points, three rebounds and three assists.

Logan Schilling scored seven points and Keith Moko added six points and four assists.

The Cardinals (5-7 overall, 3-6 in conference play) shot 49 percent from the floor, hit 8-of-20 from 3-point range and connected on 8-of-11 from the line. Newton turned it over 17 times.

Grant Nelson led Pella (13-1, 9-0) with 31 points and five assists and Karl Miller added 14 points and five rebounds.

Pella shot 52 percent from the floor, made 10-of-24 from 3-point range and hit 15-of-19 from the line. The Dutch committed 13 turnovers.

GIRLS

Pella 46, Newton 37

Newton’s girls’ basketball team was defeated 62-24 by Pella at home earlier this season. On Friday, on the road, the Cardinals closed the gap significantly.

Newton led by three after one and was outscored 20-17 in the second half during a 46-37 loss in LHC action. The second quarter decided the game as Pella (8-7, 4-4) outscored the Cardinals 15-6.

“I was proud of the effort tonight,” Newton girls coach Eric Vander Velden said. “We executed everything that we have been working on over the last few days. Our goal is to get better each game and get ready for regionals.”

Meg Callaghan had another double-double, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Chassidy Henwood added 11 points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Callaghan and Henwood both played nearly all 32 minutes of the game as Vander Velden is down to a six-player rotation.

The Cardinals (2-12, 0-9) shot 36 percent from the floor, made 4-of-9 from 3-point range and hit only 5-of-14 from the foul line. They also turned it over 22 times.

Aurora Nehring had six points and five rebounds, Victoria Reynolds scored five points and Kealey Manning grabbed three boards.

“To be honest, we are better than our record shows,” Vander Velden said. “We have a big week with four games so we have to be ready to compete for 32 minutes.”