Top-ranked DCG too much for Newton girls

The Newton girls basketball team held Class 4A No. 1 Dallas Center-Grimes to 21 first-half points on Tuesday.

The Cardinals limited their turnovers and rebounded the basketball but just couldn’t find the bottom of the net consistently.

Eventually, the talented Mustangs got going offensively and DCG stayed undefeated in Little Hawkeye Conference play with a 54-21 road win.

“The effort was there and we competed for 32 minutes,” Newton head girls basketball coach Eric Vander Velden said. “I wrote on the board, ‘don’t let them dictate you.’ And I thought we did a good job of that.

“Only giving up 21 points in the first half was great. We just didn’t score.”

The Mustangs scored the game’s first 12 points and led 18-3 midway through the second quarter.

Audrey Rausch buried a 3-pointer at the end of the first and a combined three free throws from Alex Garvis and Hailey Dickerson came in the second.

But that’s all the Cardinals could muster against a Mustangs squad that was limited to 3-of-22 from 3-point range.

Newton shot 14 percent from the floor, made 3-of-15 from 3 and connected on 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. The Cardinals also committed 22 turnovers.

“Defensively, we did a great job. He called three timeouts in the second quarter. That’s the No. 1 team in the state,” Vander Velden said. “They were mad, flustered and didn’t know what to do.

“We did a good job boxing out and didn’t give them many second-chance opportunities. We just didn’t put the ball in the hoop.”

Newton was held to six first-half points despite drawing six first-quarter fouls on the Mustangs.

“They had six fouls in the first quarter, but we didn’t get to the foul line until 2 minutes left in the second,” Vander Velden said. “I called timeout to tell them to be more aggressive and get to the line.”

Cardinal leading scorer Sophia Reynolds struggled from the floor in the first half, but she opened the third with a 3-pointer and scored again on a drive to the basket.

Reynolds added a free throw and layup later and Rausch made another 3 that got Newton to within 35-17.

The Mustangs (13-3 overall, 9-0 in the conference) scored the final six points of the third and 12 of the first 14 points in the fourth.

Newton was outscored 20-11 in the third and 13-4 in the fourth. Reynolds made a layup and Haylie Ryan scored on a putback to cap the Cardinals’ scoring in the fourth.

Reynolds led Newton (3-11, 1-8) with 10 points and three steals and Rausch collected six points and three rebounds.

“(Reynolds) was off in the first half but still scored 10 points,” Vander Velden said. “She played the whole game until we pulled everyone late. She has to be on the floor. We need others to step up though.

“Audrey making two 3s was big for us. She’s starting to feel a lot better. She’s moving better.”

Dallas Center-Grimes improved to 21-0 against Newton since 2014. The Mustangs shot 41 percent from the floor, made 5-of-10 from the foul line and committed 14 turnovers.

Emma Minor led the Mustangs with 22 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Notes: DCG won the junior varsity game 53-35. Bella Winther made three 3-pointers and led the squad with 11 points. Tori White scored seven and Moriah Reynolds and Alex Riney each scored six. … Minor is now averaging 16 points per game. She scored her 1,000th career point midway through the third quarter.