Newton boys end long losing streak against Indianola

INDIANOLA — A balanced offensive attack helped the Newton boys’ basketball team snap a long losing skid against Indianola on Friday.

The Cardinals held a narrow lead after one quarter and used a strong fourth frame to put away the Indians during a 47-39 road win in Little Hawkeye Conference play.

It snapped Indianola’s 12-game winning streak in the series. The Cardinals’ last win over the Indians came on Dec. 1, 2017.

“I told the boys it was the only team in the conference I hadn’t beaten yet in my coaching career,” Newton head boys basketball coach Jason Carter said. “It feels pretty good. We couldn’t close out the win against Grinnell, but we were able to make plays down the stretch to win this one.”

The Cardinals led 15-11 after one and held a 27-21 lead at halftime. Indianola pulled within one after three following a 10-5 advantage in the third, but Newton won the fourth 15-8 to close out the win in its conference opener.

The Cardinals led by three with around 1:30 to go but pulled away late. Indianola went scoreless in about the final four minutes.

“We locked down defensively,” Carter said. “Indianola is always tough. It was good to come out on top this year after nearly winning over there the last two years.”

Christian Lawson led the Cardinals (2-1, 1-0 in the LHC) with 13 points, five rebounds and two steals. Caden Klein added 11 points, four rebounds and two steals and Caleb Mattes chipped in 10 points, seven assists and four boards.

Nate Lampe tallied four points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals and Hunter Teague contributed five points and three rebounds. Cade Bauer posted four points, two rebounds and two steals off the bench.

After not scoring in the opener against Grinnell, Lawson has led the Cardinals in points the past two games.

“He’s incredibly important to our success,” Carter said. “He has a ton of potential. He can do things that other kids can’t do because they don’t have the athletic ability to do so. I challenged him early in the Marshalltown game and he responded as well as a coach could have hoped for.”

The Cardinals won the game despite shooting only 39.6 percent from the floor because they turned the ball over just 10 times.

Newton was 6-of-18 from 3-point range and made 3-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Indianola dropped to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the league.