Newton girls start 2025 with pair of wins

All 13 players saw action in the game, 10 scored at least two points and the Newton girls basketball team used a fast start to down Knoxville at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals led 14-2 after one quarter and held the Panthers to single digits in each frame during a 53-17 victory.

“What we lacked yesterday but were better today was defensive intensity,” Newton head girls basketball coach Jake Bennett said. “That allowed us to get more points in transition and better looks offensively.”

Newton has opened 2025 with a pair of non-conference wins as it downed Des Moines Hoover on Friday.

The fast start against Knoxville was a big part of maintaining confidence and intensity throughout the contest.

Payton Carkhuff scored six of her eight points in the first quarter as the Cardinals led 6-0 before using a 14-0 run to go up 20-2 in the second.

Tori White scored a team-best 13 points in the win and eight of those came in the first half. She opened the second with a bucket and Carkhuff’s final points of the game came between four points from Knoxville’s Hannah Dunkin, who scored 14 of the Panthers’ 17 points.

All seven of Alex Riney’s points came in the first half. She ended the second with a 3-pointer that put the Cardinals in front 29-6 at the break.

“I think it was good. We need fast starts all the time,” Carkhuff said. “It gets us going and allows us to play care free and aggressive.”

White scored Newton’s first five in the third and Hailey Dickerson added back-to-back buckets later in the frame. Camryn Klein converted a putback after that to push the Cardinals’ lead to 40-11.

Dickerson scored four of her six in the third. Five players scored at least six in the game.

“Our energy and playing as one big team, not being selfish and playing all out on the court has been great,” Dickerson said. “The freshmen group has helped a lot, and we seem to be coming together at the right time.”

The fourth frame belonged to Newton’s reserves. Brooke Garvis scored six of her eight points in the quarter and foreign exchange student Irene Olaso drilled a 3 to put the Cardinals in front 49-17.

Sophia Coady added a layup and Emerson Ray made a pair of free throws for the final margin.

“To see Irene hit a 3 was fun,” Bennett said. “She works hard every single day, and you always like seeing that work pay off.”

Newton finished 11-of-15 from the free-throw line, while Knoxville (2-6) was only 4-of-8. All of other statistics were not available at press time.

The Cardinals (6-3) are one victory shy of last year’s win total. They are 6-0 in non-conference games.

“We played selfless basketball and that allowed a lot of girls to get into the scoring column,” Bennett said. “That’s a testament of the girls trying to find the best shot for the team and not necessarily the best shot for them. That made the ball movement a lot better, too.”

Newton 58, Des Moines Hoover 47

A 16-0 run to start the third was the difference for the Cardinals against Des Moines Hoover on Friday.

Newton led by three after one, went into halftime with a 10-point advantage and held off a late rally from the Huskies during a 58-47 non-conference home win.

“There were some things we needed to clean up in that one. Hoover came out and shot the ball really well, and we weren’t expecting that,” Bennett said. “They kind of hung around. Our halftime mentality was to come out and execute, be aggressive and create opportunities for ourselves at the offensive end.”

Coreysha Brown was added to the Hoover roster over the holiday break. That was not an expectation for Bennett and his coaching staff and Brown, who transferred within the Des Moines School District, gave the hosts some problems.

But the 16-0 run to start the third provided the Cardinals with the separation they needed to open the new year with a victory. Hoover (1-6) won the fourth 20-11.

“They came back on us when we put our younger girls on the court,” Bennett said. “It was good to be in that situation so we can learn how to close out a game.”

Dickerson led the Cardinals with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Alex Garvis contributed a season-high 10 points and chipped in four rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Riney scored nine points and grabbed two boards, White collected six points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals and Carkhuff had six points and four steals.

Brooke Garvis finished with four points, five rebounds and two assists, Addyson Cibula tallied four points and three rebounds, Evie Main put in five points, Klein dished out three assists and Ray grabbed three boards.

The Cardinals shot 42.6 percent from the floor, made 4-of-19 from 3 and connected on 8-of-15 from the foul line.

Newton, which scored its third straight win over Hoover, committed 20 turnovers but grabbed 14 offensive rebounds.