Defense leads Newton girls to home win over Pella Christian

The Newton girls basketball team tipped two passes on Pella Christian’s first offensive possession of the game on Tuesday.

While neither of them led directly to turnovers or a change of possession, it set the tone for the rest of the game and a strong defensive effort led the Cardinals to a 43-37 home win over the Eagles during Little Hawkeye Conference play.

“We created some of those tips early and got out to an early lead and that gave us the confidence we needed to know we could win the game,” Newton head girls basketball coach Jake Bennett said. “The message was to control the tempo and get up on them as they dribble it up the court. We wanted to make sure they couldn’t get the ball to their posts easily so we tried to pressure their guards as much as we could.”

Newton improved to 6-0 on the season when holding its opponent to fewer than 40 points. The Cardinals also matched last year’s win total with at least 12 games remaining on the schedule.

“We are working hard and it’s paying off on the floor,” Newton senior Alex Garvis said. “Our defense was stupendous. We worked all week on guarding up close and being aggressive down low. I think the girls accomplished that and lived up to our standard.”

Garvis took five shots from the floor in the game. But she’d be OK if she took zero shots. Her main role most nights is to guard the other team’s best perimeter player and her big focus on Tuesday was on Faith Kacmarynski and Garvis held her to almost exactly what her season averages were coming into the game.

“My role on this team is to play aggressive defense,” said Garvis, who finished with five points, eight rebounds and three assists in the win. “It’s all about serving my team the best way I can. The shots will fall when they do, but I focus on defense and helping my team that way.”

The Cardinals jumped out to leads of 6-0 and 9-4 in the first quarter. The Eagles were held to the end of the shot clock in two of their first three possessions, too.

Alex Riney’s 3-pointer made it 9-4, but the game was tied at 9-all after one quarter.

Another 3 from Riney to start the second made it 12-9 and the lead eventually grew to 16-11.

Garvis made a 3 to put the Cardinals in front 19-17 with 33 seconds to go in the first half. Pella Christian answered Newton with a 3 of its own at the other end and led 20-19 at the break.

Every time the Eagles punched Newton to trim their deficit, the Cardinals punched back to extend their advantage.

A trey from Kacmarynski put the Eagles (4-6, 0-3 in the conference) back in front early in the third, but Riney drilled her third triple of the night, Payton Carkhuff scored on a drive to the hoop and Tori White made a bucket inside to give Newton a 28-23 advantage.

A Carkhuff jumper answered Rachel Kacmarynski’s three-point play and gave the Cardinals a 32-28 lead after three.

Pella Christian wouldn’t go away though. The Kacmarynski sisters scored five straight after a White layup to get within 34-33 and then closed to within 36-35 after Faith scored on a drive to the basket.

That’s when Newton put the game away. The Cardinals scored seven of the final nine points to claim their first conference win.

The run included two buckets inside from White, two free throws from Riney and one freebie from Carkhuff.

“We want to face adversity head on and not be scared of it,” Garvis said. “We are doing a good job of not getting in our own heads when things don’t go well.”

White led the Cardinals (7-3, 1-3) with 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. She was 7-of-9 from the floor.

Riney added a career-best 13 points and tallied two rebounds, two assists and four steals. She was 3-of-5 from 3-point range.

Carkhuff chipped in seven points, three boards, two assists and two steals and Brooke Garvis dished out two assists off the bench.

“We want to be resilient and have that culture,” Bennett said. “For them to be able to get punched and then punch back is good to see. Our team is on a boat and other teams are trying to poke holes in the boat. How do we respond to that? Are we going to patch it together as a team or just do it as individuals?

“The big message lately is how we can be aggressive as a team defensively and moving the ball and not being selfish on the offensive end. I’ve seen a lot of that lately, and it’s good to see the growth of the girls as the season goes.”

The Cardinals shot 46 percent from the floor, made 4-of-8 from 3 and connected on 3-of-9 from the free-throw line. They turned the ball over 15 times and were out-rebounded 27-22.

Newton forced Pella Christian into 22 turnovers and the Eagles shot just 35.7 percent from the floor.

Rachel Kacmarynski led the Eagles with 15 points, 12 rebounds and four steals and Faith Kacmarynski added eight points, five rebounds and five assists.

Chloe Snyder, who came into the game as the Eagles’ leading scorer at 12 points per game, suffered a lower leg injury late in the first half and did not return.

“We worked hard in the offseason and to see that pay off with these wins is really fun to see and rewarding for them,” Bennett said. “It’s not going to get any easier, we know that. This conference is loaded with good teams.”

Notes: Newton won the game without Evie Main. She was dressed but did not play after missing time recently due to illness. … Pella Christian spent an early portion of the season in the Class 2A state rankings. The Eagles have already played 1A No. 7 Montezuma, 2A No. 1 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, 3A No. 10 PCM, 4A No. 3 Norwalk and Oskaloosa, which was ranked earlier this season in 4A. … The Cardinals came into the night averaging 35 points per game in conference play and 24 turnovers per contest but scored eight more points and had nine fewer turnovers against Pella Christian.