Newton boys use strong finish to down Indianola

The first game between Newton and Indianola needed overtime. So Newton head boys basketball coach Jason Carter expected the rematch to be nip and tuck again.

After a high-scoring first period, the Cardinals and Indians struggled at the offensive end, but the Newton boys basketball team did enough late to down the Indians 46-40 at home.

“I expected this to be just like the last game,” Carter said. “They’re young, but they’re getting better and playing everyone in the league tough. They start four sophomores. They lost to Pella on a buzzer beater. Their record does not show how good they are.”

Indianola dropped to 15-7 against Newton since 2007, but the Cardinals scored their second straight season sweep following 12 consecutive wins by the Indians.

The game was tied at 38-all after three quarters, but Newton outscored its visitors 8-2 in the final frame to improve its record to 4-3 in games decided by eight points or less this winter.

“This was the definition of a game of runs,” Carter said. “We just matched each other. When one of us went cold, the other one went cold. You just had to bear down defensively, stay the course and trust that we’d make enough shots at the end. And our kids did that. We didn’t do that the last time we were in a close game so it was nice to see it this time.”

The Cardinals (8-5, 3-4 in the conference) led 18-14 after the first quarter. Newton led 6-2 after a 3-pointer by Caden Klein, but Indianola scored eight of the next nine points to move in front 10-7.

An 8-0 run by Newton that included back-to-back 3s by Creighton Andrew and Klein pushed the Cardinals back in front.

The hosts maintained a lead until Indianola answered a Dawson Maki layup with seven straight points. There were six lead changes in the second and neither team led by more than six points in the first half.

Landon Bozarth put the Cardinals in the lead with a bucket inside and Klein ended the first half with six more points to give Newton a 33-30 lead at the break.

Klein scored 14 of his game-high 16 points in the first two quarters.

“We were hitting shots in the first half but so were they. It was a close game at halftime,” Bozarth said. “We slowed the tempo down in the second half, but they didn’t score either. We controlled the tempo well I think.”

The two teams combined to score 23 points in the second half. Indianola won the third 8-5 to force a tie after three. The Indians rallied from a 35-30 hole to tie the score and then both teams made a 3 to end the quarter.

The fourth belonged to Bozarth, who scored six of his 15 in the period and had an assist on the Cardinals’ only other basket. Indianola scored the first hoop of the frame before the Cardinals ended the game on an 8-0 run.

Bozarth and Andrew converted baskets inside to give the hosts another lead, and Bozarth’s layup with 36.8 seconds to play sealed the game. He also made a pair of free throws with 12.4 seconds left.

Indianola missed an open putback with less than 2 minutes to play. The Indians also couldn’t find the bottom of the net multiple times on one possession in a four-point hole before Klein cleared the rebound with 14.5 seconds on the clock.

Bozarth wanted the ball in his hands for the late free throws. His game-deciding basket in the final minute came on a cut to the hoop against Indianola’s zone defense.

“I caught it on the high post and saw an open lane and just wanted to get a bucket,” Bozarth said. “I shoot plenty of free throws in practice and am confident enough to want those late in the game.”

Carter said the Cardinals were stagnant against the zone defense in the fourth. A timeout late in the game helped Bozarth get some space for the final field goal.

“That was just Landon cutting in the zone,” Carter said. “Once we got back to running our zone offense we found an easy cut in the middle. We practice those cuts, and it was a great play on his part. We found a way to knock a few shots down when it mattered most.”

Klein and Bozarth combined for 31 of Newton’s 46 points in the win. Klein finished with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists and Bozarth added 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Klein (10.5), Bozarth (10.5) and Bauer (10.4) all average around 10 points per game for the season. Bauer did not score against the Indians, but he opened things up for his teammates.

“A big part of why only two guys scored most of our points was how they guarded (Bauer),” Carter said. “They were face guarding him and playing four-on-four everywhere else. That opened up a lot of space for (Klein) to get downhill and opened up a lot of touches for (Bozarth) in the middle. Those two took advantage of how they guarded (Bauer).”

Bauer did grab three rebounds and Andrew finished with five points, four rebounds and three assists. Isaiah Slaughter pitched in five points and two rebounds off the bench, Christian Ergenbright added four rebounds and two assists and Maki put in five points off the bench.

Newton shot 39 percent from the floor, made 7-of-26 from 3 and connected on 3-of-5 from the free-throw line. Indianola out-rebounded the Cardinals 32-28 and both teams combined for only 17 turnovers.

The Indians (3-8, 3-4) were plagued by 31 percent shooting from the floor and were 6-of-21 from 3.

George Blake, Andrew DeWall and Easton McGraw combined for 87 percent of the Indians’ points after accounting for 86 percent in the first meeting.

Blake had 13 points and six rebounds, McGraw scored 12 points and DeWall tallied 10 points, nine boards and four assists. Hayden Schulte dished out six assists.

Notes: The Cardinals were missing Tyler Thompson for the second straight game. He was out all week with an illness. ... The Cardinals point differential is currently at 2.3. They are shooting 30 percent from 3 and 48 percent from the foul line. ... Newton improved to 3-4 when scoring fewer than 50 points.