Offense plagues Newton girls in loss to Indians

Defense was not the issue for the Newton girls basketball team on Friday during its Little Hawkeye Conference matchup with Indianola.

But the Cardinals lost for the first time this season when allowing 40 or fewer points. Newton was plagued by 21 percent shooting from the floor and was only 2-of-21 from 3-point range during a 40-28 home loss to the Indians.

Newton rallied from an early hole but scored its third fewest points in a game this season and dropped to 7-1 when holding an opponent to 40 points or fewer.

“It’s a multitude of things,” Newton head girls basketball coach Jake Bennett said about the offense. “I think being ready to shoot and having confidence in their shots is No. 1. Being able to find the open person is another thing. We were often just one pass away. We could execute a little better and get the ball inside a little bit more.”

The Cardinals, who have lost three straight, trailed 7-0 early and were down 10-4 after one quarter. Evie Main buried a 3-pointer early in the second and Tori White scored inside to melt the margin to 12-9.

A runner in the lane by Payton Carkhuff kept the Cardinals close, but they trailed 16-11 at the break.

The margin swelled to nine after three because Newton was limited to five points in the third. An Alex Riney 3 trimmed the deficit to 23-16, but Indianola won the third 9-5 and led 25-16 after three.

Riney and Addyson Cibula made back-to-back buckets to begin the fourth, but Indianola answered with back-to-back 3s that extended its advantage back to double digits. The Indians led by as many as 16 following a 12-1 run, and the Cardinals didn’t get any closer than 10 the rest of the way.

“When they needed to make shots, they did,” Bennett said. “They’re a well-coached team and have the ability to make those. Our game plan was to be OK with them getting some looks from outside. We played zone and packed things up inside to take away the driving lanes. They made two big shots when they needed them, but our defensive game plan was working for the most part. Our goal was to keep them to 40 or under and we did that.”

The Indians were 13-of-29 from the free-throw line. They made 9-of-18 in the fourth to maintain an advantage and connected on seven more than Newton in the win. The Cardinals (8-6, 2-5 in the conference) made 6-of-14 from the charity stripe.

White led Newton with seven points, 11 rebounds, two assists and six steals. Riney chipped in five points, five rebounds and two steals before fouling out, Hailey Dickerson collected four points and two rebounds and Alex Garvis totaled three points, three rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Carkhuff grabbed seven boards and swiped three steals. Main led the reserves with three points and two rebounds and Brooke Garvis grabbed two boards off the bench.

Newton turned the ball over 14 times but had 17 steals and blocked four shots.

Alexa Guyer and Zoey Belt both scored nine points to lead Indianola (5-9. 4-3) and Lauren Olson and Madison Grover each put in eight.

“They took away our post players in the second half and gave us some outside shots. We have to be able to knock them down in those situations,” Bennett said. “They played hard and tried their best to execute. That’s all we can ask for. Our press break wasn’t that great against Albia. It was better today. We got open looks out of it, too, but were just unable to make shots.”

Notes: Indianola improved to 18-0 against Newton since 2016. The 11- and 12-point losses this season were the closest the Cardinals have been during that stretch. ... White leads the Cardinals in scoring and rebounding at 7.9 per game. She also averages three steals per contest.