The Indianola girls basketball team survived a ferocious comeback attempt in the third quarter to defeat Newton 53-42 Friday night, while the boys fell in overtime to the Cardinals 64-56. The Indians girls led 11-5 after the first, then 24-14 at halftime. After the Cardinals scored the first points of the second half, Indianola went on a 6-0 run to lead 30-16 and seemingly in full control, but gave up a 14-0 run and only led 32-30 heading into the final eight minutes. Despite multiple ties in the fourth, the Indians found their groove offensively and got key buckets to pull ahead and earn the win. Head coach Jeff Janssen tells KNIA Sports the squad was able to find wins in back to back nights with a strong fourth quarter, and it came from many different places.

“We could have withered. All the momentum tonight was on Newton’s side when they tied it at 30. But for our girls to keep making plays, trusting the process, trusting their teammates. We’ve had some really balanced scoring and it doesn’t have to be one girl all the time, and to mix that up has been huge the last 24 hours. Again, really proud of our girls.”

Madi Grover led the team with 17 points.

The Indians boys went back and forth with the Cardinals throughout the entire night, trailing 16-13 after the first but leading at halftime 34-32 despite nine three-pointers made by Newton in the first half. The defense clamped down in the second half, but Newton would pull ahead 47-45 at the end of the third, only to see Indianola with a 52-51 lead with 1:25 remaining. Only one free throw went through the net by Newton in the final minute, but it was enough to force overtime, where the Indians only scored four points from the free-throw line.

Andrew DeWall had 18 points, while George Blake and Easton McGraw scored 15 each. The girls are now 2-2 on the season, while the boys are 0-2, and both teams next play on Thursday at Ames.