The Newton girls basketball team picked up their first postseason win under second year head coach Jake Bennett on Wednesday, as the third-seeded Cardinals defeated  sixth-seeded Boone 41-37 in a game heard live on 92.1 KRLS and the KRLS3 stream. 

Newton jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the contest, and led 8-4 at the end of the first quarter.  The game remained tightly contested in the second period, with the Cardinals holding an 18-14 advantage at halftime. Newton pushed the lead to six at the end of the third period at 31-25, and pushed the edge up to as many as nine points in the fourth quarter, before Boone closed the gap to two with 25 seconds left. Cardinals sophomore Payton Carkhuff sealed the four-point win with two free throws with 10 seconds remaining. Carkhuff scored 13 points to lead the scoring effort for Newton, and was the only Cardinal to reach double figures. Newton head coach Jake Bennett says every player contributed defensively to the win. 

“I think our defense is the entire reason we won the game. Every person made plays. It was just a really fun effort all around’”

Next up for the 11-11 Newton girls is a class 4A Region 6 semifinal game at #10 Carlisle Saturday night, with tip off at 7p.m. Carlisle is the region’s #2 seed with a record of 17-4.