The Indianola girls basketball team started a winning streak Friday night with a 66-36 victory on the road over Newton, while the boys struggled to score against the Cardinals in a 64-41 defeat as heard live on 94.3 KNIA.

The Indians girls struggled to pull away from the Cardinals in the first half, earning a tied score at the end of the first at 13 each, then only leading 32-26 at halftime after a strong first half by Brynn Bishop with four three-pointers. The second half was a dominant defensive showing by the Indians, allowing only ten total points and outscoring the Cardinals 15-5 in the third and 19-5 in the fourth. Head coach Jeff Janssen tells KNIA Sports the fight in this team to find a way to win and dominate the way they did in the second half against a physical Newton team is fun to coach.

Bishop led the team in scoring with 15, while Brooke White had 10 and Abbie Kluver had 9.

The Indians boys fell behind against the Cardinals early and didn’t have enough offensive firepower to get back into the game as the lead slowly built up to the 23-point deficit at the end. Newton led by 9 at the end of the first, 16 at half, and 19 at the end of the third. George Blake again led the Indians in scoring with 12 points off the bench.

The girls are now 4-9 overall and 4-2 in the LIttle Hawkeye Conference, while the boys are 0-10. Both teams next play this afternoon hosting Clear Creek-Amana in a non-conference matchup at 2pm.