The Newton girls and boys basketball teams split a home Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader against Oskaloosa Friday night that was heard live on the KRLS3 stream at KNIAKRLS.com. The Cardinal girls used good defense and timely baskets to beat Oskaloosa 36-29, while the Newton boys spotted the Indians a 12-0 lead and never recovered in a 55-45 loss.

In the girls game, the Cardinals got out to a 5-0 lead early, but struggled offensively the rest of the first quarter and found themselves in a 5-5 tie after the opening eight minutes. Newton found their rhythm  in the second period, jumping out to a 20-12 advantage at halftime. The Indians cut the Cardinals’ eight point lead down to six at the end of the third quarter, but Newton outscored Oskaloosa 6-5 over the last eight minutes of the game to secure the win. Alex Riney led the Cardinals in the victory with ten points, while Payton Carkhuff had nine and Hailey Dickerson added eight. Newton head coach Jake Bennett called it a “gritty” win achieved through defense, as his squad limited Oskaloosa’s leading scorer Dasia Foster to three points.

“That was the goal. Take her out and make people that are in roles make key decisions and baskets of the game. That worked out well for us. They missed shots when we needed them to miss, and we made shots in the moments we needed too.”

In the nightcap, the Newton boys couldn’t dig out of the early hole they dug against Oskaloosa, trailing 18-11 after the first quarter. The Cardinals deficit grew to 29-17 at halftime and 46-31 at the end of the third quarter. Newton managed to pull within six late in the game, but Oskaloosa held them off for the 55-45 win. Landon Bozarth was the lone Cardinal to reach double figures on the night, scoring 11 points. Newton head coach Jason Carter said the defensive effort wasn’t what it should have been, and the team’s 3-point shots weren’t falling. 

“We have talked about living and dying by the three point shot. But we have to find other ways to win because we are not going to hit double-digit 3’s every night. We have to be able to find that spark in a different way, other than making shots.”

The Newton girls improved to 8-3 overall on the season and 2-3 in conference play, while the  boys fell to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the conference. The Cardinal boys and girls basketball teams will get three days off, before returning to the court on Tuesday to host Norwalk in another Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader.