GOTTA WIN ON HOMECOMING...made for a special night for the Newton Indians against National Trail.

JANUARY 9, 2009 - PLEASANT HILL
Friday night was Homecoming at Newton and not to be outdone by the their CCC brethren with football programs, the band was in full dress and put on a show between games that would make any band program proud. Not to be outdone, the basketball team put on a defensive show after half time that put the visiting National Trail Blazers in a hole they would not recover from. Newton started the Homecoming weekend off with a win, 55 – 46.

Newton mustered 6 points in the first quarter, all from their big man Justin Hutton. His 6 points was enough to take the lead into the second quarter until National Trail’s leading scorer Dalton Abner nailed two 3 point goals in the last minute of the quarter that gave the Blazers a 6 – 10 lead.

Josh Arahood started the second quarter for the Blazers with 4 points that included a nice drive down the lane. Newton countered with some nice ball movement on the following possession that found Hutton open for two to make the score 12 – 14, Blazers. The Blazers opened their biggest lead of the night on a 7 – 2 run that included a trey and another bucket from Abner as they led 14 – 21 with 2 minutes remaining in the quarter. Hutton brought the Indians within 2 on an old fashioned 3 point play. Jordan Ferguson nailed a free throw with 9 second left in the half that pulled Newton within one, 20 – 21.

Newton threw a ? press at National Trail at the beginning of the half that netted a big return for the home team. Freshman Jordan Hodges seeing his first significant varsity experience in this game scored his first of 10 points as a result of steal that gave Newton the lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest. Newton outscored National Trail 15 – 3 in the quarter to take an 11 point lead at the end of the 3rd quarter.

“We thought they would have a little problem with some pressure” noted Newton’s head coach Neal Hans. “Overall, they (National Trail) did a pretty good job handling the pressure but I think the press threw them off a little bit into getting into their offense.”

Struggling in the third quarter is nothing new for the Blazers, noted their head coach Jeremy Everman. While the Blazers have Juniors and Seniors on the floor they lack varsity experience and it seems to show more in the third quarter. Everman noted that in the Dixie game they’re down 5 at the half and got outscored 31 – 8 in the third quarter.

After scoring 13 points in the first half, the Indians held Abner to two free throws in the second half.

“We did a better job of keeping track of him in the second half” Hans noted after the game. “He seemed to be matched up on the side with Jordan Hodges. Jordan has long arms for a kid that is 6 foot tall and that made it difficult for him (Abner) to get his shot off. We feel asleep a few times in the first half and lost him and he made us pay for it.”

The Blazers climbed within 5 points several times in the 4th quarter and that was due to Arahood’s work on the offensive glass. Justin Hutton fouled out with just under 5 minutes in the quarter and Arahood took advantage with several stickbacks and ended with a career high 16 points.

Arahood’s heroics were kept at bay by the free throw shooting of Newton sophomore Cody Jackson. Jackson nailed 10 of 12 free throws in the 4th quarter to help secure the victory for the Indians.

While disappointed in their 11th straight loss, Coach Everman is optimistic that the Blazers will continue to improve and gain some wins in the second half of the season.

“The schedule has not been kind to us” noted Everman. “Out of the first eleven games, nine of them have been on the road. We’ve played two home games and it was against two of the stronger teams in the CCC with Maimi East and Bethel.”

“We’re learning under fire” continued Everman. “I expect them to bounce back. I expect the end of our season to be a lot better. I’ve had these kids the last few years and they are very resilient. They are not the kind of kids to put their heads between their legs and back down. I expect more out of them than what they have been giving me and in turn I think they expect more out of themselves.

“Our kids play hard. Hopefully our learning curve will be accelerated, because it has to be for us to be successful. I get everyone of these kids back for the most part next year. I have some young talent and I plan to keep building on that.”

The Blazers return home to play the Mississinawa Blackhawks on Friday while the Indians will host the Miami East Vikings.

Score by quarters
National Trail…10…21…24…46
Newton………...6…20…35…55

National Trail (2 pt – 3pt – FT)
Abner – (1 – 3 – 4/4) – 15
Neal – (1 – 1/4) – 3
Arahood - (5 – 6/6) – 16
Vance - (2 – 1) – 7
Gibbins – (1/4) – 1
Rhodus – (2) – 4
Total (11 – 4 – 12/18) 46

Newton
Lavy – (2 – 2/3) – 4
Hodges (4 – 2/6) – 10
Filburn (1) – 2
Jackson (0 – 1 – 12/14) – 15
Howell (2) – 4
Hutton (6 – 1/2) – 13
Total (17 – 1 – 18/29) - 55