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MHS boys double up Cardinals

Armonniey Thomas

NEWTON — First-year head coach Michael Appel has tried to stress defense to the Marshalltown boys basketball team.

On Thursday night, his persistence paid off.

The Bobcats pounded Newton in a non-conference showdown, beating the Cardinals 58-29 with relative ease. It’s the lowest point total for a Newton team since the 2012-13 season, and one in which the Cardinals didn’t reach double-digits until the second half.

“Mostly it was our defense that started everything, we’ve been emphasizing that the entire week,” said Appel. “We hurried [Newton] up and pressured their two best guys and made it hard for them to score.”

Offensively, Appel said his squad exhibited patience and valued the ball, cutting back on turnovers while waiting for the best shot option available. Senior point guard Jacob Smith shared team-high scoring honors with freshman guard Armonniey Thomas, who tallied two 3-pointers on his way to a new scoring high.

“Offensively we were patient, we made the right plays and took good shots,” Appel said. “When we did those things, we were successful tonight.”

Sunday Arou also reached double figures for Marshalltown, scoring 10 points. Jaiden Van Law and Will Van Buren both added four points off the bench, and Kabba Pins, Eric Kapayou and Bennett O’Hare each had a field goal to round out the Bobcat scoring.

Adam Mattes led Newton with nine points and no other Cardinal player had more than four.

The Bobcats play their home opener tonight, entertaining a Southeast Polk team that has started 0-3 with three competitive losses, according to Appel.

“They’ve lost all three but they’ve played three good teams to start … and they’ve been in all of them,” he said. “They’re going to be hungry for a win so we’ve got to be ready to roll, respond well and match their intensity and effort.”

Marshalltown 58, Newton 29

At Newton

MARSHALLTOWN (2-1) — Armonniey Thomas 6 2-2 17, Austin Shomo 0 0-0 0, Bennett O’Hare 1 0-1 2, Jacob Smith 6 4-4 17, Sunday Arou 4 2-2 10, Kabba Pins 1 0-0 2, Eric Kapayou 1 0-0 2, Gatluak Kuony 0 0-0 0, Jaiden Van Law 2 0-0 4, Will Van Buren 2 0-0 4, Luke Smith 0 0-0 0, Alonzo Ceren 0 0-0 0, Trevor Stamp 0 0-0 0, Zach Swartz 0 0-0 0, Sean Nyoan 0 0-0 0, Gok Arou 1 0-0 0. TOTALS 23 8-9 58.

NEWTON (0-3) — Kyle Long 1 0-0 2, Noah Allen 1 1-2 3, Kaleb Dydell 2 0-0 4, Logan Schilling 0 0-0 0, Quintrail Coley 1 2-2 4, McKenna Davis 0 0-0 0, Cody Satterfield 0 0-0 0, Caleb Lawson 1 0-0 2, Adam Mattes 4 0-0 9, Kael Swarts 1 0-0 2, Taylor Greiner 0 1-2 1, Zayvier Arguello 1 0-0 2, Taylor Danley 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 12 4-6 58.

MHS 13 20 21 4 — 58

NEWTON 3 6 4 16 — 29

3-Point Goals–MHS 4 (Thomas 2, Smith), Newton 1 (Mattes). Total Fouls–MHS 10, Newton 14. Fouled Out–none.

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