Newton High basketball coach Don Cameron worked his magic for a half. The underdog Railers executed its offense flawlessly to lead Hutchinson High 30-26.
Putting that type of effort together for two halves has been Cameron’s challenge.
Hutchinson High outscored Newton 21-6 after halftime to pull away for a hard-fought 47-36 Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League victory Friday.
Hutchinson coach Nathan Henry gave all the credit to Cameron and the Railers for a solid game plan that spread the Salthawks’ defense out.
“Give Newton credit because they shot the ball lights out,” Henry said. “That’s a credit to a great coach who is positive and keeps working with his team.”
The Railers’ execution was a thing of beauty. Austin Krogmeier and Jenson Kingsley scored on backdoor cuts. Grant Walker, Kingsley and Braedon Morrison knocked down 3-pointers for a 30-26 lead. Newton made 11 of 18 field goals.
The Railers played a similar flawless first half last week against McPherson while building an 11-point lead before losing 52-44.
“We’ve just got to figure out how to do that in two halves,” Cameron said. “We’ve played really good halves like that against McPherson, Wichita Collegiate and Hutchinson.”
After Shelby Grosch scored a basket for a 32-28 lead, Hutchinson’s wave of aggressive defenders kept the pressure on against Newton’s ballhandlers, forcing five consecutive turnovers.
Trace Bowen’s assist to Colby Turner started an 11-0 run. Jerome Roehm scored inside the paint. Kaden Flores knocked down a 3-pointer and Lucas Munds’ hustling rebound basket gave the Salthawks a 39-32 lead.
“We made some small adjustments on the way we played their ball screen,” Henry said. “We started to get better help and quicker help. We just kept our defensive intensity up and started to wear them down with our depth. We created some breaks and made Newton work for everything they got.”
Flores' pass to Munds gave Hutchinson a 41-34 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
It’s hard to imagine but Hutchinson’s defense was even better in the final quarter. Hutchinson led 47-34 when Newton finally broke a seven-minute scoreless stretch on Lane Pauls' basket.
“I looked up at the scoreboard one time and saw 34 points and I thought – didn’t they have 30 points at halftime?” Henry asked. “Holding them to four points that long was amazing. I can’t say enough about how they played defense tonight.”
Tanner Higgins kept the Salthawks close in the first half with three consecutive 3-pointers to end the first period. Eventually, Hutchinson rediscovered their strength inside with Jerome Roehm scoring 12 points and Munds eight points. Higgins added nine and everyone else chipped in.
“We settled for too many outside shots, but eventually we started to work the ball inside and outside like we want to,” Henry said. “We always want to get the ball inside.”
Cameron said Hutchinson’s defense pushed the Railers’ offense off balance, but Newton also missed several makeable attempts inside. Kingsley led Newton with 15 points and Walker added eight points. Newton made three of 18 field goals in the second half.
“When we did execute a couple of times, you’ve got to find a way to finish those shots inside,” Cameron said.
The victory keeps Hutchinson (10-4, 6-1) in title contention in AVCTL Division I. Newton (3-12, 0-7) also lost the previous game to Hutchinson 49-43 in the first meeting at Newton.
