Newton boys rout Choctaw

Robbie Robertson/Publisher
The Newton Record

NEWTON November 28, 2007 12:03 pm

— Normally, Choctaw Central is a team that give Newton trouble in boys basketball. But not this time.
Newton outscored Choctaw Central in every period as the Tigers blasted the Warriors 81-53 on the reservation in Choctaw.
Newton is now 3-2 on the season and will be participating in the East Central Tournament this week.
“That was our best effort of the season, team wise, that we have had all year long,” Newton coach Crandal Porter said. “Defensively, we played great. Offensively, we pushed the basketball and got some good scoring opportunities off of our defense. We had two groups of kids that we sent in and out and both groups played well. I thought Antonio played well in pushing the ball up the floor and giving our guards open looks. Chucky ran the floor well, rebounded and played his bes game of the season. It seems like they are starting to get into basketball shape.”
The Tigers controlled the game from the start, leading 19-13 after the first period. But from there, it was all Newton as the Tigers outscored the Warriors 19-10 in the second period and led 38-23 at the half.
Newton continued to pour it on in the third period as the Tigers outscored the Warriors 21-10 to lead 59-33. Despite playing mainly subs in the fourth period, Newton still outscored the Warriors 22-21 in the fourth period.
Steve Edwards continued his strong early play as he pumped in 19 points. Chucky Curry had 14 points while Antonio Grace had 12 points. Corey Denham also continued to play well off the bench, scoring nine points while Brandon Gill had nine, Keondre Hodges and Kevin Donald five apiece.
“Steve is shooting the ball well right now,” Porter said. “He’s not in mid-season form yet but he’s getting off to a better start than he did last year. I think that has to do with him getting better looks. With the way that Antonio is pushing the ball up the floor, it’s hard to stay in front of him without giving those guards a good look at the basket.
“And Keondre (Hodges) is a coach’s dream. He doesn’t care how many points he scores and he want to guard the other team’s best player. He dives after balls and loves to play defense. He doesn’t care who gets the credit and he’s one of our smarter players. And if you give him an open look, he’ll knock down a three.”

Choctaw girls 62, Newton 55
The Lady Tigers led a victory slip from their hands as Choctaw took an overtime victory last Tuesday.
Newton jumped out to an early 17-6 lead. From that point on, Choctaw started to take control as they outscored Newton 15-12 in the second period as the Lady Tigers led 28-21 at the half.
“We led by 10 points last and Choctaw started pressing,” Porter said. “I don’t see why any coach playing us doesn’t pick us up full court and press us the entire game. We went from up seven to down by four in a minute. It happened so fast we couldn’t even get a timeout.
“I chalk it up as a learning experience. I just hope and pray that we get all of our learning experiences out of the way before the first of the year. I see stretches where we look like the Newton team of old. The good stretches are getting to outweigh the bad stretches.”
Choctaw outscored Newton 15-11 in the third and 11-4 in the fourth to tie game. In the overtime period, Choctaw was outscored 11-4 in the overtime period.
Tiara Buckley led Newton with 18 points while Shakara Edwards had 13 points, Tineshia Evans nine and Deonna Blalock seven.