Published: December 06, 2007 11:11 am            

Newton boys third at EC tourney

NEWTON — Newton didn’t get a rematch with Northeast Lauderdale in the East Central Community College tournament finals this year.

Instead, they got beat by Forest in the semifinals and had to settle for third place by beating Morton 78-57.

Newton will now begin division play as they host Philadelphia on Tuesday and travel to Forest on Friday for a rematch with the defending 3A champion Bearcats.

After falling behind 17-12 in the first quarter, the Tigers had strong second and third period to build a good lead going into the fourth period.

After trailing 17-12, Newton outscored Froest 23-14 and led 35-31 at the half.

Newton continued that strong play in the third period as they outscored Forest 24-15 to take a 59-46 lead going into the fourth period.

But Forest outscored the Tigers 22-7 in the final period to take the two-point win.

When asked what happened in the final minutes of the game, Porter was almost at a loss for words.

“Anybody who was at the game, you wouldn’t have to tell them what happened,” Porter said. “All is know is we have to do things where the game isn’t that close in the second half, where outside elements can effect the outcome of the game.

“I was proud of the way my kids handled themselves at the end of the game. They fought hard, we just didn’t get the breaks we needed to be able to pull out a win. Nothing against Forest because they have a good team but I thought for the majority of the game we played better than they did. We’ll get a chance to see them again this Friday.”

Steve Edwards had 26 points to lead the Tigers while Brandon Gill and Antonio Grace had 11 points apiece. Chucky Curry and Keondre Hodges had six points apiece.

Lavadius Lyles had 24 points to lead Forest, the defending 3A champions. Vicente Parker and Jeffrey Crump had 17 points apiece.



Newtonboys 78, Morton 57

In Saturday’s third-place game, the Tigers used a big third-period to ease by Morton.

Newton built a first-half lead as they outscored the Panthers 14-11 in the first and 18-13 in the second for a 32-24 halftime lead.

Then in the third period, Newton more than doubled its scoring output from the first half, outscoring the Panthers 36-15 to take a 68-39 lead into the fourth period.

Keondre Hodges led Newton with 18 points while Steve Edwards had 12 points. Antonio Grace and Corey Denham had 11 points apiece while Brandon Gill added eight points.



Newton boys 76, West 61

In the opening game of the tournament, Newton jumped out to a 20-12 lead on the Class 4A Knights and cruised to the 15-point victory.

After leading 36-30 at the half, Newton outscored West 19-14 in the third and 21-17 in the fourth to take the win.

Antonio Grace led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points while Steve Edwards, Brandon Gill and Chucky Curry had 13 points apiece. Shun Beal added nine and Keondre Hodges had seven.



Sebastopol girls 63, Newton 61

After falling behind to Sebastopol in the first half, the Lady Tigers posted a furious second-half rally that fell short.

Newton actually tied the score at 61 apiece before Sebastopol drove the length of the floor to score the game-winning basket.

“It goes back to consistency,” Porter said. “We didn’t play very consistent. We didn’t play well at all in the first half but played well in the second half and had a chance to win. To win consistently in basketball, you have to play for four quarters and we aren’t doing that. We play well in spurts. We are making mistakes on things we have worked on a thousand times. It’s just really frustrating but the good thing is we have an opportunity to make it all better this week.”

Shey Nichols had her best scoring game of the season with 19 points while Deonna Blalock had 13 points and Tiara Buckley 12.



Newton girls 57, West 32

The Lady Tigers broke open a close game by outscoring West 26-2 in the third period.

Newton led 8-6 after the first and 23-18 at the half.

Shey Nichols had 23 points to lead the Lady Tigers while Janiqua Murrell had eight points and Tyisha Amos six points.

        

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