Robbie Robertson/Publisher
The Newton Record
NEWTON
December 19, 2007 02:57 pm
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The Newton Tigers proved last week that they are certainly among the state’s elite basketball teams.
The Tigers dealt Class 5A Columbus a 63-58 loss last Tuesday night and then took Class 5A Jackson Wingfield deep into the fourth quarter before falling 66-52 in the Noxubee Classic.
The Tigers are now 8-4 on the season, squeezing in a 72-54 win over Lake in between those Class 5A foes. Newton took on Union on Monday and will be off until they are scheduled to participate in the Bay Springs Tournament starting Thursday, Dec. 27.
For the the Tigers, the week was one in which they faced a pair of teams ranked in the Clarion-Ledger Super 10 poll.
“We played the No. 5 and No.7 ranked teams in the state and held our own against both of them,” Newton coach Crandal Porter said. “Since we don’t get to play on those type of platforms that often so we wanted to show how good we were. We got off to a good start against Columbus and played well down the stretch. Steve (Edwards) and Shun (Beal) shot the ball well and the bench contributed. That was a game where everything was clicking.”
The Tigers did jump out to a big first-period lead, outscoring the Falcons 24-10. The Falcons outscored the Tigers 13-11 in the second period as Newton held a 35-23 lead at the half.
Newton continued to nurse its lead and hold off Columbus from cutting too deep into the lead as the Falcons outscored Newton 14-13 in the third adn 21-15 in the fourth.
Edwards led the Tigers in scoring as he pumped in 24 points while Antonio Grace has 12 points. Chucky Curry had 10 points while Brandon Gill had seven and Shun Beal six.
Wingfield 66, Newton 52
After jumping out to an 18-13 first-period lead, the Tigers were outscored in each of the remaining periods as they were saddled with a loss to Wingfield in the Noxubee tournament.
After leading 18-13, Wingfield fought back and outscored newton 15-12 in the second period as the Tigers held a 30-28 lead at the half.
Wingfield started to pull away from Newton in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 13-7 in the third and 25-15 in the fourth to take the win.
“We really didn’t play well against Wingfield,” Porter said. “We just weren’t hitting the shot and could never get in a rhythm. But the thing about that is, we didn’t really play that well and were still in the game until the last minutes against one of the better teams in the state. That should show our guys that we are as good as anybody in the state.”
Chucky Curry led Newton with 14 points while Antonio Grace had 10 points. Steve Edwards had had eight, Brandon Gill seven and Keondre Hodges six.
Wingfield put all five starters in double digits, led by Ananza Richardson’s 14 points.
Newton boys 72, Lake 54
The Tigers shrugged off a slow start to get past homestanding Lake Friday night in a 5-2A contest.
With the win, the Tigers are now 3-0 in 5-2A play.
After being tied at 11 at the end of the first, Newton outscored Lake 27-16 in the second period to take a 38-27 lead into the half.
The Tigers continued to build on that lead, outscoring lake 11-10 in the third and 23-17 in the fourth.
Shun Beal had a season high 17 points as he was 12-of-14 from the free-throw line. Keondre Hodges had 14 points while Steve Edwards had 13 points. Antonio Grace and Brandon Gill each had nine points apiece while Corey Denham had six points.
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