Only two area teams remain in the MHSAA basketball playoffs.
Newton girls advanced to the Class 2A. quarterfinals with wins over Mize (46-20) and Pisgah (52-47) while the Newton County boys beat New Albany 71-68 on Saturday to advance in the Class 4A playoffs.
Newton girls
The Newton girls advanced in the Class 2A tournament last week.
Newton opened with a 46-20 win over Mize and then beat Pisgah 52-47 in second-round action.
Newton advances to third-round action and will take on Richton on Friday at Ramond at Hinds County AHS.
Against Mize, the Lady Tigers dominated in the middle two periods and cruised to a 46-20 win. Newton led 10-6 at the end of the first and 25-8 at the half. Newton took the third period 16-6 and led 41-14 going to the fourth. Jamiya Jones led Newton with 13 points while Sommer Jordan and Erin Ware each had nine points.
On Friday against Pisgah, Newton pulled away in the second half and took a 52-47 win. Newton trailed 19-17 at the half but then outscored the Lady Dragons 17-13 in the third and 18-15 in the fourth. Jamiya Jones led Newton with 23 points while Erin Ware had 16 points. Sommer Jordan and Anniston Atkins each had five points apiece.
The Newton County girls lost 69-41 to Louisville on Friday to see their season come to an end.
Newton County boys
The Cougars survived an overtime contest with New Albany, beating the Bulldogs 71-68 in first-round action.
New Albany led 17-16 at the end of the first while County outscored the Bulldogs 22-5 in the second and led 38-22. New Albany took the third period 20-5 to cut the lead to 43-42. New Albany sent the game into overtime tied at 58-58 before County used a 13-10 advantage to take the win. Keaton Gray led Newton County with 22 points while Jaylen Torgusson had 17 points. Jaysi Torgusson had 15 points and Dasan King added 11 points.
Newton County advances to third-round action and will take on division foe Choctaw Central on Friday at Itawamba AHS.
