Both Newton County basketball teams finished second in the Division 5-4A Tournament this past week at Quitman.
The Lady Cougars lost 40-34 to the Lady Panthers while the Cougars fell 58-54 to the homestanding Panthers.
The Newton County boys will host Sumrall on Tuesday while the Lady Cougars will host Columbia on Monday.
County boys 77, Mendenhall 43
The Cougars dominated the first three periods and cruised to a 34-point win over the Tigers on Thursday in the 5-4A semifinals.
County led 25-17 at the end of the first and then outscored Mendenhall 31-13 in the second to lead 56-30 at the half. Newton County then outscored Mendenhall 18-8 in the third to lead 74-38 going to the fourth. Mendenhall took the fourth period 5-3 with a running clock.
Keaton Gray led Newton with 23 points while Sebastian Johnson had 12 points. Dasan King had 11 points while Roby Billie had nine points and Jalen Torguson added eight points.
Quitman boys 58, County 54
The Panthers completed their sweep of the Cougars and Division 5-4A but it wasn’t without a fight on Friday night as they took a four-point win.
Newton County opened with a 13-11 lead in the first period before Quitman answered and outscored the Cougars 18-13 in the second to lead 39-26 at the half. Each team scored 15 points in the third period while the Panthers outscored the Cougars 14-13 to hold on and take the win.
Dre Jimmie and Sebastian Johnson each had 11 points apiece for the Cougars while Keaton Gray had 10 points and Jaylen Torguson added nine points.
Newton County girls
The Lady Cougars finished as the No. 2 seed out of Division 5-4A this past week.
After beating Northeast Jones 53-48 in the semifinals, the Lady Cougars lost 40-34 to Quitman on Friday night.
“We aren’t playing bad but just aren’t as consistent as we need to be on offense,” County coach Jerry Byrd said. “We just need to play better on offense and keep working on that side of the ball. We just aren’t where we need to be on the offensive side. But the kids are playing hard and that’s all you can ask for.”
Byrd said that Kelcei Thomas was named the 5-4A Defensive player of the year while Dazlie Tubby, Shae Jimmie and Felisia King were named all division.
