The Newton County Academy girls saw their season come to an end last week in the first round of the MAIS Overall Tournament.
The Lady Generals weren’t able to hold onto an early lead as Delta Academy took a hard-fought 39-34 win on Friday.
NCA finishes the season with a 24-7 record.
“We had a great year and a lot of history was made,” NCA coach Steve Harber said. “Our support was awesome all year and we couldn’t have asked for more from our fans. We had some tough draws this year, especially in the tournament. I thought we got a lot better right there before Christmas. That’s when everyone kind of figured out what our roles were. Honestly, it was just a group of competitors and a family and they played together really well. Everyone knew what their role was and that’s the reason why we were successful.”
The Lady Generals started hot and jumped out to a 9-2 lead but Delta followed with a 9-2 run of their own to tie the game at 11-11 at the end of the first. Delta then outscored NCA 8-4 in the second and led 19-15 at the half.
“it’s a game we really could have won,” Harber said. “We jumped out to a 9-2 lead then they caught up. Then Lilly (Hollingsworth) picked up her third foul in the middle of the second and then she fouled out with about four minutes left to play. We were up 31-30 with abut three minutes to go and they hit a three and kind of pulled away from there. We could have just as easily won that game as we lost it. If we hit a shot or two, it’s a different story.”
Each team scored 10 points in the third period as Delta led 29-25 and the Raiders took the fourth period 10-9 for the final margin.
Macie Woodham led NCA with 16 points and 12 rebounds while Lilly Hollingsworth had nine points and four rebounds. Cayden Alexander had six points and four rebounds while Emme Reese had 13 points and three assists.
“It was a much different environment,” Harber said. “It’s a tough place to shoot. We went over on Thursday and watched some games to see the gym so they weren’t in awe of it. It’s tough shooting because you only get 10 minutes to warm up and that’s just not enough time. We played hard but just came up short. But everybody over there is good.”
All-stars
Harber will also get one last game with Hollingsworth and Alexander. Both were chosen to play in the Class 2A-3A All-star game, which will be held on Friday at Jackson Prep at 1 p.m. Harber is also coaching in the game.
