After struggling for most of the season, the Newton County Academy Generals came up with two big wins last week and qualified for the Class AA state tournament.
The Generals opened the South AA Tournament with a 37-36 win over Christian Collegiate and then beat Glenbrook 38-26 to advance to the Class AA Tournament.
The Generals ended up as the No. 4 seed after losing 53-21 to Brookhaven and 58-54 to Clinton Christian.
The Generals will return to action and try to extend their season as the take on North No. 1 seed Greenville St. Joseph on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m.
NCA boys 37, Chr. Coll. 36
The Generals overcame a fourth-period deficit and took an exciting one-point win over the Bulldogs on Monday in the opening round of the South AA Tournament.
NCA led 8-7 at the end of the first and 14-11 at the half in the low-scoring affair. Christin Collegiate took a 23-20 lead into the fourth before NCA outscored the Bulldogs 17-13 in the fourth.
Dalton Sibley led NCA with 12 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer in the finals second to take the win. Ethan McDill had 11 points and eight rebounds.
NCA boys 38, Glenbrook 26
The Generals held the Apaches scoreless in the fourth and took a 12-point win in the second round of the tournament to qualify for the state tournament.
Glenbrook led 14-7 at the end of the first period before NCA outscored the Apaches 10-4 to make the score 18-17 at the half. NCA pulled away in the second period, outscoring Glenbrook 13-8 in the this and 10-0 in the fourth.
Luke Alexander led NCA with 13 points.
Brookhaven boys 53, NCA 21
The Cougars dominated from the beginning and took a 32-point win over the Generals on Friday.
Brookhaven led 10-4 at the end of the first and then outscored NCA 19-7 in the second to lead 29-11 at the half. Brookhaven continued to extend the lead in the second half, outscoring NCA 14-6 in the third and 10-4 in the fourth.
Ethan McDill led NCA with nine points.
Clinton Christian 58, NCA 54
The Warriors used a seven-point advantage in the third period and took a four-point win one the Generals on Saturday in the consolation game of the South AA Tournament.
After each team scored 11 points in the first period, NCA led 22-21 at the half. Clinton then outscored NCA 17-10 in the third to take a 38-32 lead into the fourth. NCA outscored Clinton 22-21 in the fourth but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Ethan McDill led NCA with 15 points and 14 rebounds while Luke Alexander had 15 points. Dalton Sibley also had 11 points.
Alexander and McDill were named to the all-tournament team.
Centreville girls 55, NCA 37
The Lady Generals lost to Centreville in the South AA Tournament for the second straight season last week to end their year.
Centreville outscored NCA 15-7 in the first period and 14-9 in the second to lead 29-16 at the half. Centreville outscored NCA 15-14 in the third and 11-7 in the fourth for the final margin.
“I would have liked to have had more success in South State but sometimes it’s like that,” NCA coach Micheal Alexander said. “it’s all about matchups at this points. We have played them the last two years and we just didn’t match up very well against them. It just depends on your draw at this time of year.”
Kelli Hollingsworth and Kaleigh Cosgrove led NCA with 11 points apiece while Jordan Russell added 10 points.
