Both Newton County Academy basketball teams will advance to the Class AA South State tournament after finishing as the No. 3 seed in the District 3-AA Tournament last week.
The Generals beat rival Sylva Bay 37-28 on Saturday to finish third after losing 46-38 to Clinton Christian on Thursday in the semifinals.
The Lady Generals also beat rival Sylva Bay 50-37 after they lost 47-12 to Clinton Christian on Thursday.
Both teams advance to the Class AA South State tournament, which will be held at Brookhaven Academy. The Lady Generals will take on Centreville Academy on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Centreville is the No. 2 seed out of District 4. The Generals advance as the No. 3 seed as well and will take on Christian Collegiate on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m.
Clinton Christian boys 46,
NCA 38
After a low-scoring first half, Clinton Christian pulled away in the second half to take an eight-point win over the Generals in the semifinals of the District 3-AA Tournament on Thursday.
NCA led 9-8 at the end of the first period and 11-9 at the half. Clinton took the lead in the third as they outscored the Generals 21-9 to take a 30-20 lead going into the fourth. NCA got going offensively in the fourth, outscoring Clinton 18-16 but couldn’t complete a comeback.
Dalton Sibley led NCA with 13 points while Ethan Mcdill had 10 points and eight rebounds.
NCA boys 37, Sylva Bay 28
The Generals pulled away in the second period and took a nine-point win over the rival Saints in Saturday’s consolation games.
NCA led just 8-7 at the end of the first period before the Generals outscored the Saints 10-4 in the second to lead 18-11 at the half. Sylva Bay took the third period 10-9 but NCA finished out the game by outscoring the Saints 10-7 in the fourth.
Ethan McDill had a huge night for the Generals as he pumped in 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
NCA girls 50, Sylva Bay 37
The Lady Generals bounced back from a semifinal loss to Clinton with a 13-point win over rival Sylva Bay.
Sylva Bay led 7-6 at the end of the first and but NCA outscored the Lady Saints 13-11 to take a 19-18 lead at the half. The Lady Generals started to pull ahead in the second half as they outscored the Lady Saints 15-12 in the third and 16-7 in the fourth to take the win.
Kelli Hollingsworth had 26 points while Karli Blackledge had nine points.
Clinton Christian girls 47, NCA 12
The Lady Warriors jumped out to an early lead and took a 35-point win over the Lady Generals in the opening round of the district tournament.
Clinton jumped out to an 18-1 lead at the end of the first and outscored the Lady Generals 17-1 in the second to lead 35-2 at the half. Clinton outscored NCA 12-3 in the third to lead 47-5 at the end of the third. NCA outscored Clinton 7-0 in the fourth.
Jordan Russell led NCA with four points.
