Newton coach Darrin Gray may have to get used to lots of close games this year.
The Tigers pulled out two wins this past week as they beat McAdams 35-34 on Tuesday and then beat New Hope 41-39 on Saturday.
Newton will return to action next week as they travel to the Heidelberg Shootout on Saturday. The Lady Tigers will play Meridian at 1:30 p.m. while the Tigers will play Quitman at 3 p.m.
Newton boys 35, McAdams 34
The Tigers overcame a late three-point deficit and a last second technical foul and held on to take a 35-34 win over McAdams on Tuesday at the Leake County Shootout.
Coach Darrin Gray said he was proud of the way his team found a way to win, despite being down multiple times in the second half.
“We were shorthanded but the kids listened to the coaches and found a way to win,” Gray said. “It wasn’t pretty but a win is a win. We have learned a lot. Those are two close games that we have won like that. We went down late and my kids found a way to win the game.”
In a game that featured multiple lead changes, Newton led 8-7 at the end of the first but trailed 14-13 at the half.
“We are doing a lot of things differently than we did last year,” Gray said. “We have changed our offense and the kids are buying into what I want them to do. They are executing. It has taken them a little while to figure out what I wanted. We lost about 80 percent of our offense from last year so we’ve had to do some thing different. It’s time for a new group of kids step up.”
In the third, Newton scored the first nine points of the period and led 22-14 with 3:29 left in the period. But McAdams answered with 10 straight points in a one-minute stretch to go up 23-22 with 1:03 left in the third. But a 3-pointer by Newton’s Jamarian Pace tied the score at 25-25 at the end of the third.
McAdams went up 33-30 with 1:45 left before a basket by Dazmeon Page and another 3-pointer by Pace gave Newton a 35-33 lead with 13 seconds left in the game. McAdams had chance to grab the win with a late technical on Newton but the Bulldogs made just one of two free throws and missed a long three as time expired.
Pace led the Tigers with nine points while Page had seven points. Deshun Watts, Jay Roberts and Jayden Parker each had five points apiece.
Newton girls 66, McAdams 32
The Lady Tigers stayed unbeaten as they beat 1A McAdams on Thursday.
Newton coming off a win against Northwest Rankin on Saturday where the Lady Tigers had trouble making layups. That wasn’t the case on Tuesday as the Lady Tigers jumped out to a 10-2 lead and led 20-9 at the end of the first period. The Lady Tigers continued to press the action in the second period as they outscored McAdams 12-5 and led 32-14 at the half.
“We got out early and were able to get some easy baskets in transition and open up the game for us,” Newton girls coach Perry Fletcher said. “We got on the line and ran for missing all of those layups at Northwest Rankin. So we came out a little more focused. Tonight, we were able to make those layups in transition and I think that made the difference.”
The Lady Tigers continued to expand the lead as they outscored McAdams 15-9 in the third and 19-9 in the fourth for the final margin.
Myja McNichols led Newton with 23 points while Ja’Leah Hickmon had 16 points. Nia McAlphia added 12 points.
Newton improves to 5-0 on the season with the win.
Newton boys 41, New Hope 39
The Tigers jumped out to a an early lead but had to hold on late as they beat Class 5A New Hope on Saturday at the Starkville Thanksgiving Classic.
Newton led 10-4 at the end of the first and 25-14 at the half. New Hope fought back in the second half as they outscored Newton 11-5 in the third to cut the lead to 30-25 going into the fourth. The Trojans outscored the Tigers 14-11 in the fourth to take the win.
Jacquan Roberts led Newton with 13 points while Dazmeon Page had 11 points.
