The Newton basketball teams continued their dominance of Division 4-2A as they swept the tournament titles last week.
The Lady Tigers started the night off with a dominating 61-34 win over Philadelphia while the Tigers took a hard-fought 44-35 win over the Tornadoes.
Both teams will enter the Class 2A playoffs this week. The Lady Tigers were scheduled to host West Bolivar on Monday at 7 p.m. The Tigers were scheduled to host West Tallahatchie on Monday at 7 p.m.
Newton boys 44, Philadelphia 35
The Tigers built an early lead and fought off a comeback effort by the Tornadoes to take the Division 4-2A tournament title.
Newton coach Darrin Gray was proud of the effort his kids showed, being down two starters.
“I thought our guys came out with a lot of effort, they really wanted this one,” Gray said. “We played hard on defense and that’s our calling card. And we have had some guys come off the bench and play like veterans for us.”
The Tigers came out on fire from long range as they hit three 3-pointers in the first and led 14-4 at the end of the first.
The Tornadoes responded in like fashion, hitting four long-range shots in the second as they cut Newton’s lead to 21-17 at the half.
The game was back and forth in the third and Newton led 34-31 at the end of the third.
Philly scored the first bucket of the fourth to cut the lead to 34-33 but that was as close as the Tornadoes got. Newton scored the next nine points and held the Tornadoes scoreless for more than six minutes to take the win.
Dazmeon Page led Newton (22-7) with 13 points while Deshaun Watts had 12 points.
Jacobi York led Philadelphia (21-8) with 12 points.
Newton girls 61, Philadelphia 34
The Newton Lady Tigers completed their sweep through Division 4-2A play as they pulled away and beat the Lady Tornadoes for the third time this season.
The Lady Tigers opened up the game hot and raced out to a 12-2 lead and led 14-4 at the end of the first period. The Lady Tigers pulled out to a 25-10 lead with 1:15 left in the second before a couple of late baskets cut Newton’s lead to 27-15 at the half.
“We came out with a lot of intensity,” Newton coach Perry Fletcher said. “I’m proud of the way we played. We got in some foul trouble and had some girls come off the bench that gave us some big minutes.”
The Lady Tigers seemed to be in total control as the led 40-19 with 4:23 left in the third. But then starters Ja’Leah Hickmon and Myja McNichols had to sit with four fouls. Philadelphia used that time to go on a 12-3 run and cut the lead to 43-31 at the end of the third.
But the Lady Tigers were able to bring McNichols and Hickmon back in the game and outscored Philly 10-3 to stretch the lead back out to 19 points with 2:39 left in the game.
Tournament MVP Nia McCalphia led Newton (25-2) 18 points while McNichols had 15 points. McKinley Ware finished with 12 points, and Hickmon added 10 points.
Newton girls 56, Union 23
The Lady Tigers advanced to the 4-2A championship game with a 33-point win over the Lady Yellowjackets.
Newton jumped out and led 17-6 at the end of the first period and outscored Union 12-7 to lead 29-13 at the half. After outscoring Union 7-5 in the third, the Lady Tigers put the game away in the fourth, outscoring the Lady Yellowjackets 20-5 in the fourth to take the win.
Myja McNichols led Newton with 17 points while McKinley Ware had nine points. Nia McCalphia and Ja’Leah Hickmon each had seven points apiece.
Newton boys 51, Union 39
The Tigers pulled away in the fourth period to advance to the 4-2A finals on Thursday.
Newton jumped out to an early lead as they outscored Union 15-3 in the first and led 30-19 at the half. Union bounced back in the third by outscoring Newton 12-5 to cut the lead to 35-31. But the Tigers pulled away as they outscored the Yellowjackets 16-8 to take the win.
Jacquez Robinson led the Tigers with 15 points while Deshaun Watts added 10 points. Jay Roberts had nine points and Dazmeon Page added eight points.
Jamarcus Jones led the Yellowjackets with 12 points while P.J. Gage and J.T. Vance each had eight points.
