Newton boys basketball coach Darrin Gray had done his homework on two-time defending 2A champion Coahoma County.
He knew the Red Panthers were going to go to their diamond press to start the third period, and Gray prepared his team for that.
But when the third period came, the Tigers weren’t ready for it. Coahoma turned Newton over five times in the third and went from trailing by two to leading by five as they took a 45-36 win over the Tigers on Friday night in the Class 2A semifinals.
Newton finished the season with a 24-8 record and just one game shy of the Class 2A Final Four.
Gray said he knew that Coahoma was coming with their vaunted diamond press in the third after trailing 18-16 at the half.
“That third quarter, we just didn’t score and couldn’t get anything going,” Gray said. “That was bad. That diamond press really hurt us. They did a super job, and my hat’s off to them. We struggled with that press. When they picked us up in that full-court press, that was the turning point of the game. Once they got ahead, it was hard to take the lead again.
“We knew it was coming. They do it every game. We did a good job of scouting them and knew it was coming, but we had never seen that kind of speed before. It really affected us.”
The Panthers came out of the dressing room and outscored Newton 8-2 to start the third period and 14-7 in the third and led 30-25 heading into the fourth.
Coahoma led by as many as 11 in the fourth period and the Panthers hit 7-of-8 free throws in the last two minutes to secure the win.
“We had a strong run,” Gray said. “Our kids play hard on defense and sometimes we go into droughts on offense. That third quarter, that’s what happens. But if somebody tells me that we were only going to give up 45 points to that team, I would have taken it. We had opportunities, it just didn’t work out tonight. They got after us tonight. I see why they are No. 1 now. It’s a reason why they have won two straight state championships.”
Jayden Parker led Newton with 15 points while Jamarian Pace had 11 points.
