The Newton County girls’ win streak came to an end last week but not before the Lady Cougars secured the regular-season Division 5-4A championship.
The Lady Cougars beat Quitman 63-49 on Tuesday to sew up the title and then lost 57-45 to Northeast Jones on Thursday in the regular-season finale.
The County boys lost both contests last week as they continue to fight the flu bug, falling 53-35 to Northeast Jones and 65-34 to Quitman.
The Lady Cougars finished the regular season with a 19-8 record and won 13 straight games before Thursday night’s loss to Northeast. Newton County finished 9-1 in division 5-4A play and will be the No. 1 seed at this week’s tournament being played at Florence. County will play the winner of Mendenhall and Florence on Thursday at 4 p.m. with the championship game set for Friday at 7 p.m.
The Cougars are 9-18 overall and 3-7 in division play after suffering through injuries and sickness the last two weeks. The Cougars are the No. 4 seed and will take on Northeast Jones again on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. in a play-in game. The winner will then take on No. 1 seed Florence on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Northeast Jones boys 53, Newton County 35
The Tigers outscored the Cougars in every period and pulled away from the Cougars for an 18-point win.
With several players out with the flu, the Cougars struggled from the field as Northeast Jones led 14-11 at the end of the first and 22-15 at the half. Northeast continued to pull away in the second half, outscoring County 17-7 in the third and 14-13 in the fourth.
Davion Hillie led County with 12 points while Donovan McCory and Afton Johnson each had five points.
Northeast Jones girls 57, Newton County 45
The Lady Tigers built an early lead and handed the Lady Cougars their first loss in division play on Thursday.
Northeast jumped out to an 18-4 lead and outscored County 11-7 in the second to lead 29-11 at the half. County battled back in the third, outscoring Northeast 17-8 to cut the lead to 37-28 going to the fourth. But Northeast outscored County 18-17 to hold on for the win.
Kaylynn Johnson led County with 12 points while Audrianna Billy had 10 points and Christaysia Denson chipped in eight points.
Quitman boys 65, Newton County 34
The Panthers took every period as they ran away from a depleted Newton County squad to take a 31-point win.
Quitman led 14-8 at the end of the first and outscored County 22-12 in the second to lead 36-20 at the half. Quitman continued to extend its lead in the second half as they outscored County 16-8 in the third and 13-6 in the fourth.
Josiah Cleveland led County with 10 points while Chris Thomas had six points and Donovan McCoy added five points.
County girls 63, Quitman 49
The Lady Cougars secured the top seed in this week’s division tournament with a 14-point win over the Lady Panthers on Tuesday.
County led 18-16 at the end of the first period and outscored Quitman 15-9 in the second to lead 33-25 at the half. Quitman pulled closer as they outscored County 17-13 in the third to make the score 46-42 going to the fourth. County finished by outscoring Quitman 17-7 to take the win.
Christaysia Denson led County with 18 points while Nahriah Brown had 15 points. Jayden Mack also chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds.
