After losing twice to Quitman in the regular season, the Newton County Lady Cougars got their revenge in the Division 5-4A play.
Newton County played one of its best games of the season last week, beating Quitman 36-30 in an elimination game of the 5-4A tournament.
The Lady Cougars almost pulled off another upset on Thursday, falling 57-55 to top-seeded Northeast Lauderdale. They then lost 55-25 to Northeast Jones on Friday to finish fourth in the division.
Newton County was scheduled to play at Jackson Lanier on Monday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Newton County girls 36, Quitman 30
The Lady Cougars built a big first-half lead and held on to take a six-point win over the Lady Panther and qualify for the South 4A playoffs on Tuesday night.
County led 11-3 at the end of the first period and outscored Quitman 10-6 in the second to lead 21-9 at the half. Quitman outscored County 7-4 in the third and 14-11 in the fourth but the Lady Cougars held on for the win.
“I am proud of the way that we have been playing the last few games,” Newton County coach Cory Cleveland said. “Our intensity level has increased and we are playing better as a team.”
Keasja Wansley led Newton County with 11 points while Nahriah Brown added seven points. Remini Nickey and Jayden Mack each had six points apiece.
Northeast Lauderdale 57, Newton County 55
In the 5-4A semifinals on Thursday, the Lady mounted a valiant comeback attempt but fell two points shorts against the Lady Trojans.
County led 19-17 at the end of the first before Northeast outscored the Lady Cougars 18-8 in the second to lead 35-27 at the half. Northeast took the third period 15-14 before County outscored the Lady Trojans 14-7 in the fourth for the final margin.
Christaysia Denson led Newton County County with 15 points while Keasja Wansley added 12 points while Jayden Mack added 11 points. Nahriah Brown added eight points.
Northeast Jones 55, Newton County 25
The Lady Cougars struggled from the field as the Lady Tigers pulled away in the third period to take a 30-point win in the 5-4A consolation game on Friday.
Northeast Jones led 12-6 at the end of the first and 25-19 at the half. But Northeast pulled away in the third, outscoring County 17-1 to take a 42-20 lead into the fourth.
Remini Nickey led Newton County with six points while Hanna McDougle and Christaysia Denson each had five points apiece.
Northeast Jones boys 69, Newton County 48
The Cougars led early but couldn’t hold off the Tigers as they dropped a 21-point decision in the elimination game to open the 5-4A tournament.
County jumped out and led 17-12 at the end of the first before Northeast Jones outscored the Cougars 20-5 in the second to lead 32-22 at the half. County outscored Northeast 18-15 in third to cut the margin to 47-40 going into the fourth. But Northeast finished off the game by outscoring County 22-8 to take the win.
Josiah Cleveland led Newton County with 15 points while Alarys Johnson had 11 points. Davion Hillie and Cam Dukes added nine points apiece.
Cleveland was named the Division 5-4A team while Deion Towner and Chris Thomas were honorable mention selections.
