The Newton Lady Tigers haven’t known a lot of defeat this season but tasted it on Friday night.
Class 1A power Leake County jumped out to a big lead and beat the Lady Tigers 38-31 to hand them their second loss of the season.
The Lady Tigers responded with a 66-25 win over Newton County on Saturday night as they prepare for division play in January.
The Lady Tigers are now 13-2 on the season and will host Lake on Tuesday night to open division play. The Lady Tigers will then travel to Philadelphia on Friday for a key 4-2A matchup with the 11-4 Lady Tornadoes.
Leake County girls 38, Newton 31
The Lady Tigers struggled from the field as Leake County handed them their second loss of the season.
In a low-scoring affair, Leake led 3-2 at the end of the first and 15-8 at the half. Leake outscored Newton 8-5 in the third to take a 23-13 lead into the fourth.
The Lady Tigers made a run in the fourth and got within four twice but the Lady Gators hit 15 of 17 free throws in the final frame, including the last 12 in a row to take the win.
“Before you go into division play, it’s always good to have a reality check,” Newton coach Perry Fletcher said. “Leake County has been to the coliseum the last three years, and they are very disciplined. They sit in that zone and do a great job. They are going to make you play a half-court game and make you play their tempo. It was a good game for us to get ready for division play. It was a reality check. Sometimes you are floating on that cloud. The kids had won 12 and only lost one, and tonight was an eye opener that you can’t take anyone for granted. Anybody can beat you on any given night.”
Nia McCalphia led Newton with 17 points on the night while Leake County’s Otashae Burrage led all scorers with 30 points.
Newton falls to 12-2 on the year while Leake County improves to 12-5.
Newton girls 54, Northeast Jones 33
After falling behind in the first period, the Lady Tigers pulled away to take a 21-point win over Northeast Jones in the Bay Springs Tournament.
Northeast led 10-8 at the end of the first before Newton took the second period 14-6 to take a 22-16 lead at the half. Newton pulled away in the second half as they outscored Northeast Jones 17-9 in the third and 15-8 in the fourth to take the win.
JaLeah Hickmon led Newton with 18 points while Myja McNichols had 14 points. McKinley Ware also chipped in 13 points.
