LOGANVILLE, Ga. — The first meeting of the year between the Class AAAAAA powerhouses ended in Grayson’s favor as it swept Newton in the Battle of the Rams Thursday night.

The Newton Rams and the Grayson Rams have battled in this region rivalry for years, but the Rams in green and gold extended their win streak on their home court with wins of 76-52 and 72-56.

Thursday’s matchup was originally scheduled for Friday night, but the game was moved up a day due to inclement weather.

Brown and Rudolph show impressive shooting display to defeat Newton

In their first matchup since the region championship last year, Grayson came out on the winning end over Newton once again with a 76-52 victory.

However, the game started off tight.

A field goal and a three-pointer from sophomore standout London Smith jump started the offense for head coach Jawan Bailey and Newton, but Grayson kept pace.

After falling in a 2-6 hole, Grayson went on a run to finish the opening frame with a 14-13 lead. 

This was due in part to Tatum Brown and Coco Rudolph, who began to catch fire. The pair combined for 11 of Grayson’s first 14 points and the duo never seemed to cool off.

The three-ball was working early and often and it allowed Grayson to create a sizable lead before halftime. 

The second quarter saw Grayson have one of its best stretches of the day as Newton had its worst. In the frame, Grayson outscored the Rams 21-9.

Newton entered halftime with a 22-35 deficit as the team was in need of an offensive surge to keep pace.

Sticking to the team’s gameplan while also working to keep pace with a Grayson team that was shooting the ball exceptionally well was something Bailey spoke about following the loss.

“You just have to hope that at some point the lid will go on top of the rim,” Bailey said. “There's not much you can do when they are shooting the ball that well. The game plan was still contested threes, getting out to the shooters and we didn’t do a great job of it. But, when they are shooting the ball that well, you can somewhat slow it down and make them think a little but there is not much you can do.”

Coming out of the break, Newton did get an offensive spark in the second half from Zoey Jackson, who began to catch fire from beyond the three-point line.

Jackson’s strong second half is something Bailey felt can give her confidence going forward through the rest of region play.

“[It was] huge for her,” Bailey said. “She has really struggled in the previous two losses. I had to take her out of the starting lineup tonight to shake it up a bit and this was her best game she has played this year. We need her to be that. We need her to be a good shooter on the outside. We need her to be a competitor on defense. I’m hoping she can just ride this wave moving forward.”

As Jackson’s shooting began to help Newton, Brown’s and Rudolph’s never stopped.

The duo knocked down a trio of three-pointers in the third quarter as they combined for 19 points in the frame that helped Grayson establish a 58-37 lead going into the final quarter.

Grayson produced another strong quarter to end the game as it defeated Newton 76-52 in their first meeting of the season.

Smith and Jackson led Newton in points with 14 and 11, respectively.

Grayson received dominant outings from Brown and Rudolph, who both finished with 27 points — combining for over half of the team’s total.

The loss drops Newton to 12-3 on the year and 3-2 in Region 4-AAAAAA play. After going .500 in the team’s last six games, Bailey spoke about the mindset of the team going into the rest of region play.

“One is learning how to lose without going away from everything we do,” Bailey said. “We lost three games out of our last six.. With the losses I felt like we have people that have stopped believing in the team concepts that we are trying to do. Just getting back to practice and hammering those team concepts again. Making sure everyone understands how we are the most successful playing. I think it just came to a head tonight. We have been doing a lot more playing than practicing and I just think it came to a head tonight in terms of how far we have come from when we started the year believing.”

Grayson breaks away late as fouls set the Rams back

The boys game featured a heavyweight showdown as Newton senior and Appalachian State commit Ted Neal battled Grayson senior and Georgia commit Jacob Wilkins and junior Caleb Holt, who is the No. 4 ranked player in the country for the Class of 2026, according to MaxPreps.

With a packed Grayson gym, the Rams in the green and gold started off the game hot.

Grayson began the game with a 7-0 run that led to it leading 19-9 at the end of the frame. Amir Taylor’s eight points in the quarter paved the way as Grayson’s big man continued to be a problem for Newton.

Newton followed its nine-point first quarter with 12 points in the second frame, all of which came from Neal, Marcus Smith and Zach Harden.

With Wilkins, Taylor and Neal playing almost every minute of the game, physicality was a major theme throughout the contest.

Another key player on the inside on Thursday was Daniel Stephen, who was tasked with handling Taylor in the paint. After battling through injuries throughout the early stages of the season, head coach Barry Browner was happy with what he saw from the 6-foot-7 senior.

“Dan is so physical. He was giving Amir a little bit of trouble down there, he was frustrating Amir,” Browner said. “Dan has been battling through an injury this year. We played him and he rehabbed a bit — I think that’s been big. We are going to need him down the stretch, he is going to be an important piece.”

After getting only four points in the opening frame, Wilkins knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter to help Grayson hold a 37-21 lead going into halftime.

Coming out of halftime, Newton found a way to get back into the game.

After starting the half with quick baskets from juniors Jordan Green and Bryce Jackson, Newton went on to outscore Grayson 20-14 in the frame.

“In the first half, I think Grayson was way more physical than us. I think in the second half we came back and we punched them in the mouth.”

During the third quarter, Newton managed to close in on a five-point deficit at 35-40, but Grayson kept its foot on the gas to maintain a 10-point lead by the end of the quarter.

When it came time for the final eight minutes, Holt began to take over the game despite having a quiet day up to that point.

Holt only scored six points in the first three quarters, but the highly-rated junior ripped off 13 points in the final quarter. 

Holt’s late-game heroics seemingly sealed the deal for Grayson as they grabbed a 72-56 win over Newton.

By game’s end, fouls were a part of the story as Newton found itself in foul trouble from the start despite a few questionable calls, according to Browner.

“The foul situation was a little sketchy, I will be honest,” Browner said. “They are a well coached team and they are a physical team and we are just as physical. We were making plays to get the calls, we were just not getting them.”

During Thursday’s game, Newton was called for 23 fouls to Grayson’s 10. Neal and Stephen finished with five fouls apiece.

Smith led the scoring for Newton with 15 points. Harden and Neal followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Grayson was led by Holt, who finished the game with 19 points while Wilkins and Taylor followed with 17 points each.

Even after the loss, Browner is optimistic moving forward and is ready for Newton's rematch against Grayson at home and the possibility of a third in the future.

“We have a lot of basketball to play and we will see this team again at home and we will probably see them a third time in the region championship,” Browner said. “We are the best two teams in the region. That is what you expect in a heavyweight fight like that. I think we are going to be fine, we have had a stretch where we have played some very tough teams. I think we have won six of the last eight. I think we have been playing good and Grayson’s a tough team and are well coached. We will be ready for Grovetown on Tuesday at home, they [the players] are already ready to get back in the gym.”

Newton moved to 11-5 following the loss and is now 4-1 in Region 4-AAAA play. The Rams will be back on their home court Tuesday, Jan. 14 to take on Grovetown.