LOGANVILLE, Ga. — A second half surge from Grayson was enough to defeat the Newton Lady Rams 68-43 in the Region 4-AAAAAAA championship Wednesday night.

At halftime, Grayson’s lead stood 33-22. Once the third quarter began, it took a commanding lead and would not relinquish it the rest of the contest. 

A scoring barrage from Grayson’s Danielle Carnegie set the Lady Rams down to a 20-point deficit.

Grayson’s lead never went any lower for the rest of the contest.

The Lady Rams entered the fourth quarter facing a 53-33 disadvantage.

As the Lady Rams accrued points, Grayson continued to match it in the final eight minutes.

An and-one followed by a steal and score from Carnegie sealed the deal in the final seconds of the Region 4-AAAAAAA title game, as Grayson came away victorious 68-43.

Following the loss, Lady Rams' head coach Jawan Bailey spoke about his message to the team in the locker room.

"I told them I was proud for them. We competed much better than we did the previous two games, we just weren't able to do it for a full four quarters," Bailey said. "Not so much negatively, just  letting them know some things we could have done better today. But, at the same time, being proud of the effort we had in spurts."

The game seemingly went in favor of Grayson following the opening tipoff. 

Grayson’s defensive play stumped the Lady Rams as two of Newton’s top scorers, Sanaa Tripp and Mya Perry, were held scoreless in the opening frame. 

This allowed Grayson to create separation with a mix of scores on the outside and in the paint.

After going into the second quarter down 19-7, the Lady Rams began to climb back.

Newton’s 15-point second quarter served as its best in the contest.

After slowly chipping away at Grayson’s lead for the majority of the frame, back-to-back threes from Tania Bailey and Alissa Sandifer moved Newton closer in the late stages of the first half.

The pair of three balls sent the game into halftime with Grayson holding an 11-point lead.

Looking back, Bailey referenced his team's struggle on offensive rebounding as a big factor in Wednesday's game.

"Just rebounding, they crashed all five players. We had a hard time finding it quick enough to box out," Bailey said.  "I think we gave up 19 offensive rebounds, and they scored around 15 points off those rebounds. If you gave up that many offensive rebounds after not making a shot, you're asking for it. We just have to rebound better."

For the Lady Rams, their scoring was led by Sandifer, who finished with 13 points. Bailey and Tripp followed with nine points apiece.

For Grayson, its offense ran through Carnegie, who racked up 28 points in the region title game.

Despite the loss, Newton’s Region 4-AAAAAAA championship game appearance was made possible Monday. The Lady Rams defeated Archer 60-58 in the region semifinals that went into overtime. 

Now, with the region tournament concluded, the Lady Rams will shift their focus to the Class AAAAAAAA postseason, where they will enter as a No. 2 seed.