COVINGTON, Ga. — Both of Newton’s basketball teams are Sweet 16 bound after earning wins in the first round of the Class AAAAAA playoffs on Wednesday at home.
The Lady Rams opened the day with a 59-45 win over the Paulding County Lady Patriots before Newton’s boys team defeated the Hillgrove Hawks 75-60.
In both cases, a dominant fourth quarter paved the way for a Newton victory.
Lady Rams take down Lady Patriots despite Smith’s absence
Head coach Jawan Bailey and the Lady Rams took down a 20-win Paulding County squad on Wednesday, and did it without one of their leading scorers in London Smith.
With Smith out, Newton received a strong game from senior Desiree Davis, who’s 17 points led all players in the contest.
“Desiree is a ballplayer,” Bailey said. "We are talking about a Division I basketball player before her injury. She has a lot of skill, a lot of know-how about the game. Her big thing right now is just getting back into the shape of playing this game at a high level. When she is clicking, she is as good as anyone on the floor.”
It was a close game in the early stages as the two teams were neck-and-neck through the opening eight minutes.
After leading 10-7 at the end of the first frame, the Lady Rams began to create separation in the second quarter and it began with back-to-back three-pointers from Davis.
Another Lady Ram that had a strong second quarter was senior Alissa Sandifer, who knocked down a pair of three-pointers that included a four-point play on a foul.
By halftime, Newton led 28-17 as all of the Lady Rams’ points in the frame came on three-pointers and free throws.
In the second half, Paulding County began to make it close again.
Lady Patriots starters Alexus Wilson and Hope Johnson had particularly strong third quarters as the two combined for 12 points.
However, the Lady Rams kept pace with the help of Davis, who erupted for 10 points of her own the frame.
Outside of Davis’ points, a three-pointer from Zoey Jackson was the only other offensive output for Newton in the third quarter as the team appeared to still be searching for offensive rhythm across the board.
Once the game entered the final frame, Bailey and the Lady Rams found what they were looking for.
Newton led 39-32 at the start of the fourth, and broke out for a 20-point quarter that ended with the Lady Rams winning by 14 points.
Multiple Lady Rams had baskets in the final frame as it proved to be the team’s best offensive quarter of the day.
Following the win, Bailey spoke about what went right for the team in the final eight minutes of play.
“I think [we were] just finally settling down,” Bailey said. “We had a lot of up-and-down basketball in the first three quarters. We had some stretches where we played well but had some stretches where we were horrible. In the fourth quarter we consistently played well on both ends of the basketball which we should do all night. But, better late than never.”
Davis’ 17 points led the way for Newton in the win as Sandifer and Camille Files finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
For the Lady Patriots, scoring was led by Johnson with 14 points, Wilson and Lillie Harris ended with 13 points apiece.
The win moved Newton to 21-5 on the season as the team now advances to the Sweet 16 — the round they made it to last year before falling to North Paulding.
The Lady Rams will go on the road to take on the Norcross Lady Blue Devils(22-5) in the second round of the Class AAAAAA playoffs on Friday, Feb. 21.
Rams break it open late to defeat a scrappy Hillgrove team
From the opening tipoff, it was a hard-fought battle between Newton and Hillgrove in the first round of the boys Class AAAAAA playoffs.
The Hawks managed to play stout defense and force a few turnovers off the Rams that ended in points on the other end early.
Hillgrove’s Timothy Maulden had a strong opening quarter that featured a pair of three-pointers.
Multiple Rams got involved in the scoring early, but Ted Neal was taken off the court by head coach Barry Browner shortly after the first quarter as the senior was battling foul trouble.
With Neal off, the Rams and Hawks continued a close battle all the way to halftime that ended with Newton leading 30-26 at the break.
In Neal’s absence, Browner turned to senior Daniel Stephen, who received high praise from his head coach following the win.
“I gotta shout out Daniel Stephen,” Browner said. “He has been hurt all season, so coming into the senior year we had high expectations for Daniel, but he was kind of banged up all season. He has been having really good practices the last few days and he was excited to get in and play as well.”
When the third quarter began, Neal re-entered the game and it seemed to be the jolt that the Rams needed.
Although the Hawks managed to keep it close throughout the third quarter despite a strong showing from both Neal and senior Zach Harden, the Rams eventually broke it open with a big moment.
At the beginning of the final quarter, Bryce Jackson was multiple steps behind the three-point line before lofting a ball up to Neal, who was sprinting to the basket before leaping and slamming down an alley-oop.
As the gym erupted, the play seemed to be the turning point on Wednesday, as the rest of the fourth quarter was all Newton.
Neal, Harden and Marcus Smith combined for 21 of Newton’s 23 fourth-quarter points.
After the game, Browner spoke about the type of energy a player like Neal can bring and why Wednesday’s game was even more special to the senior.
“That’s what Ted does,” Browner said. “People don’t realize this is Ted’s first playoff game of his career. His freshman year, he was just on the team. Sophomore year [he] ended the season early, he was hurt. Junior year, last year [he was hurt] of course. He was excited about this being his first opportunity to play in the state playoff. He just said ‘Coach, I’m ready.’ He was fired up. Anytime Ted has his energy, he is awesome for us.”
Along with Neal and Stephen, Browner shed light on the other strong performances from Wednesday.
“I believe my guys said Zach had 17-9-8, or something close to that. Anytime Zach is going [it is great]. Jordan Green hit some big shots for us. Bryce Jackson stepped up and made some plays,” Browner said. “Marcus Smith man, he is our point guard, he comes in and does what he does.”
After a regular season filled with matchups against many of the state’s premier teams, Browner credits that to the team’s ability to battle through the adversity of a close playoff game.
“I think it’s our schedule,” Browner said. “We have eight losses this year. Three of them are to Grayson, one is to Wheeler, Cedar Grove, Holy Innocents, Whitefield and we dropped one to South Gwinnett. We played close games all season so I think the guys know how to respond. They have been in this fire before. We played a lot of big time games, so I think with the game being close we were able to just push through a little bit and just find our way to win.”
Despite missing almost an entire quarter, Neal ended his day with a team-leading 21 points.
Harden’s 17 points followed as Smith and Green ended with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Evan Mott and Bryson Jatta led the way for Hillgrove with 19 and 12 points, respectively.
The win moved Newton to 17-9 on the season and a spot in the Sweet 16 — the round the team made it to in 2024 before falling to Ace Bailey and McEachern.
In the Sweet 16, the Rams will go on the road to take on Peachtree Ridge(19-10) Saturday, Feb. 22. Newton and Peachtree Ridge played early in the season with the Rams grabbing a narrow 60-58 win.
