JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — The Newton Rams came away with a split after two games at the Tournament of Champions on Wednesday Dec. 27 and Thursday, Dec. 28. The Rams fell 48-38 to Greenforest in the final game of day one at Chattahoochee High School before earning the 69-41 win over Fayette County on day two.
Nine games into the year for Newton, things could not seem to be better for first year head coach Barry Browner, who coached the Rams to a 8-1 record going into the tournament.
Going into Wednesday night’s game, the Rams were riding a seven game win streak and were matched with the Eagles in the American bracket.
The first four minutes of the game belonged to Greenforest.
Offensively, the Eagles had success getting to the basket while knocking down the occasional jumper.
After finding themselves down 7-0 halfway through the opening frame, the Rams went on a run to take the lead.
The man leading the run was Zack Harden Jr.
Harden’s first basket of the game came from the perimeter and set the tone for the remainder of his eight-point quarter.
Jabez Jenkins, Tim Praither and Tay Jefferies put points up as well to lead the Rams to a 14-9 advantage going into the second frame.
After Newton scored 14 points in the opening eight minutes, Greenforest put the clamps on Newton going into halftime.
For the entire duration of the second quarter, the Rams only scored two points, courtesy of a slam from RJ Wilson over an Eagles' defender.
This allowed Greenforest to even the score going into halftime at 16-16, and its momentum did not stop there.
Five different Eagles players reached the basket in the third quarter as they were able to score from all levels of the court while playing physical on the defensive end.
The big flash of the quarter came late in the frame when a Greenforest player took the ball down court for a slam that erupted the small gym.
Seconds later, the Rams sent the ball back their way to Wilson who produced a big dunk of his own.
On the next Greenforest transition, the Eagles took a deep three that connected to keep the pace and maintain the lead.
The Eagles ended the quarter with a lead of 37-28.
In the final frame of the game, Newton’s ten points were matched by Greenforest, resulting in the Rams’ second loss of the season with a 48-38 defeat on day one of the Tournament of Champions.
For the Rams, the scoring was led by Harden and Jenkins, who both finished with 10 points.
The Eagles were led by Daniel Daramola with 14 points.
The loss sets the Rams up to play Fayette County on day two of the Tournament of Champions.
In need of a bounce back, the Rams delivered with a 69-41 win over the Tigers.
The win over Fayette County was led by sophomore Jordan Green, who finished with a double-double in Thursday’s game.
Green ended the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Following behind him was Praither, who put up 18 points.
Jenkins and White were right behind with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
The win over the Tigers moves the Rams to 9-2 on the 2023 season.
Following the tournament, Newton will face St. Anne-Pacelli at home on Tuesday, Jan. 2 before beginning its region slate against South Gwinnett on Friday, Jan. 5.
