LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Both of Newton’s basketball teams advanced to the Region 4-AAAAAA championship game after wins in the semi-final round of the region tournament at Archer High School.

The Lady Rams began the day with a 67-57 win over the hosting Lady Tigers in a game that started well in Newton’s favor.

Newton’s boys team battled a scrappy Grovetown squad before they grabbed a narrow 52-48 win.

In both cases, the wins set up rematches with Grayson for the region title.

Lady Rams defeat Archer on the back of a strong first half

The game could not have began better for Newton against the 21-4 Lady Tigers.

Nine points from sophomore London Smith highlighted the opening eight minutes of the contest as Newton’s offense seemed to find a early rhythm.

After holding a 19-11 lead going into the second frame, senior Alissa Sandifer began to take the game over.

Sandifer scored 12 points in the second quarter that was capped by a pair of three pointers.

This is not the first time Sandifer has made plays in a region tournament.

Last season, Sandifer sent the Lady Rams to the region title game after knocking down a buzzer beater over the same Archer team they played on Thursday.

Following the game, head coach Jawan Bailey spoke about what he liked from the team in the opening half.

“In the first half I thought we had really good ball movement. Getting the ball out, not wasting a lot of time [and] everybody getting to their spacing areas,” Bailey said. “Just moving the basketball and being patient for a good shot.”

Smith and Tania Bailey also converted on three-pointers as Newton held a commanding 42-18 lead over Archer at halftime.

However, Archer began to climb back in the second half — something that Bailey was prepared for.

“I have been in so many games where I have either been up 20, or down 20 and that lead has been completely taken away,” Bailey said. “I have been on both sides of it, so I never get too excited with a lead. Especially in the second half, they did a really good job of throwing something at us that I think took us out of the game plan we had. We had a hard time adjusting to it, so hats off to them and the adjustments they made at the half.”

The Lady Rams held their lead throughout the third quarter as Skylar Levell seemed to cause problems for Archer on the inside. Levell made a habit of grabbing offensive rebounds to give Newton more scoring opportunities.

Nevertheless, the Lady Tigers managed to get within six in the final frame due to their best offensive and defensive showings of the day, but it was not enough.

As soon as Archer got close, Newton managed to pull away.

With multiple Lady Tigers fouled out in the final minutes, a late basket from Smith sealed the deal on Newton’s 10-point win.

After losing a similar game earlier in the year to Archer already, Thursday’s outcome was a welcomed sight for Bailey.

“I am proud of my group, we finished it,” Bailey said. “We didn’t just throw the game away like we did the very first time we played them, which had a similar set up as this where we were up big at the half and they came back the same way and won. This time we were able to find ways to finish it out.”

With another matchup against Grayson on the way for the Lady Rams, Bailey shared what he has liked from the team during its recent stretch and what they will need to do to knock off the defending region and state champions on Saturday.

“Offensively, definitely,” Bailey said. “I still think we need to pick it up with going to find the box outs. I got some athletics on the team, so it's hard for some of them to wrap around the concept of ‘I can be beat or out-rebounded or out-jumped’. But in order to compete with Grayson on Saturday, we are going to need to find people and put a body on them and try to get them out of the paint. Just execute it a little better than we did tonight. Not a bad job on the boards, but we got to be a lot better on Saturday.”

Rams move past a tough Grovetown team

For the boys team, Newton was paired with the Warriors, a team they beat 65-57 in its most recent game to end the regular season.

On Thursday, it was another close game between the two region foes.

With senior Ted Neal and Marcus Smith garnering attention from the Grovetown players, Zach Harden had himself a day.

Harden knocked down multiple shots early in what proved to be a strong day for the senior. As someone who also shines on the gridiron, head coach Barry Browner expressed how Harden's physicality translates well to the court.

“He [Harden] is so strong,” Browner said. “He is a big time football player, committed to Minnesota. But his strength and what he does in the weight room — he shows it out here. Some of those rebounds he gets because he is so strong and bigger and tougher than everyone else.”

The Rams got the game started fast, but the Warriors fought back to tie the game at 19-19 going into the second frame.

After a high-scoring first eight minutes, the second quarter was the complete opposite as Newton went into the break with only a 33-25 lead.

The second half stayed competitive throughout.

Harden continued to shine as the senior converted on multiple put-backs as the Rams tried to maximize their scoring chances.

Grovetown managed to get within four in the final minute of the contest, but strong defense from Newton seemed to not allow the Warriors any room for good shots.

A missed open layup from the Warriors late in the game signaled what ended up being a 52-48 win for Newton in the semi-final game.

After a trio of hard-fought games against Grovetown, Browner had nothing but praise for the team from east Georgia.

“It is hard to beat a team three times,” Browner said. “Grovetown man, their coaches are championship coaches. He’s won championships, he knows what it looks like. He is always going to have his guys prepared.”

Now, Browner and the Rams will look to prevent a Grayson team from beating them three times as the two region foes meet again.

It is the fourth consecutive season that the two teams have played in the region championship game. Grayson has won the three previous region title games.

With that being the case, it is no surprise that Browner and the Rams are eager to meet Grayson again.

“I woke up at 2 o’clock in the morning and was thinking about Grayson,” Browner said. “No disrespect to Grovetown, but I have so much respect for those guys. I coached at Grayson with those guys, there is a lot of respect. Like I said, to beat a team three times [is hard]. And, I think we played Grayson tough both times. I am looking forward to it.”

The next edition of the ‘Battle of Rams’ will take place Saturday, Feb. 17 at Archer High School.