COVINGTON, Ga. - There
was no heartbreak this February for the Newton girls basketball team.
A year after losing in double-overtime in the region title game, the
Rams decided things in regulation this time around, defeating South
Gwinnett 60-44.
Newton (24-3), whose only loss in region play came against South
Gwinnett on January 25, will host Central Gwinnett in the first round of the state playoffs.
“I have a great group of girls, they’re great kids,” said Newton coach Tiffani Johnson, the region’s coach of the year. “They have great chemistry (and) its been a joy to coach them, watch them progress.”
A pivotal stretch during the third quarter allowed Newton to pull
away, and the run was led by an unlikely hero. Rachel Hillard, who
scored just two points in a semifinal win over Archer, converted three consecutive baskets. Hillard’s final bucket – a three-footer while falling down which she converted into a three-point play – capped a 7-0 run and turned an 11-point lead into a 40-22 cushion with just under four minutes to go in the period.
Hillard finished with 11 points, one of four in double figures as
Lexis Chatman also scored 11 and Jada Franklin and Jurnee Smith had 12 points apiece.
South Gwinnett got off to a fast start and held a seven-point over the top seed less than four minutes in.
Makala Torrence and Xian Lopez hit threes, the last coming at the 6:16 mark and giving the Comets an 8-1 advantage. It was 10-3 two minutes later when Newton began to assert itself. Starting with a pretty five-foot bank shot along the baseline from Erianna Card and including a pair of 3-pointers from Diamond Swift, Newton’s 12-3 run produced their first lead of the night at 15-13 with a little less than a minute to go in the opening period.
Johnson feels the difficult loss in the region championship game last season (and a state tournament first-round loss at home to Duluth) helped prepare her team for adversity.
“This year, when its been tight, we’ve been able to overcome,” said Johnson.
Early in the second, Jasmine Williams hit a tough bank shot and
completed the conventional three-point play that pulled South Gwinnett to within 19-16 at the 7:13 mark.
A long field goal drought followed as the No. 2 seed went nearly seven minutes without another basket.
That allowed Newton to build a double-digit lead by halftime.
Franklin had five quick points within the first 50 seconds of the
second period, and that was part of a 7-0 run that gave the Rams a
26-16 cushion with three minutes left in the half.
The lead grew to 30-17 on a Swift-assisted two-footer in the lane by
Hillard with a minute to go.
“They play hard,” Johnson said of South Gwinnett. “In these games it’s who wants it more.”
First-team all-league guard Williams led all scorers with 17 points.
The Comets will host Parkview in the opening round of the state
playoffs.
Newton made it a sweep in the boys final as Ashton Hagans was
fantastic, scoring 35 points as the Rams defeated Grayson 79-63 in the Region 8-AAAAAAA title game.
It’s the third consecutive league crown for the Covington school and
second straight in Region 8.
Hagans, a University of Georgia commitment, sealed the win with a
13-for-13 performance from the free-throw line over the final two
minutes of the game.
Before that, second-seed Grayson had made a huge come back, nearly
erasing a 15-point second-half deficit to get within 61-57 on a
3-pointer by Travis Anderson (team-high 18 points) with 2 ½ minutes
left. That was as close as Grayson would get.
Hagans wasted no time asserting himself from his point guard position.
He assisted on the first Newton (24-3) bucket of the game, then scored six straight Rams’ points, including a tough shot in traffic that put the Rams up 8-4. Newton’s 9-0 run made it 11-4 and after Hagans dunked along the baseline, the top seed led 15-8 after one.
Hagans kept rolling in the second period. He made a pretty banked shot along the base line and another lay-in off a Grayson turnover. Tyrease Brown assisted on a Gabe Gates drunk in transition, which put Newton ahead 25-10 and forced a Grayson timeout.
A late flurry let Grayson (20-6) briefly cut the deficit to single
digits when Kenyon Jackson had a steal and assisted on an Anderson
lay-up, and on the ensuing in-bounds play, Reco Hamilton’s steal and
bucket made it 28-19 with a half-minute to play until halftime.
Brown, who had 26 points in a semifinal win over Archer, didn’t score what turned out to be his only points until draining a 3-pointer with four seconds left that sent Newton into the halftime locker room up 31-19.
A year after losing in double-overtime in the region title game, the
Rams decided things in regulation this time around, defeating South
Gwinnett 60-44.
Newton (24-3), whose only loss in region play came against South
Gwinnett on January 25, will host Central Gwinnett in the first round of the state playoffs.
“I have a great group of girls, they’re great kids,” said Newton coach Tiffani Johnson, the region’s coach of the year. “They have great chemistry (and) its been a joy to coach them, watch them progress.”
A pivotal stretch during the third quarter allowed Newton to pull
away, and the run was led by an unlikely hero. Rachel Hillard, who
scored just two points in a semifinal win over Archer, converted three consecutive baskets. Hillard’s final bucket – a three-footer while falling down which she converted into a three-point play – capped a 7-0 run and turned an 11-point lead into a 40-22 cushion with just under four minutes to go in the period.
Hillard finished with 11 points, one of four in double figures as
Lexis Chatman also scored 11 and Jada Franklin and Jurnee Smith had 12 points apiece.
South Gwinnett got off to a fast start and held a seven-point over the top seed less than four minutes in.
Makala Torrence and Xian Lopez hit threes, the last coming at the 6:16 mark and giving the Comets an 8-1 advantage. It was 10-3 two minutes later when Newton began to assert itself. Starting with a pretty five-foot bank shot along the baseline from Erianna Card and including a pair of 3-pointers from Diamond Swift, Newton’s 12-3 run produced their first lead of the night at 15-13 with a little less than a minute to go in the opening period.
Johnson feels the difficult loss in the region championship game last season (and a state tournament first-round loss at home to Duluth) helped prepare her team for adversity.
“This year, when its been tight, we’ve been able to overcome,” said Johnson.
Early in the second, Jasmine Williams hit a tough bank shot and
completed the conventional three-point play that pulled South Gwinnett to within 19-16 at the 7:13 mark.
A long field goal drought followed as the No. 2 seed went nearly seven minutes without another basket.
That allowed Newton to build a double-digit lead by halftime.
Franklin had five quick points within the first 50 seconds of the
second period, and that was part of a 7-0 run that gave the Rams a
26-16 cushion with three minutes left in the half.
The lead grew to 30-17 on a Swift-assisted two-footer in the lane by
Hillard with a minute to go.
“They play hard,” Johnson said of South Gwinnett. “In these games it’s who wants it more.”
First-team all-league guard Williams led all scorers with 17 points.
The Comets will host Parkview in the opening round of the state
playoffs.
Newton made it a sweep in the boys final as Ashton Hagans was
fantastic, scoring 35 points as the Rams defeated Grayson 79-63 in the Region 8-AAAAAAA title game.
It’s the third consecutive league crown for the Covington school and
second straight in Region 8.
Hagans, a University of Georgia commitment, sealed the win with a
13-for-13 performance from the free-throw line over the final two
minutes of the game.
Before that, second-seed Grayson had made a huge come back, nearly
erasing a 15-point second-half deficit to get within 61-57 on a
3-pointer by Travis Anderson (team-high 18 points) with 2 ½ minutes
left. That was as close as Grayson would get.
Hagans wasted no time asserting himself from his point guard position.
He assisted on the first Newton (24-3) bucket of the game, then scored six straight Rams’ points, including a tough shot in traffic that put the Rams up 8-4. Newton’s 9-0 run made it 11-4 and after Hagans dunked along the baseline, the top seed led 15-8 after one.
Hagans kept rolling in the second period. He made a pretty banked shot along the base line and another lay-in off a Grayson turnover. Tyrease Brown assisted on a Gabe Gates drunk in transition, which put Newton ahead 25-10 and forced a Grayson timeout.
A late flurry let Grayson (20-6) briefly cut the deficit to single
digits when Kenyon Jackson had a steal and assisted on an Anderson
lay-up, and on the ensuing in-bounds play, Reco Hamilton’s steal and
bucket made it 28-19 with a half-minute to play until halftime.
Brown, who had 26 points in a semifinal win over Archer, didn’t score what turned out to be his only points until draining a 3-pointer with four seconds left that sent Newton into the halftime locker room up 31-19.
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