Newton sweeps Region 8 basketball titles

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.

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Rams claim AAAAAA state title

COVINGTON, Ga.— When Newton boys track and field coach Kevin Barnes thinks back to the start of the 2016 season, he remembers he and his team having one goal.

“We started this season off with a state championship in mind. It was pretty much state championship or bust,” Barnes recalled.

After a memorable weekend in Jefferson, the Rams completed that mission.

Led by individual title-winners Jeremiah Hollomon and Elija Godwin, Newton captured not only the first state championship in program history but the first team crown since the baseball team won the state title in 1979.

“We knew we had the talent to do it, to have it happen … it was kind of surreal,” Barnes said. “It’s really just now hitting me, really, we won the state championship.”

The championship, which came by just three points over runner-up South Gwinnett, nearly didn’t materialize after the Rams’ 400-relay team, which includes Godwin, dropped the baton and didn’t finish the race. Godwin and Hollomon teamed up with Artice Hobbs and Alex Sands to pick up a second-place finish in the 1,600-relay, the final event of the meet. That wrapped up the historic victory.

“We dropped the baton in the four-by-one (and) we were really antsy,” Barnes said. “We knew it was going to come down to the four-by-four. It was really nerve-racking.”

“It was hard on us. It was very emotional,” Godwin said of the 400-relay mishap. “(The rest of the team) really just kept us up because we felt really bad after that four-by-one. Everybody was down, just like a negative feeling, and they kept us up telling us that we can do it. They had our backs the whole way through (and) we came back hard.”

Individually the Rams picked up contributions from a number of athletes. Hollomon captured the triple jump gold medal for the second consecutive season and Godwin was the 400-meter champion and also finished fourth in the 200.

Alex Sands secured a pair of fifth-place finishes in the 100 and 200; Mushadi Ibere was fourth in the high jump and eighth in the long jump and Jeremiah Bundrage placed eighth in the shot put. With the small margin of victory over South Gwinnett (and third-place Campbell and Lakeside-DeKalb, both of which finished just five points back), the Rams needed every one of those points.

“Everybody did contribute, it was a full team effort,” Barnes said. “Those points were very big for us. I just felt pride as a coach because those guys deserve everything they got. I wouldn’t ask for a better group of kids.”


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Rams blow lead, lose on walk off

DECATUR, Ga. - What looked to be a victory turned into late-inning disappointment for the Newton baseball team Friday afternoon.

Columbia scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with a 9-8 victory in non-region play.

Columbia trailed 8-6 going to the last half of the seventh, but had the first three batters reach base against losing pitcher Mason Calloway, the last of which was an infield single by Elijah Hammonds that scored Brandon Williams to make it a one-run game.

Calloway got the lead runner at third, and the first out of the inning, on Jamari Johnson’s sacrifice attempt, then walked Quesean Lynch to load the bases. Tramane Calloway was hit by an 0-1 pitch to force home the tying run, and with the infield playing in, Marvin Lloyd blooped a single off the glove of a leaping Jaylen Marks at second base and Johnson trotted home with the game-winner.

It was an 8-3 lead for Newton before the host Eagles got to Calloway for three runs in the sixth.

Johnson was at the forefront of that rally as well, drawing a walk to open the frame. After a fly out, Charles Johnson ripped a double down the left field line and Johnson scored to pull Columbia to within 8-4. Calloway struck out Lloyd, but had no such luck with Khalil Manuel.

The Columbia third baseman crushed a 1-0 pitch over the left-center field wall for a two-run home run and it was an 8-6 game.

Newton batted around in the fourth to snap a 2-2 tie.

Tramane Calloway dropped Joshua Bostic’s fly ball - one of five Columbia errors - and Victor Medina followed with a double. Sean McGregor’s single chased home Bostic and the Rams led 3-2.

Three other players drove in runs in the inning - Buck Sullivan and Alex Johnson on singles and Auliver Astin’s fielder’s choice that gave the visitors from Covington a 6-2 advantage.

In the top of the sixth, Marks was hit by a pitch and scored on a throwing error and later, Parker Kauffman had a run-scoring single to cap the scoring for Newton and make it 8-3.

Newton left the bases loaded in the top of the first, failing to take advantage of three walks from Columbia starter Charles Johnson.

The Rams didn’t waste their chances over the next two frames.

In the second, Medina reached on a fielding error by Hammonds to start the rally, then catcher Givanni Dyer had a passed ball and Johnson un-corked a pair of wild pitches, the last allowing Medina to scoot home with the first run of the day.

Alex Johnson’s RBI-single in the third made it 2-0, but Columbia scored two of its own in the bottom half against Jamal Boykin.

Durden pitches Tift County past Newton in opening round

COVINGTON, Ga. - Adriana Durden pitched the Tift County softball team into the second round of the state playoffs Wednesday.

Durden tossed a pair of complete game shutouts as Region 1 No. 3 Tift County swept Region 2 runner-up Newton in a first round series in Class AAAAAA.

Facing elimination and trailing 1-0 in the top of the third of game two, Newton got a one-out single by Ciara Bryan. Durden was particularly stingy after that, not allowing a hit the rest of the way. Only when shortstop Joslyn Reyes dropped pinch-hitter Shelbi Landreau’s line drive in the fifth did the Rams have another base-runner over the final four innings of a 2-0 victory.

Tift County, which will travel to Region 4 champion Harrison in the second round, built its lead with single runs in the second and sixth. In the home half of the second, Kaitlin Tucker led off with a double and after a ground out moved her to third, Madison Robinson lifted a sacrifice fly to left field and the Blue Devils went up 1-0.

That was the only run Tift County would need, but the visitors built a two-run cushion in the sixth on consecutive doubles by Reyes and Taylor Corbett.

After Reyes’ error, Durden retired the final seven batters she faced on just 18 pitches and ended Newton’s season by allowing just three singles and striking out six.

Durden was outstanding in the opener as well, striking out 13 and allowing just four hits in a 3-0 win.

The Newton offense had its best chance to score in the bottom of the first. Bryan took the second pitch she saw and ripped a triple to dead-center field. Madison Cronic reached on a bunt single and pinch-runner Merlexia Maddox stole second to put runners at second and third with one out. That’s where Durden began a dominant stretch, striking out Ashley Weesner and Ashton Mckinnon to escape any harm. Those were the first of six consecutive strikeouts for Durden and after Bryan’s one-out single in the third (Bryan was later caught stealing by Corbett) the junior hurler retired 12 straight batters.

Tift County got all the runs it would need in the top of the fifth. Cronic, who went the distance and took the loss, walked Robinson to start the frame and Hannah Hartsfield and Rebecca Sexton had singles to load the bases with one out.

Reyes’ sacrifice fly allowed Robinson to trot home with the first run of the game. Corbett, who went 5-for-7 with a walk in the doubleheader, followed with a two-run double that made it a 3-0 game.

For Newton, Bryan went 4-for-6 in the two games, but the rest of the offense had just three hits in 43 plate appearances.


Photo: Newton's Ciara Bryan bats against Tift County's Adriana Durden Wednesday in Covington.

Newton’s Calloway leads summer team to win in tourney opener

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. - If the GBSA Sox are to contend for a championship in the World Wood Bat 16-under Tournament, Mason Calloway figures to have a prominent role. For the Newton High School rising junior and the Sox, things got off to a great start Friday morning.

Calloway pitched 3 1/3 effective innings to pick up the win and he scored what turned out to be the winning in a 5-2 victory in six innings over Team Rawlings Citius in the opener of pool play at Banneker High School.

GBSA, a team based out of Decatur, played its second pool game Friday against MAP Baseball in a game that ended too late for this edition.

Calloway was the catalyst on the mound and at the plate in the opener. The left-hander had just one difficult stretch when he allowed four consecutive baserunners and Team Rawlings’ only runs of the day on a run-scoring double by Walker Tolar and a double play ball that made it a 2-0 game. Calloway also induced a big double play on a line out by Tyler Bielamowicz to help him get out of the third, then got what looked to be his third double play ball in the fourth. After GBSA got the force out at second base on Noberto Cervantes’ ground ball, Cervantes was called safe at first on the return throw by shortstop Isreal Zackery (Heritage High School). Javon Russell relieved and the right-hander got a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.

GBSA trailed 2-1 before taking the lead for good with a four-run bottom of the third. Tyler Grant led off the inning with a walk and Calloway, who batted leadoff Friday, followed with the first of his two infield singles. A misplay by Team Rawlings’ starter and losing pitcher Hunter Edwards on Myles Smith’s bunt, which turned out to be Edwards’ last batter, loaded the bases, then reliever Marshall Skinner hit Jaquez Williams with a pitch, forcing in Grant with the tying run. Salem High School’s Jason Howell followed with an RBI-groundout that chased home Calloway to put GBSA ahead to stay at 3-2.

Russell and Smith worked in and out of trouble in both the fifth and sixth to help preserve the win. Russell allowed a single to Skinner and walked Justin Mora with two outs in the fifth, but got the last of his three strikeouts against Ethan Cherry to avoid any harm. In the sixth, GBSA turned its third double play to empty the bases with two outs (Zackery was involved in each of the twin killings) before Russell walked Cervantes. Smith also issued a walk on his first batter, to Marcus Cantu that brought Tolar to the plate as the tying run, but the Team Rawlings’ third baseman struck out looking to end the game.

Newton rolls past Stockbridge on diamond

There were strong wind gusts throughout Wednesday’s baseball game between Newton and Stockbridge. But with the way the Rams were pitching and hitting, it didn’t matter much at all.

Alex Johnson and Allen Bowen combined on a one-hit shutout and the Rams broke things open with a huge third inning in a 14-0 victory in five innings.

Newton was up 4-0 heading into the third, and though the weather conditions were far from comfortable, the Covington school’s lead on the scoreboard grew more and more safe. Facing starter and losing pitcher Alberto Vargas, Shawn Guckenberger and Tristan McInerny started the inning with singles and after a pop out, Auliver Astin walked to load the bases. Johnson followed with a rope, three-run triple to the opposite field that put the Rams up 7-0. A walk to Grant Burroughs chased Vargas, and five consecutive batters reached base against reliever Chris McKenzie with Guckenberger capping the seven-run inning with a sacrifice fly.

“Wind blowing like it was, I didn’t think they’d hit the ball the way they did. They dealt with it pretty good,” Newton coach Andre Byrd said.

That was more than enough run support for Johnson, who got to six three-ball counts but ultimately allowed just two walks and a single to Nathan Greene in three innings. Allen Bowen surrendered a walk over the final two innings to preserve the abbreviated shutout.

“Our pitching has been a strength all year long and they continue to do the same thing,” Byrd said.

Newton jumped on top with a four-run second against Vargas. Joshua Prince doubled with one out and Astin’s opposite field single chased home Prince with the first run of the night. After Johnson walked, Montravious Boykin doubled in a run and Mason Callaway’s two-run single made it a 4-0 game.

“What’s been happening, our (pitchers) kind of start slow (and) we usually come in and hit the ball pretty good. Once they start pitching with a lead they’re a little more comfortable,” Byrd said. “I’ve been putting the emphasis on lately…hitting to the opposite field. Now that they’re buying into doing that, they’re putting some runs on the board. In past years they’ve been on that side, losing 14-0, they love being on the other side.”

Newton will return to the Region 2-AAAAAA action Friday in a 5:30 p.m. at county rival Alcovy.

Photo: Newton’s Mason Callaway lines out to third base in the first inning of Wednesday’s game against Stockbridge. 

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North cobb upsets Newton girls in opening round

COVINGTON, Ga. - Through one quarter of play Friday in Covington, the North Cobb girls basketball team didn’t look much like a team that had hopes of returning to the state semifinals.

But with outside shooting like it had over the final three quarters, the Warriors appear to be more than capable of getting back to the final four.

North Cobb hit 10 3-pointers and held off a late rally from Newton for a 59-50 victory in the first round of the Class AAAAAA state playoffs.

The visitors from Kennesaw, who improved to 20-9, move on to Monday’s round of 16, while Newton, the Region 2-AAAAAA champions, had its 13-game winning streak snapped and finished 21-7.

“If we get our feet set, we can shoot it,” said North Cobb coach John Speeney, whose team finished sixth in the regular season in the difficult region 4 before grabbing the No. 4 seed in the league tournament. “Newton High School, they have a great basketball team (but) our girls stepped up and I’m proud of them. It’s been a nice run.”

North Cobb, which has reached at least the second round for the fifth consecutive season, took its largest lead of the night at 41-26 on one of Chantel Strahorn’s five 3-pointers with three minutes remaining in the third. Newton didn’t go away, finishing the third on a 9-2 run to get within eight points heading into the final period.

The run continued at the start of the fourth, thanks to the outside shooting of Deandra Reed. Reed, who last time she played on her home court torched Luella for six 3-pointers, drained a pair of threes on consecutive possessions, her first points of the night, which made it a 43-41 game at he 6:46 mark.

It was a 48-47 game after Reed hit another from behind the arc, but Strahorn answered at the other end with a three and Aniya Corley followed with a lay up in transition and North Cobb led 53-47 with just under two minutes to go.

Newton got seven first-quarter points from Cynteria Langhorne, including a bucket with 44 seconds left that sent the Rams into the second quarter up 17-11.

The second, though, belonged to the visiting Warriors.

Thanks to two of Strahorn’s three first-half 3-pointers, North Cobb scored the first 14 points of the period and led 25-17 at the two-minute mark. After Langhorne’s late-first quarter basket, the Rams scored just one point - a free throw by Sonia Forney at the 1:40 mark - the rest of the half. North Cobb’s three-point prowess continued late in the half as Moriah Hopkins and Corley each hit a long ball, the last of six opening-half 3-pointers for the visitors, and it was a 31-18 lead at the break.

Strahorn led all scorers with 16 points, while Corley added 14 and Kyrie Chandler, 10 for North Cobb. Newton was paced by Reed and Forney, who had nine points each.

It was an opening round Cobb County sweep as Hillgrove’s boys defeated Newton 56-44 in the nightcap.

After a field goal by D.J. Hill at the four-minute mark of the third, Newton (21-8) led 35-25 and looked poised to take control of the game. But that’s just when the hosts offense turned cold, going exactly six minutes without a point, and the visitors from Powder Springs evened things up by scoring the final 10 points of the third, four of which came as part of a 13-point night for Keith Ray.

Hillgrove (21-7) kept it up at the start of the fourth, extending the spurt out to 16 consecutive points as Ray had all six of the game’s points in the first 1:16 of the period.

Hill hit a difficult, baseline runner to cut it to 41-37, but Hillgrove’s 7-0 answer pushed the lead to 48-37 with about 3 1/2 minutes to go in the game.

Hillgrove avenged a loss to Newton in the first round of the 2011 Class AAAAA playoffs, which was the last time the programs met.

The visiting Hawks had a nice first quarter as five different players scored to help grab a 13-7 lead after one. Newton still trailed 15-11 two minutes into the second before knocking down some shots. Beginning with Keion Sims’ bucket at the 5:52 mark, Newton finished the opening half on a 14-3 run and went up 25-18 at halftime.

B.J. Brown had nine of his 11 points in the third, including a 3-pointer that cut Newton’s cushion to 30-25. Darvin Jones hit a three before Hill’s bucket made it a 10-point game.

Jalen Glover, playing his final game in a Newton uniform, led all scorers with 15 points. The Rams were playing in their first state playoff game since being eliminated by Valdosta in the 2011 Elite 8.

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