By By Marty Stamper
JAN. 13, 2001
UNION Newton County's Cougars held off a second-half charge by the Newton Tigers to take a 71-69 foul-plagued victory in the second round of the annual Newton County Tournament.
In the girls' game, Newton ripped Union 67-35.
Tonight's games have the Newton County teams taking on Union with girls' action set for 6:30 and the boys to follow.
Newton County's teams are both 1-0 in the three-school, round-robin tournament, while Union's are 0-1. Newton's teams both finished 1-1.
Newton County boys 71, Newton 69: The Cougars snapped a four-game losing streak as they defeated Newton for the second time in three meetings this season. All three games have been tightly contested.
This one had the makings of an early blowout as Newton County scored the game's first 11 points and held the Tigers without a basket in the first quarter. The Cougars led 18-5 after one period with Newton's points coming on a 5-for-10 showing at the free-throw line.
Newton closed to within 28-22 by halftime and got to within a point on two occasions in the third period. Newton County led 42-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
The final period was a foul-marred affair as the teams combined to shoot 35 free throws over the final eight minutes. They were called for nearly that many lane violations.
Newton drew even at 58 on a pair of free throws from Mario Qualls with 2:15 remaining.
Al Willis responded with a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to give the Cougars a 61-58 lead.
A perfect 6-of-6 showing at the free-throw line over the final 19 seconds secured the win despite a late 3-pointer apiece from Qualls and LaDarrian Blaylock.
For the game, Newton County made 28-of-38 free throws. Newton went 20-of-30 at the charity stripe.
The quick start didn't hurt as Newton held a 64-53 advantage over the final three periods.
Willis scored nine of Newton County's last 13 points.
Tony Smith led the Cougars (11-7) with 20 points. Willis scored 15, while Justin Smith and Mylan Anderson both had 12 points.
Qualls led Newton (16-7) with 31 points, 22 of which came in the second half. The Tigers also got 17 points from Lance Pruitt and 12 from Blaylock.
Newton girls 67, Union 35: It took less than three minutes for Newton to build a 13-0 lead and the Lady Tigers were never threatened by Union.
The Lady Tigers led 17-6 after one quarter and carried a 37-16 advantage into halftime. Newton led 48-27 through three periods.
Kotreece Bender led Newton (13-11) with 15 points. Creoshia Williams scored 14, Twila Clayton had 11, Lenore Gray had eight, and Latonya Jordan and Marquita McLaurin both had six.
Union got 12 points from Jerica Hickman, eight from LaSaundra Harrison, and seven from Dana Buckley. The Lady Jackets made only 11-of-29 free throws as they dropped to 5-15.