By Staff
Feb. 17, 2001
By Fredie Carmichael
Special to The Star
In game in which Newton seemed to have the edge in size and athleticism, the Martin sisters of Bay Springs countered with gritty play and unconscious shooting for a 78-74 victory in the championship contest of the Division 7-2A Tournament at Clarkdale Friday night.
Newton led 12-3 early and looked to be on its way to a rout of Bay Springs before the Lady Bulldogs' Kristi Martin caught fire. Martin, the tournament MVP, ripped the nets for a game-high 39 points.
After a good start for the Lady Tigers, Martin led Bay Springs back from the charity stripe as she hit 6-of-6 free throws to pull the Lady Bulldogs to within 17-13 at the end of the first quarter.
Bay Springs took its first lead of the game with 5:21 left in the half when Martin picked off an errant Newton pass and traveled the length of the court to put the Lady Bulldogs on top 21-20. Newton answered and Creoshia Williams tied it up at 25-25 with 3:58 to play in the half as she floated in a fade-away jump shot in the corner.
The Lady Bulldogs' Karen Clayton scored consecutive layups and Bay Springs enjoyed a 35-27 lead at halftime.
Newton used a 16-3 run to start the second half as the Lady Tigers regained the lead at 43-38 with 2:13 left to play in the third on a basket down low by Lenore Gray.
Martin then began to light it up again as she scored nine straight points to put the Lady Bulldogs back on top 47-45 with 42 seconds left in the third. Newton got a quick basket in the paint and big 3 as the clock ran down to take back the lead at 50-47 going into the fourth quarter.
Bay Springs' Kristi Martin once again took up the slack for the Lady Bulldogs as she nailed three 3s to put them back on top 63-59 with 4:05 left in the game.
Williams answered back moments later with a bank shot from the wing and Newton cut it to 63-61. Martin, seeing that her team needed another big shot, launched a deep 3 that extended the Bay Springs lead to 66-61 with 3:05 remaining on the clock. Newton was never able to respond.
Even though the Lady Bulldogs got off to the slow start, they were able to walk away with the Division 7-2A championship trophy.
Followed by Martin's 39, Clayton had 20 for Bay Springs.
Lenore Gray led the way for Newton with 18, Kotreece Bender had 17, Latonya Jordan added 12, and Twila Clayton and Williams chipped in with 10 apiece.
Newton goes to the Division 6-2A winner Monday in a first-round, Class 2A playoff game, while Bay Springs hosts the 6-2A runnerup.