By By Rocky Higginbotham/Special to the Star
Jan 19, 2002
NEWTON Crandel Porter and his Newton High School basketball teams have been waiting since Dec. 4 for a chance at revenge against Division 5-2A rival Williams-Sullivan.
And as the case sometimes goes with coaches who pull double duty, Porter left here Friday night only half-satisfied.
Newton's 14th-ranked girls dropped a 71-68 decision to the visiting Lady Yellow Jackets, while the Newton boys used a fast start to whip Williams-Sullivan 74-61.
The Lady Tigers are now 17-4 overall and 5-2 in division play, while Newton's boys are 12-10 overall but 6-1 in division action. Both visit Kemper County Tuesday in another division contest, with first place in 5-2A likely on the line in the boys' contest.
Williams-Sullivan 71
Newton girls 68
Both teams had their moments in this seesaw battle, but Williams-Sullivan's final push down the stretch was enough to keep the Lady Jackets unbeaten in division action.
Williams-Sullivan, which is now 22-2, scored eight straight points to go ahead 68-63 with 1:55 remaining.
A 3-pointer from Newton's Creoshia Williams pulled the Lady Tigers within 69-68 with 57 seconds left, and Williams-Sullivan missed the front end of a one-and-one situation at the other end.
Newton had a chance to tie or take the lead with one-and-ones with 38 and 25 seconds remaining, but missed both. The Lady Jackets broke the press and got a layup from Angela Howard with 18 seconds remaining for the winning points, and Newton's 3-pointer at the buzzer rolled out.
The Lady Jackets' biggest lead came in the first quarter at 19-11, but Newton got right back in it in the second quarter and finished the first half with seven straight points for a 33-28 halftime lead.
Three-pointers from Howard and Cheridy Bullock sparked Williams-Sullivan's 17-5 spurt to open the second half, only to see Newton come right back to tie it again at 52-52 on a 3 from Twila Clayton with 7:23 remaining in the contest.
Howard led Williams-Sullivan with 21 points, while Mary Timms had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Keilandra Scruggs scored 15 points to go with seven boards and four assists, while Bullock scored nine.
Lenore Gray led four Newton players in double figures with 21 points and she also had 11 rebounds and four steals. Kotreece Bender had 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Tonya Jordan had 10 points and five steals, Williams had 10 points and three assists and Clayton six points and four assists.
Newton boys 74
Williams-Sullivan 61
Playing their first contest with the addition of the team's football players back on Dec. 4, Newton suffered its only division loss thus far with an 85-79 setback at Williams-Sullivan.
Friday, however, it was all Tigers.
Newton used 19 straight points during a stretch of 4:03 in the first quarter on its way to a 21-4 lead after the first eight minutes.
The Tigers got six points from David Edwards during the 19-point run, which also produced five steals and seven Yellow Jacket turnovers.
Newton took its biggest lead at 39-12 late in the first half on a steal and layup from Danule McNair.
Williams-Sullivan scored the final 10 points of the first half to pull within 41-22, and the Jackets slowly crept their way back into it in the final period.
A 3-pointer from Jermaine Young got Williams-Sullivan within 63-57 with 3:22 left, but the Jackets got no closer.
Anthony Broadnax led the Jackets with 23 points, while Young scored nine and Willie Hannah and Anthony Washington eight apiece.
Newton's balanced attack included 14 points from Edwards, 13 apiece from Bobby Lindsey and Coshune Bingham, nine each from McNair and Ladarrian Blaylock, eight from Cornelius Caraway and six from Zack Logan.