By By Ryan Satcher/staff writer
June 23, 2002
The Newton High School girls and boys both won two games on Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the basketball competition in the State Games of Mississippi.
In other games on Saturday in Newton, the East Marion girls beat Pillow Academy 40-37 and the Taylorsville boys beat Brookhaven 50-35.
The Newton girls team beat Bay Springs in a tight 54-53 battle and then disposed of Taylorsville 64-43 to stay unbeaten and win Pool IV.
The Tigers beat Jefferson County in a close game 79-72 on Saturday morning and then beat Pillow Academy 75-63 to win the boys Pool IV.
Both teams will move on to play the winner of Pool II tomorrow morning for the chance to once again play in the finals. Both teams won the silver medal in last year's State Games competition.
The NHS girls take on Meridian High School in the semifinals at 9 a.m. at the MHS gym, followed by the Newton and Meridian boys at 10:15. The winner of each game moves to the gold medal contests at Meridian Community College's Ivy Sports Center Sunday afternoon.
Newton girls 54
Bay Springs 53
Newton jumped out to a good lead in the second half but had to fight to hang on to a 54-53 win over Bay Springs.
Newton led the game at halftime 26-20. The Lady Tigers were able to expand the lead up to 10 points midway through the second half. That's when Bay Springs charged back.
The Lady Tigers were unable to hold the lead as Bay Springs tied the game up late in the second half. With the scored tied and time running out, Newton went to the free-throw line. The first free throw went in and the second one was off the mark. The Lady Tigers were able to get the offensive rebound and were fouled once again with eight seconds left.
Instead of getting the free throws, the ball was turned over to Bay Springs because of a lane violation on Newton. Bay Springs went the length of the floor in the time that was left and missed the winning shot.
Newton girls 64
Taylorsville 43
The Lady Tigers had no problems taking care of Taylorsville in their final Pool IV game.
Taylorsville was able to keep the score fairly close in the first half as Newton led only 35-23 at the half.
In the second half Newton jumped ahead and was able to play a lot of subs which may be important both in the State Games and for next season.
Twilla Clayton and Creoshia Williams each had 15 points in the victory. Jessica Anderson added 12 points.
Kenya Bender had 13 points for Taylorsville while Frankie Brown added nine points in the loss.
Newton boys 79
Jefferson Co. 72
The Newton boys fell behind Jefferson County early and trailed by as much as 10 before coming back to take the important 79-72 win.
The game was originally scheduled for 4:45 p.m. on Saturday but was moved up to 9:15 a.m. The change was a good one for Newton because they were able to face Jefferson County with fresh legs. The Tigers pressed the entire game and only played six or seven players in the win.
Ladarrian Blaylock and Cornelious Caraway each exploded for 21 points to lead the Tigers in the game. Coshaune Bingham scored 17.
Newton boys 75
Pillow Academy 63
Newton had no trouble with Pillow Academy and won the game 75-63 to run the table in Pool IV play.
The Tigers jumped out to a 43-27 lead at the half. The Mustangs of Pillow Academy were able to cut into the lead against the Newton subs but did not really pressure the Tigers.
Caraway scored 20 points to lead Newton in the victory. Bingham scored 12 points.
Lanny Fratesi scored a game-high 26 points to lead Pillow Academy. Steven Flemming scored 16 for the Mustangs in the loss.
East Marion 40
Pillow Academy girls 37
The Pillow Academy girls made the game with East Marion very close but could not quite pull out a victory.
East Marion led for most of the game and led 21-18 at the half. Pillow Academy was able to keep the lead at three points for most all of the second half but could not pick up the win.
Mary Boler had 12 points for the Lady Mustangs in the loss while Stribling Whites had eight.
Taylorsville boys 50
Brookhaven 35
Taylorsville led for most of the game and was able to take over the game late in the ballgame and beat Brookhaven 50-35.
Taylorsville led by single digits for most of the first and second half. The Tartars lead was 22-19 at the end of the first half. The lead remained near three until Taylorsville went on a run to lengthen the gap. With eight minutes left in the second half Taylorsville was able to extend the lead to 10 points.
Taylorsville expanded on its lead late in the second half and led by 14 with 6:30 left in the game. Brookhaven could not cut into lead and the Tartars took the 15-point victory.