Kemper County rolls past Newton
By By Carver Rayburn / staff writer
Jan. 16, 2003
DEKALB Kemper County gave Newton High School a warm welcome at first in division 5-2A basketball Tuesday night. Then the boys gave Newton something to think about on the bus ride home.
The Newton High Lady Tigers took care of the Lady Wildcats 63-56, but the Wildcats blew out the visiting Tigers 93-71 in boys action.
With the win, Kemper County improved to 4-1 in their division and 9-11 overall. The Lady Wildcats dropped to 2-3 in division play and 6-12 overall. Newton falls to 8-9 and the Lady Tigers jump to 13-7 and remain unbeaten in division play at 5-0.
Newton High boys 71
Kemper County 93
In what started off as tight game, the Newton High Tigers played well through the first eight minutes of action in Dekalb Tuesday. Led by David Edwards and Coshune Bingham's six points each, the Tigers took a 21-18 lead to the bench between quarter number one and two. Bingham and Edwards finished the night with 19 points each.
The Tigers, who once lead by as many as seven, fell apart in the second quarter. This was mainly due to Kemper Co. coach Arthur Carter's defense forcing turnovers. The Wildcat's turned 10 Newton High turnovers into eight points and took a 36-30 lead into halftime.
Despite leading by six, coach Carter was not pleased with his team's play in the first half. Carter's face screamed with anger as he bolted to the locker room at intermission.
The locker room pep speech worked. The Wildcats came out red hot in the third quarter. Senior Terrence Westerfield scored the first bucket of the third quarter rout. Westefield finished with 25 points. Freshman Shardricus Thompson then scored nine straight points for the Wildcats who fueled off of each other to gain the momentum in the game. Thompson finished with 16 points.
Another freshman involved in the offensive explosion was Rodricus Hopson who finished with 15 points and a monster dunk. Coach Carter felt that the defense came up big and allowed the offensive transition to escalate.
The fourth quarter saw little momentum change in Newton's direction. Two back to back slam dunks by Rodricus Hopson and Terrence Westerfield made the crowd roar and the clock to tick slower for Newton as the Wildcats cruised on to a victory.
Newton High girls 63
Kemper Co. 56
In girls action, the Lady Wildcats fell to a very quick Newton High team. Kemper Co. had a chance to steal one from a team that lost one starter to an illness and the other was playing sick.
The Lady Tigers were led by Kotreece Bender, who was 5 of 6 from the line and hit three from downtown with 22 points and Jessica Anderson with 12. Twila Clayton also chipped in 10 for the Tigers. Monique Mosley led Kemper with 16 points.
