Newton girls roll into 3A playoffs, 52-27

By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
Feb. 14, 2003
The Lady Tigers of Newton High used pressure to force turnovers which led to a 52-27 win over Scott Central in the District 5-2A basketball tournament at Kemper County on Thursday night.
The Lady Rebels tried the hold the ball out and keep the game close, but Newton came away with the steals to advance to the championship game of the tournament.
Newton High got off to a quick start using a full-court press. The Lady Tigers were able to go on a 9-0 run to start the game using turnovers from the press.
Scott Central finally got a basket from Elyse Clay with 4:47 left in the first quarter. The Lady Rebels continued to hold the ball and trailed just 11-4 after the first.
Then Scott Central began to turn the ball over and Newton put some points on the board. Rosalind Jones scored the first six points of the second quarter to give Newton a 17-4 lead.
After the two teams traded a basket, Kotreece Bender started the heat up for the Lady Tigers. She hit two consecutive three-pointers to stretch the lead to 25-6. Twila Clayton added a basket and then Bender hit another three and a two-point field goal to make the score 32-6.
Clay hit a shot with nine seconds left in the half to make the score 32-8 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Lady Tigers stretched the lead out to 37-11. The Lady Rebels were able to cut the lead back down to 24 points at the end of the quarter.
Newton stretched the lead out to 51-22 in the fourth quarter, but Scott Central outscored the Lady Tigers 5-2 in the final minutes to cut the final down to 52-27.
Bender finished with a game-high 18 points to lead Newton in the win. Clayton added 14 and Jones finished with 10. Newton improves to 22-9 on the year with the victory.
Clay led Scott Central with 12 points on the night.