Lamar grabs a pair of wins in season opener

By By Robby Atkinson / staff writer
Nov. 4, 2003
The Lamar School Raiders started off the 2003-04 basketball season by taking a pair of big wins over the Newton County Academy Generals at home in local high school basketball action.
The Lamar School Lady Raiders used some quality defense to take a 36-10, and the boy's used a solid performance from the center position to overwhelm the Generals for a 57-28 victory.
In the junior high games, Lamar took a 35-25 win in the girl's game, but Newton County Academy was able to take a 44-36 win over the Raiders in the boy's game.
Lamar (boys) 57
Newton 28
Austin Roebuck led the Raiders with 24 points and eight rebounds in the impressive win over the Generals. Despite the great performance by Roebuck, the Raiders are still looking for some other players to return according to head coach Steve Harber.
Lamar got the game started on the right note with a couple of key shots by Roebuck to give the Raiders an early 8-1 lead. Newton tried to cut into the lead mid-way through the first on a pair of buckets by Flynn Steverson, but the Raiders were just too strong on this night.
Matthew Fort led Lamar on a 10-0 run with seven points and gave the Raiders a 22-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. Roebuck opened the second quarter on a role. Roebuck had a steal, block and a dunk to open the next Lamar scoring run. Lamar only outscored the Generals 13-10 to send the game into the half with the Raiders leading 35-15.
Lamar dominated the rest of the second half behind the great shooting of Fort and Roebuck and roll to the big win. Fort finished the game with 20 points, while Taylor Dean added five points to round out the Lamar offense. John Shellenback had 12 points in the loss for Newton County Academy and Tommy Harthcock added four points.
Lamar (girls) 36
Newton 10
Lamar used great defense and timely shooting to take their first win of the season. The Lady Raiders went on a 7-0 run to open the game behind a three pointer by Cheryl Luquire and Semmer Ford. The Lady Generals managed a bucket before the end of the first quarter behind a great shot by Tracy McMahan to make the score 7-2.
Lamar went on a long 5-0 scoring run in the second quarter to extend the lead to 12-2. Laura Anne White chipped in with a pair of baskets and three rebounds on the scoring run for the Lady Raiders.
Lizzie Williams led the way with seven points and and four rebounds, while White followed with five points and five rebounds. McMahan led the way in scoring for Newton County Academy with five points.