Newton girls whip Sumrall, 70-48
By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
Feb. 18, 2003
NEWTON It took the Lady Tigers of Newton High School a while to get rolling, but they finally got going to blow past Sumrall 70-48 in first-round MHSAA Class 2A basketball playoff action on Monday night.
The Lady Bobcats' defense gave Newton some trouble to start the game, but the host Lady Tigers were able to make some adjustments to put the visitors away.
The Lady Tigers jumped out to a 10-2 lead led by Creoshia Williams, who scored all 10 points for Newton. Sumrall came back with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to two points. The Lady Tigers added a basket in the final minute to take a 12-8 lead after the first quarter.
After Sumrall made the score 12-9, the Lady Tigers went on a 7-2 run to stretch the lead. Newton held a 25-20 lead with a minute remaining in the half when Kotreece Bender started to take the game over. She scored seven points in the final minute and Jessica Anderson added a basket in the final second of the half to make the score 34-21 at the break.
Sumrall came back to within seven points thanks to an 8-0 run led by five points by Brittany Stevens, but Newton answered with a 10-0 run to help put the game away. Twila Clayton scored four points in the run to lead the Lady Tigers.
Newton closed out the third quarter with a 50-33 lead and then went on a 7-0 run to put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. Bender scored five points in the run.
The Lady Tigers were outscored 15-13 in the final five minutes of the ball game, but easily held on for the 70-48 victory to advance to South State.
After a slow start, Bender finished with a game-high 21 points to lead Newton High. Williams had 18 points on the night and Clayton added in 10. Stevens led Sumrall while Jenna Hutchison added 17 points for the Lady Bobcats in the loss.
The South State Tournament will be hosted by Bay Springs after the Lady Bulldogs defeated South Leake on Monday. The Lady Tigers of Newton High will play the winner of Monday's Perry Central/Loyd Star game. The two teams will faceoff at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
