The gloom and despair can be seen on faces throughout the community.

It's been hard to turn to anything and receive that little extra boost needed from time to time to pull us out of the doldrums - until now. The young people of our community have put a smile on our faces.

The basketball team at Newton High School, the alma mater for many of our readers, has through toughness and perseverance made it to the final four of the Georgia State Basketball Tournament.

These kids, under the direction of coach Rick Rasmussen, have become the topic of the most positive discussions around morning coffee, afternoon lunch and the evening meal.

This Thursday night the rams play Milton at the Gwinnett Arena. After the Rams win, they will play Friday night for the state championship.

We are proud of our Rams; it is great to be talking about the good things that young people are doing in our community, instead of other depressing subjects that we have had to deal with recently.

Rams, you're No. 1. Go get those Eagles!

You can read about the Rams' game in Friday's paper or Thursday night on CovNews.com.