It was a mismatch coming in with Eastside sitting on a 5-18 record including a 1-10 mark in region play and the Lady Rams boasting an impressive 19-5 (7-3 region) record, though it didn’t start that way, it ended with Newton on top in a lopsided 67-24 win.

The win gives the Lady Rams a confidence boost and a head of steam heading into the region tournament next week and does the exact opposite for the Lady Eagles.

The game symbolically started with an Eastside turnover that gave Alexcia Chatman a free layup. Eastside struggled to inbound the ball against Newton's press but when they weren't turning it over the Lady Eagles found some success beating the Lady Rams' press defense. Eastside played hard and were within a reasonable distance, 18-13 after the first quarter, but it didn’t last.

A 10-0 run while holding the lady Eagles scoreless to start the second quarter gave Newton a 28-13 lead with 2:19 remaining in the half. Teirra Brown, who led Eastside with nine points, scored the Lady Eagles only second quarter points and the Lady Rams went into halftime up 31-15 after outscoring the Lady Eagles 13-2 in the second.

Defense remained Newton's calling card in the second half with three steals in the first two minutes helping the Lady rams build a 37-15 lead.

Eastside struggled to get the ball across half-court and the Lady Rams capitalized off the Lady Eagles ack of ball handlers.

After scoring 13 points in the first quarter, the Lady Eagles scored just just five points total in the second and third quarter. Newton was up 55-18 entering the fourth and the mercy rule was evoked, taking two minutes off the start of the fourth.

The Lady Rams had three players in double figures, Kayana Henderson, Kayla Smith and Chatman while Eastside had none. The Lady Rams enter the 2-AAAAAA region tournament as the No. 2 seed and will get a first round bye.