LOGANVILLE, Ga. — Newton and Grayson battled on the basketball court on Tuesday for the first time this year as the two teams produced another pair of thrilling games.

The first matchup of the day featured a rematch of the 2025 Class AAAAAA title game as Newton’s girls team looked to make it two in a row over Grayson.

After four quarters, Newton did just that as quality performances from London Smith and Zoey Jackson propelled them to a 53-45 win.

Despite a strong start from Newton’s boy team on the road, Grayson found its way back into the game and stifled their rivals in the final frame to win 56-51.

Lady Rams find success late to take key region win

It was by no means a perfect night for Newton, but the team did enough in the late stages to secure the win.

In the early going, it was truly a back-and-forth affair.

Newton fell behind early with a mix of bad passes and travel violations, but Grayson never found a way to build a lead.

Following a layup from Smith at the buzzer, Newton took a 14-13 advantage at the end of the opening frame.

When the second quarter began, Jazmin Maddox and Skylar Levell connected on back-to-back three pointers that gave Newton extra separation.

As the game approached halftime, Newton’s passing woes seemed to be behind it, and head coach Jawan Bailey was pleased to see his team settle down on the offensive end.

“It was like we were really anxious to make plays that weren't there,” Bailey said. “Just slowing down a little bit and taking our time reading the defense. Grayson kept switching back-and-forth between man and zone and I think that was throwing us off as well.”

Newton eventually took a 31-22 at the break, but Grayson was not done yet.

Newton started off the second half hot as the team connected on three straight baskets unanswered.

However, Grayson started to lean on the possession and hold the ball on its half for extended periods of time.

By the time the third quarter came to a close, Newton’s lead was down to 41-36.

Similar to the title game in 2025, Newton rose to the occasion in the fourth quarter to take down its rival.

One reason was Smith, who once again crushed Grayson’s hopes in the late stages.

Smith rallied the Lady Rams as the junior scored seven of her 15 points in the final frame, but she was not the only one.

No matter where she was on the floor, Jackson came through with critical shots that kept Newton’s pace for the win.

Moments after the victory, Bailey shared in that sentiment.

“Without Zoey Jackson tonight we lose this ballgame,” Bailey said. “Just her confidence [and] her offense. She guarded their best player tonight. I am just so proud of her. She has been a kid who has been looking to bounce back from some early struggles in her high school career and to see her playing at this high level — she has been playing like this for the last five or seven games for us. Tonight was really just the cherry on top of what she has already been doing.”

Although the team picked up its ninth region win in as many attempts, Bailey hopes to see a better quality of play from his team the rest of the way.

“Just executing better,” Bailey said. “I think we had a game plan and I thought it was pretty solid. I just think we had a really hard time executing our game plan tonight. But, Grayson does a great job of throwing you off your game plan. Coach Slater is great with what he does with switching things up and making it difficult for us. I think we could have done a better job executing and sticking to our game plan.”

Smith and Jackson led Newton in scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Maddox finished behind the pair with 10 points.

For Grayson, the scoring was done primarily by senior Coco Rudolph, who led the team with 18 points.

Maliyah Williams finished as the team’s second highest scorer with six points.

Tuesday’s result marked the first time that Newton’s girls basketball team has defeated Grayson in back-to-back games since the 2017-18 season.

Newton moved to 18-4 on the year and firmly into the driver seat of Region 4-AAAAAA with a perfect 9-0 record.

Newton boys start fast, but Grayson comes back late to secure win

The boys game featured an 11-9 Newton team and a 19-2 Grayson squad, but the records were not indicative of the game.

In fact, Newton and Grayson have had a long history of close games. 

In the last 12 matchups between the two, 10 of them have been decided by 13 or less points and seven have been decided by 10 or less.

Early on into Tuesday’s matchup, Newton found itself with the upperhand.

Albeit undersized on paper, Newton stormed out to an early lead with the help of Jared White and TJ Sands.

“[We were] just moving basketball and playing the right way,” said Newton boys head coach Barry Browner. “Guys were playing with each other and for each other — that’s the big thing. When we do that, we are one of the best teams around.”

White found himself in battle with Grayson’s MJ Curry for most of the night and went on to outscore the 6-foot-5 junior by game’s end.

By the end of the opening frame, Grayson’s shooting slump resulted in a 11-17 deficit.

In need of a surge, Grayson relied on the combo of Austin Leonard and Malik Rideout.

Leonard and Rideout began to find significant success from the floor, and the duo combined to score 15 points in the second half.

With additional help from other players, Grayson caught up with Newton to tie the game at 34-34 ahead of halftime.

While Grayson came back, Newton kept pace as well.

Newton matched its 17 points from the opening quarter with strong frames from Sands and freshman Kingston Clahar.

Although he did not go on to lead the team in points, Clahar produced another quality game against tough competition.

At 6-foot-1, Clahar showed no hesitation to go into the paint and test Grayson’s bigs.

The back-and-forth continued throughout the entire third quarter, but Grayson ended the frame with a 47-46 edge.

The final quarter proved to be the lowest scoring frame of the day as the teams combined for only 14 points.

However, Grayson’s defensive effort to hold Newton to only five points in the final quarter sealed the deal for the hosts. 

While Grayson did not fare much better on the offensive end, late points from Byron Lee and Rideout clinched the five-point win.

Newton had its chances late, and Browner noted how the game could have gone the other way if not for a few late miscues.

“We battled. It was back-and-forth,” Browner said. “We had a chance to win the game, we just had some missed opportunities at the end, even with 48 seconds left. We all came together and I thought we prepared a good game plan, we just had some turnovers at the end to be honest with you.”

The 56-51 loss for Newton put an end to a six game winning streak in region play.

With an 11-10 record overall, Newton still remains in second place in Region 4-AAAAAA with a 7-3 record.

Newton will finish out the regular season this week with a pair of region matchups that will conclude with a rematch against Grayson on Saturday, Feb, 14.

With only a few days to prepare, Browner stressed the importance of finishing the regular season strong.

“We have a short time because we played tonight, we practice Wednesday [and] Thursday we will try to get ready and then we have Grovetown. That is a must win game for us,” Browner said. “Then we will get to see these guys again when we round into the region tournament. I think we had a good stretch, won six in a row. I think we were primed for this game. Grayson is still a great team and a well-coached team, I just think we had some things at the end that didn’t fall our way.”

Newton’s girls and boys teams will host Grovetown on Friday, Feb. 13.