The Newton Lady Rams saw their game against Luella slip from their grasp Tuesday as they dropped a one-point heartbreaker 56-55.
The loss dropped Newton to 12-4 (4-3 Region 2-AAAAA).
"As a team I thought the effort was there," head coach Tiffani Johnson said. "Overall it was a solid game except for a few mental lapses at critical times. It wasn't so much the number of turnovers that hurt us, but rather the timing of them."
It was a see-saw battle as the Lady Rams led by three at 13-10 by the end of the first quarter, only to face a one-point deficit at halftime.
Newton jumped out to an 8-point lead as the third quarter ended, but faltered in the fourth.
"We got off to a slow start but then got into a rhythm," Johnson said. "We had a lead late and tried to pull the ball out, but turned it over instead and that cost us the ballgame."
The Lady Rams were led by Precious Price and Mikola Burks who each ended up with 14 points. Danyel Fourney chipped in with 13 and did yeoman work on the boards.
Price's 14 included three free throws that tied the game at 53 with about three minutes remaining.
"We have to be ready to go against ML King on Friday," Johnson said. " Every region game is so important."