SUWANEE, Ga. — Newton took its talents on the road for the first round of the Class AAAAAA playoffs, but the Peachtree Ridge Lions ended the Rams’ season with a 63-47 win.

Wednesday’s game was a rematch of last year’s Sweet 16 game that saw Newton win 61-46. When it came time for this year’s Round of 32 battle, it proved to be the Lions’ day.

A game-high 27 points from Peachtree Ridge’s Duan Day were crucial in the win.

Following tip-off, It only took a few minutes of game time for the Lions to catch fire.

“They do a great job at Peachtree Ridge, he is a very good coach — a state championship coach,” Newton head coach Barry Browner said. “He does a good job. We had a couple opportunities, the shots just didn't fall for us.”

Day connected on a pair of triples in the opening frame and the Lions’ senior went on to outscore Newton himself by the end of the first.

TJ Sands and Cayden Young began the scoring for the Rams, but Newton ended the opening frame down 7-17.

In the second half, Newton found its momentum. Sands posted another strong frame as Newton doubled its scoring from the opening frame.

Day kept the Lions on track with four seperate buckets, but the Rams closed the distance and entered halftime down 21-27.

A key moment in the game came in the third, when Peachtree Ridge center Daniel Hollis exited with a lower leg injury.

Browner noted that with the 6-foot-6 big man out, the Rams should have done more damage at the rim.

“We just wanted to go inside more. Once their big man went out, I think we had to do better at trying to get to the basket,” Browner said.

Another factor that kept Newton from making significant runs was the perimeter shooting.

Outside of a Kingston Clahar three-pointer at the start of the third quarter, the Rams failed to connect on any other shots from beyond the arc.

As Newton fell short in the outside shooting, the Lions excelled.

Despite the absence of Hollis, Peachtree Ridge played its best ball immediately after halftime and it showed as a trio of players hit on three-pointers.

The Lions took advantage of Newton miscues in the passing game and continued to turn them into points. By the midway mark of the third frame, Newton trailed 25-41.

Newton relied on Sands late in the frame to pull them back to within 10, but the run to tie or take the lead never came to fruition.

After a strong day from the floor, Day connected on his third three-pointer of the day before he nailed six consecutive free throws to seal the deal.

Peachtree Ridge’s 63-47 win advanced it to the Sweet 16 while the Rams’ season ended in the opening round.

Sands led the Rams with 17 points in what was the final game of his high school career.

White and Young finished with eight and nine points, respectively.

Day’s 27 points led all players on Wednesday. Tyler Barnes followed with 17 points in the win.

In a year that featured many “new” factors for Newton’s boys team, the Rams finished the season 13-13 — a slight drop after seasons of 21, 20 and 19 wins, respectively.

While the second half of the season saw the best of Newton, the start of the season was not too kind to the Rams.

Newton began the season 1-5, and an eventual 1-2 start to region play made matters worse. Even then, the team continued to battle and become more familiar with each other, and it showed in the results.

“We start off 1-5, then 5-9. We end up getting the second seed for the regular season,” Browner said. “To get to the state playoffs, [it is big] because a lot of people are staying at home. We grew. The players grew [and] the coaches grew. I think we all learned a lot about adversity and going through and fighting through. It is a testament to these guys.” 

By the end of the regular season, the Rams moved back over .500 at 12-11 and held a No. 2 seed for the Region 4-AAAAAA tournament.

Newton went on to lose to South Gwinnett before it salvaged a No. 3 seed with a win over Rockdale County.

In what was the end of Browner’s third season as the team’s head coach, he made sure to shine light on a pair of veterans.

“TJ is one of my favorite guys, he has grown so much,” Browner said. “Him and Cayden have been special. They were a part of something special last year, and for those guys to stay and come back and lock in — I will be forever grateful. Those guys will be forever my family.” 

Young and Sands headline a Rams’ senior class that also includes Jared White, Jayden Scott and Shadrack Amemaka.

In a look ahead to 2027, Newton is projected to return players such as Clahar, Braylon Miller, Landen Gerrick and Emmanuel Wilder.