COVINGTON, Ga. — The Newton Lady Rams took down a resilient Camden County squad 50-43 in the first round of the Class AAAAAAA state playoffs on Wednesday
In the end, Newton’s ability to bounce back from a strong Camden County second quarter allowed the Lady Rams to advance on their home court.
The opening eight minutes were all Newton.
Back-to-back baskets from Sanaa Tripp — followed by a three pointer from Imari Humphrey, set up a 12-0 Lady Rams run to begin the contest.
The Lady Rams held control for the remainder of the frame before heading into the second quarter with a 15-6 lead.
A change in scheme fit is what Lady Rams head coach Jawan Bailey felt led to the team’s early success on Wednesday.
“I think they were expecting us to play them [in] man,” Bailey said. “Being able to have a week off, I knew they had prepared hard for it so I just switched off them and played zone. We crowded around their big, which is their leading scorer and region player of the year. That just led to defensive stops and we had some good offensive possessions.”
In the second frame, the roles reversed.
A slew of three pointers from Camden County led to the Lady Wildcats posting a 21-point frame.
Once the game got into the second half, the Lady Rams took the control back. Early in the frame, an and-one from Tripp tied the game at 29-29.
Shortly after, Newton took the lead and never looked back.
Shooting fouls began to be an issue for Camden County in the second half. In the final two quarters, the Lady Wildcats allowed Newton to take 15 free throws, which resulted in 10 points.
Late in the fourth quarter, Camden County pulled to within four points of Newton, but that ended up being as close as the Lady Wildcats would be for the remainder of the game.
A steal and score from Tripp in the final minute sealed Newton’s round one victory, as the Lady Rams ended Camden County’s season with a 50-43 win.
Tripp was the scoring leader for Newton with 19 points, while Humphrey and Mya Perry followed with six and eight points, respectively.
“It feels awesome. It was a really hard-fought game,” Bailey said. “Kudos to Camden. They played us really well. We are playing a very good North Paulding team on Friday with a one-day turnaround to prepare for it. We have our work cut out for us.”
Newton will be on the road in the second round of the Class AAAAAAA playoffs against North Paulding(22-6) on Friday, Feb. 23.
