LOGANVILLE, Ga. — On the road in a hostile environment, Newton was swept by Grayson in a Region 4-AAAAAAA matchup.

The Lady Rams’ sluggish start led to a 62-39 defeat while the Newton boys team lost a late heartbreaker in overtime 76-70.

Newton’s late comeback falls short in overtime

Trailing by five points going into the fourth quarter, Newton found its way back into the game with the help of Zack Harden Jr. and Jabez Jenkins. 

Harden got to the line four times in the final frame. 

After Harden’s first trip to the line brought Newton to within two points, Jenkins put the ball in for a layup on the next transition to tie the game.

On the next Rams’ possession, Grayson was called for a technical foul with three minutes left in the game.

The call allowed Harden to convert two free throws to give Newton a 57-55 lead, its first since the opening quarter.

After a back-and-forth in the final minutes, Newton possessed a one-point lead with 29 seconds left on the clock.

On the next Grayson possession, Anthony Ashton hit a three-pointer at the top of the key to give Grayson a 66-64 lead.

Down by two, Newton’s inbound pass to Tim Prather went awry and into the hands of the Grayson player to seemingly put the game on ice.

However, Grayson received its third tech foul of the quarter to give Newton a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line.

With Harden back at the line, he knocked down both free throws in front of a roaring crowd to send the game into overtime.

Newton’s competitive fourth quarter put them back in the game. But the overtime period was a different story.

The Rams failed to stop Grayson's offense in overtime. As a result, Grayson jumped out to a quick eight-point lead.

Newton pulled close in the final 30 seconds, but Grayson had enough separation to earn the six-point win.

Newton’s scoring was led by Harden and Jenkins with 27 and 15 points, respectively.

The loss drops the Rams to 14-4 on the year with a 3-2 record in Region 4-AAAAAAA play.

Newton will be back on the court for a region matchup with South Gwinnett Friday, Jan. 26 at home.

Lady Rams fail to overcome slow start

A strong start from an undefeated Grayson squad derailed the Newton Lady Rams on Tuesday.

Going into the contest as winners of five of their last six games, the Lady Rams were looking to continue the strong stretch against their region rivals.

Despite a late offensive push, Grayson came away with the 62-39 victory to stay perfect at 20-0.

The early struggles for Newton came on the offensive end.

Grayson allowed just four points in each of the two opening frames Tuesday night.

As Newton was unable to get shots to fall, Grayson cruised to a 34-8 lead at halftime.

Coming out of intermission, Newton seemed to have more success getting to the basket.

Despite this, Grayson’s momentum on offense continued as it scored 24 points in the frame.

By the end of the third quarter, Newton was trailing 58-20.

Even though it was not enough to claim the win, Newton had its best quarter of the game in the final eight minutes.

Senior Sanaa Tripp led an offensive surge that ended with Newton scoring 19 points in the frame.

The 19 points allowed the Rams to bring the final score to 62-39.

Four Grayson players ended with double-digit point totals in the win Tuesday night.

For Newton, scoring was led by Tripp with 13 points.

The Lady Rams fell to 11-9 with the loss while having a 3-2 record in Region 4-AAAAAAA play. Newton will get back into region play Friday, Jan. 26 against the South Gwinnett Lady Comets at home.