The rivalry that exists between Eastside and Newton has been well documented. For any contest or sporting event that the two compete in, the ultimate goal is to beat the other one, the school across the county.

Last year the Lady Rams swept the Lady Eagles by a combined 41 points and the boys split the series with each team winning at the other’s home court. Newton started this year off with two wins as the Lady Rams and the Rams dominated 76-51 and 57-43 respectively.

The Lady Rams
The Lady Rams won the same way they’ve been winning all year, by forcing turnovers and getting easy points on the fast break. It’s how Eastside won earlier in the week against Riverdale, which made this look like an ideal matchup for both teams. Except, it wasn’t for Eastside.

The Lady Eagles seemed stifled by Newton’s defense. The Lady Rams operate on defense by committee. They attack ferociously on defense, not allowing ball handlers any space at all. From basket to basket, Newton’s defense is constantly harassing the opposition.

The special thing about how the Lady Rams play defense is that they use their hands effectively and they trap at the right time from the right angles. Another caveat about these girls is the four stellar freshman they have.

Alexcia Chatman leads the group of freshman having played her way into Lady Rams’ head coach Tiffani Johnson’s starting lineup. She’s led Newton in scoring twice already this season. The other three freshman – Jurnee Smith, Asia Hyman and Erianna Card – each play a very important role and bring something different to the team.

Smith is an undersized point guard, who looks like a little kid on the court, but she plays fierce and she’s a leader for the second unit. Smith is a floor general, she finds the open player and executes the offense in the halfcourt at a level higher than that of her year in school.

Hyman is a promising two-way guard. She forces turnovers and gets into the lane to score by hitting tough layups or drawing fouls.

Card, who switches in-between guard and forward, brings a take-no-prisoners attitude. She has a tough mindset and it shows when she snatches rebounds away from players or makes a tough steal and converts it into points.

On a team with 11 upperclassmen, these four freshmen have found a way to make a huge impact and provide some good minutes for Johnson.

The boys
The boys got off to a slow start, but responded the last three quarters of the game by never surrendering the lead and playing Newton basketball.

Defense has and will always be a mainstay for Newton under head coach Rick Rasmussen. Eastside scored just 34 points in the final three quarters after putting up nine in the first. Isaiah Miller had seven of those nine points.
Miller got to the whole or found himself open for a three in the first quarter in which the Rams trailed, but that changed going forward.

Newton began clogging up the paint and forcing Miller to either make a tough layup or kick it out to an open man for three. Miller tried all of the above. He was able to kick it out, but Newton was too fast and able to get back in the shooter’s face. At other times, Miller missed/converted a tough layup, was forced into a turnover or got to the foul line.

Newton’s offense, led by D.J. Hill, got out on the fast break and capitalized on Eagle turnovers. He found players like Jaquan Simms and Darvin Jones for open jumpers. Or he took it in himself off a pass from his teammates.

Hill was all over the place on both sides of the ball. He made the little plays and the big plays. He fought for and recovered loose balls, tipped out rebounds and made the right passes. Hill was a true floor general in a winning effort.
Newton played without usual starting center Josh Tukes who was out with a knee injury as he awaits an MRI. It was Antonio Smith who stepped up and played well in Tukes’ absence.

Smith led the team with 13 points. He also grabbed a bunch of rebounds and was the centerpiece of the Rams’ defense in the paint. With Smith in the middle, Eastside was forced into tough shots in the paint and the Eagles had no way to respond.

Eastside will have its shot at revenge next Saturday at Newton 4:30 p.m.