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No. 2, No. 100 come up for Newton
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With only two seniors on the Newton girls’ basketball team roster, senior night wasn’t as much a chance to honor as much as it was a chance to make a statement Friday night against Druid Hills.

The Lady Rams did exactly that routing the visiting Red Devils’ 49-38 in the final game of the regular season. The victory also gave Newton coach Tiffani Johnson her 100th career win.

"It’s great for a coach to get the 100th win," Johnson said. "Every coach looks toward getting that win."

With Newton owning the second spot in Region 2-AAAAAA, it will match up against the seventh-place team in the upcoming region tournament, and will face a familiar foe. The Lady Rams will once again meet Druid Hills (1-14, 1-10) Tuesday at Luella. Only the top ranked team Alcovy, will earn a bye to the tournament’s semifinals and an automatic bid into the state playoffs.

"It definitely gives us momentum going into the region tournament," Johnson said.

If Newton wins one more game, it will extend its season into the state tournament, but on Friday it was the final guaranteed home game for seniors Micah Sneed and Tatiana Palms.

Palms finished with five points, while Palms hit her only basket of the game on a bank shot from the free-throw line with 1:22 to play as Newton’s bench rose to an uproar. Precious Price led Newton with 15 points, including 11 in the first half, but it was the Lady Rams defense that set the pace.

After taking a 14-8 first quarter lead Friday, Newton turned up the heat in the second quarter. Druid Hills had the chance to make it a 16-10 game, but from there it was all Lady Rams. Newton scored the next nine points and ended the quarter outscoring the Red Devils 20-6. The Lady Rams made their mark on defense, trapping Druid Hills into sloppy turnovers, resulting on easy baskets on the other end. Down low Newton came up with several blocks, keeping Druid Hills off the scoreboard during long stretches.

Newton, winners of three straight, forced 30 turnovers by Druid Hills.

"We just try to put a lot of pressure on them," Johnson said.