Newton headed into Thursday night's Yule Tide Christmas Classic in Hanceville, Ala., with the confidence of three straight wins.
The Rams are fresh off a non-region win over Jenkins on Saturday, in which it finished the two-game season sweep. Newton defeated the Warriors of Class AAAAA 49-48 at home on Nov. 30, and had another matchup just as close on the road.
Newton (8-2) trailed 27-21 at halftime before getting lifts from three of its leading players in Jalen Glover, DJ Hill and Roddy Mitchell.
Glover scored all 11 of his points in the second half, utilizing the long-range shot with three 3-pointers. Mitchell came off the bench to score nine of his 11 points and Hill made his presence felt from the free-throw line, making 5 of 7 charity shots.
The Rams shot 15 off 22 as a team from the line (68.2 percent), gaining the edge over the Warriors (4-4), who shot just 57.1 percent.
Rashard Cabane had the Rams first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, including a thunderous put-back dunk in the third quarter. Newton's leader in taking charges, drew four offensive fouls in the Rams victory over Jenkins.
Kishon Rogers finished with 12 points and Hill added seven in Newton's fourth win in its last five games.
The win moved Newton up to the 56th ranked team in the state of Georgia, and the 20th-ranked in Class AAAAAA. It faced another top-ranked team Thursday night (the game finished after press time) in Alabama's newly minted No. 1 team in Class AAAA.
Dallas County defeated the previous No. 1 AAAA team by 22 points in a 72-50 win over Wilcox Central on Dec. 21.
Newton will be in Hanceville, Ala., throughout the weekend with matchups on Friday and Saturday, before returning home against Luella on Jan. 4.
Newton girls
Newton traveled to Jenkins and came away with a 61-48 victory.
The Lady Rams held on despite 19 points from Jenkins' Faith Sanders and 18 from Makayla Robinson.
It was the fifth straight victory for the Lady Rams (7-1), who played Blount, Ala., in the Dwight Madison Classic Thursday night.
