Newton Citizen

Heritage girls smash Griffin

at Peach State

ATLANTA - The Heritage girls shook off their opening-round loss in the Peach State Holiday Basketball Classic by smashing Griffin 62-36 on Friday night at Morehouse College's Archer Hall.

Senior guard Neice Lewis fired in a game-high 24 points for the Lady Patriots (8-3), while junior Sarah Herrington added 17 points in the second-round victory.

Heritage advances to play Douglass in the third round at 10 a.m. today at Morehouse's Forbes Arena.

The Lady Patriots lost 41-30 to Parkway Academy from Miramar, Fla., in the opening round Thursday.

Lady Rams hold off McNair in tournament

SMYRNA - The Newton girls (3-7) used a 16-point first quarter lead to claim a 64-54 victory over McNair in second-day action at Campbell Holiday Classic on Friday.

After the Lady Rams opened up a 25-6 lead in the first half, the Lady Mustangs successfully cut into Newton's lead in the second and third frames.

"We let them come back in the game. Then in the fourth quarter we were able to hold them off," Newton coach Tiffani Johnson said. "Shay Marks was the leading scorer. Ameryst Armstead, who doesn't get a lot of playing time, stepped up today. She had about eight points. She did a pretty good job."

The Lady Rams finish the classic at 1 p.m. today in the consolation championship.

Alcovy boys fall to Redan in Peach State

ATLANTA - The Alcovy boys (4-5) were eliminated from the Peach State Holiday Basketball Classic with a 56-40 loss to Redan on Friday at Morehouse College.

But Alcovy coach Eugene Brown thinks his squad found something to build on - its second half rally.

"We played great in the second half. It was pretty much the same thing that happened yesterday (against Mays). They had 6-7, 6-8 and 6-9 on the front line, and we went in there intimidated and got some shots blocked that led to fast breaks," Brown said. "In the second half, I think we ended up outscoring them, but we were in such a big hole it was too little, too late. This was a great learning experience. If we can play like we played in the second half today, we'll be fine in our region. We don't run into the types of teams we saw in this tournament on daily basis, so any time we get a chance to play these types of teams we're going to take advantage of it."

Senior guard Worrel Clahar paced the Tigers with a game-high 27 points.

Alcovy returns to action next Saturday at St. Pius.