Prep Basketball: Lady Cougars pick up second win
By DOUG GORMAN
dgorman@newnan.com
Entering Friday night’s basketball game against Tri-Cities at 1-15, the Newnan Lady Cougars were desperate for a win.
They got it with a convincing 66-38 victory over the Lady Bulldogs in Region 3-AAAAAA action at home.
“It was really a good team effort,” Newnan head coach LaVarrett Pearson said. “We needed this win, because it got us out of last place.”
(To view photos from this game, please visit http://photos.times-herald.com/mycapture and click on Sports for the Photo Gallery.)
Newnan (2-15 and 2-4 region) built a 12-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and pushed it to 31-17 at the end of the first half.
Senior LaKil Derring led the way for the Lady Cougars scoring 24 points.
Derring set the tone for her double-digit performance with a nine-point first quarter that included a 3-point shot. Her play in the third quarter helped the Lady Cougars keep the momentum as she scored 10 in that eight-minute stretch.
With senior center Tiara Calloway sitting on the bench for several minutes in the first half, Newnan teammate Joceylin Revell stepped her game up inside with six points in the second quarter. Her basket midway through the second quarter gave the Lady Cougars a 24-15 lead.
Newnan outscored the Lady Bulldogs 7-2 over the final few minutes of the second quarter.
Revell joined Derring in double figures with 13 points. Despite fighting off foul trouble, Calloway had the hot hand in the second half with a couple of baskets off the glass.
Alexis Moore led the Lady Bulldogs with 10 points.
The Lady Cougars defense held the Lady Bulldogs to just five shots from the field in the second half as Newnan pushed its lead to 49-25 at the end of the third quarter.
Newnan put the game away after hitting eight free throws in the fourth quarter. Metreas Geter hit three free throws in a row in the late stages of the game.
With the Lady Cougars pushing their lead to nearly 30 points late in the fourth quarter, the game turned a little intense as two technical fouls were called against each team and a Tri-Cities player ejected.
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SCORING SUMMARY – Newnan 66, Tri-Cities 38
Tri-Cities 5 12 8 13 — 38
Newnan 12 19 18 17 — 66
Tri-Cities (38) – Sequoia Owens 2, Kaymiyla Lane 7, Shantel Taylor 8, Tierra Wortham 6, Kayla Birdsong 5, Alexis Moore 10
Newnan (66) – Chayce Goggins 8, Metreas Geter 5, Lakil Derring 24, Talia Goshey 2, O’Lexus Bonner 4, Destani Parks 3, Tiara Calloway 6, Joceylin Revell 14
