Quick Poll

With the recent passing of music icons Donna Summer and Robin Gibb – each had major success in the 1970s and 1980s – which music decade is your favorite?

Recent Polls

Blogs

Angela McRae

Tea with friends

Deberah Williams

Everyday Finesse

Lorrie Lynch

Who's News

Published Saturday, February 18, 2012 in Sports

Photo by Jeffrey Leo

Newnan sophomore center Immanuel Griggs releases a shot in the middle of the lane during Friday's Region 2-AAAAA semifinal game.

Prep Basketball: Cougars denied shot at title, fall to Stephenson

By Doug Gorman

The Newnan Times-Herald

ATLANTA – The Newnan Cougars already know they are headed to next week's Class AAAAA state basketball tournament.

It just won't be as Region 2-AAAAA champions.

The hopes of No. 6 seed Newnan's boys were dashed Friday night in the semifinals of the region tournament at Westlake High School as they fell to the tournament's other "Cinderella" in No. 7 seed Stephenson, 46-38.

Now the best Newnan can hope for is a third seed heading into next Saturday's opening round of the Class AAAAA tournament. It'll come on the road in south Georgia against a Region 1-AAAAA opponent. Tift County and Valdosta played late Friday for the 1-AAAAA title.

Newnan, which had its four-game winning streak snapped, plays Friday's late loser between No. 1 Westlake and No. 4 M.L. King today at 4 p.m., in the third-place game.

(To view or purchase photos from Friday's game vs. Stephenson, visit http://photos.times-herald.com/mycapture and click on Sports / Basketball for the photo gallery.)

The Cougars' hopes of continuing their own Cinderella run in the tournament ended with a cold-shooting performance against Stephenson. Ironically, Newnan had defeated the Jaguars in both regular season meetings this year.

"We just didn't shoot the ball very well," said Newnan head coach Rod Ladd. "We had a chance to come out here and take care of business, but we didn't do it."

The Cougars were riding a wave of momentum into Friday night's contest. Newnan slipped into the semifinals with a 42-41 victory over Langston Hughes in the first round of the tournament.

The Cougars had a chance to take control of the Stephenson game early. After building a 10-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Cougars pushed the margin to 19-12 at the break.

Sophomore Immanuel Griggs converted a lob pass from Donnell Dean into a dunk early in the second period to double the score on Stephenson at 16-8 for Newnan's biggest lead of the game.

The Jaguars' Derek Harper nailed a three-pointer to cut the gap to 26-24 in the third quarter, but Newnan kept its two-point lead by the start of the fourth.

It didn't take the Jaguars long to grab control of final period. Back-to-back baskets by Abdul Mahomed gave Stephenson the lead for good.

Newnan converted just two shots from the field in the fourth quarter including the team's only 3-pointer from Dean with around four minutes left, cutting the Jaguars' lead to six at 42-36.

Maurice Arnold added the other basket for the Cougars to make the score 43-38.

Griggs, who scored 10 points in the first half, added just one more basket for the Cougars in the third quarter and finished with 12.

Dean also added 12 for the Cougars.

Harper led the Jaguars with 12 points. Walton added 10.

Despite securing its first trip to the state tournament in two years, Ladd was hoping for more, especially after the way his team has been playing the last few weeks.

"We weren't just satisfied getting to state," he said. "We really thought we had a chance to make it to the (region) finals."

• • • • • • •

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

STEPHENSON 46, NEWNAN 38

Stephenson (46) – Derek Harper 12, Montez Swan 10, Terrance Davis 6, John Bradley 8, Abdul Moahomed 8, Delmont Walters 2

Newnan (38) – Immanuel Griggs 12, Donnell Dean 12, Karceon Person 5, Maurcie Arnold 5, Darrallel Morrow 2, Montarius Colton 2.

Comment On This Story

Times-Herald.com does not necessarily agree with the comments posted below. Responsibility of comments rests solely with the writer. Comments posted in ALL CAPS will be deleted.

Submission of a comment does not guarantee publication. Comments will be posted by a moderator after being scanned for abusive language, relevance, etc. See our Comments FAQ for more details.