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Published Wednesday, February 08, 2012 in Sports

Photo by Jeffrey Leo

Newnan senior Nicole Marshall, center, battles for a rebound in between a pair of M.L. King defenders during Senior Night on Tuesday.

Lady Cougars shine on Senior Night with win over M.L. King

By Doug Gorman

The Newnan Times-Herald

Victories haven't come easy for the Newnan Lady Cougars basketball team this season.

But it was hard to tell on Tuesday.

Celebrating Senior Night at the Max Bass Athletic Center, Newnan played its best game of the year while rolling to a 63-48 region victory against M.L. King that gave the Lady Cougars some needed confidence heading into next week's 2-AAAAA tournament.

"It was the best game we have played all year," admitted Newnan coach LaVarrett Pearson. "We would like to have a couple of games back. But we picked a good time to have our best game."

(To view or purchase photos from this game, visit http://photos.times-herald.com/mycapture and navigate to Sports / Basketball for the gallery.)

Newnan built a 15-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and extended it to 33-17 at the break while earning its second Region 2-AAAAA win of the year. With the win, Newnan moved to 9-15 overall and 2-11 in league play.

M.L. King dropped to 7-12 overall and 4-9 in the region.

With senior Kierra Clark out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, Newnan finished with just five scorers on Tuesday -- but each finished in double figures.

Newnan's other seniors, however, made up for the loss with four of the five efforts. Durnecia Hill and Katia Roberts both had 12 points and Maggie McDaniel and Nicole Marshall each finished with 11 in the victory.

Meanwhile, sophomore Tiara Calloway dominated in the paint during a team-high, 17-point effort one game after being held to just two by East Coweta.

Three players finished the game in double figures for the M.L. King. Tenisha Roberts and Amber Mendes led the team with 13 each. Kaylin Guthrie added 11.

Calloway spent most of the third quarter on the bench with an ankle injury, but returned in the final period.

The Lady Cougars needed the sophomore's presence in the fourth quarter as the Lady Lions to cut in to the lead.

Sha'Niah McKenzie hit back-to-back 3-point shots midway through the fourth quarter to trim the Lady Cougars' lead to 52-46, but the Newnan outscored their guest 11-2 down the stretch.

Newnan closes out the regular season Friday at Stephenson before heading into next week's region tournament at Westlake.

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