By Jamie Wachter / Sports Editor
The Meridian Star
NEWTON — The Newton girls basketball team is approaching this week's MHSAA Grand Slam tournament as an opportunity. An opportunity to make their mark as a state power.
After the Tigers won their second Class 2A state championship last week, Newton is now turning its attention to the rest of the state.
"The Grand Slam, for us, is an opportunity to take our program even to a state-wide level," Newton coach Crandal Porter said. "Class 2A-wise, we're pretty high, but we want to creep up into that state-wide level and be mentioned with the Murrahs, the Wayne Countys and the Raymonds and all those kinds of people.
"This is an opportunity and a challenge for us."
That opportunity is exactly why Porter and the Tigers are excited about the Grand Slam. Now in its fourth year after a 25-year hiatus, the Grand Slam gives the state's smaller schools a chance to prove their mettle against their bigger counterparts.
"I think it's awesome," Porter added. "2A level, because of so many different factors which haven't really influenced us as much, you don't really get a chance to step out and play the bigger schools. But the Grand Slam is an opportunity for you. We look at it as a big, big opportunity for us to showcase our program against the better programs in the state."
The difference in school size makes no difference to Newton, though. The Tigers downed Class 5A champion Wayne County earlier in the season and also has battled with Class 4A semifinalist Northeast Lauderdale and Class 3A semifinalist Choctaw Central. Those battles give Porter confidence heading into today's 1 p.m. opener against Class 1A champ McAdams. The winner advances to Friday's semifinal against Class 6A winner Horn Lake.
"I feel we can compete against anybody," he said. "We play at that level anyway, so playing bigger schools won't be an intimidating factor for our kids because we do that already."
