DECATUR — The Newton High School Lady Tigers and the Lake High School Lady Hornets squared off in the East Central Invitational Tournament Thursday night, and it was nothing short of a battle, with the Lady Tigers taking a hard-fought 52-43 victory. 

Lake coach Kotreece Bender was once a star player for the Lady Tigers, and she was looking for a win, but Newton’s first-year head coach Dorie Thigpen unleashed a defense that was too fast for the Lady Hornets to overcome. 

Ja’Leah Hickman, an eighth grader, dominated the defensive boards in the second half. Vivica Arden, Newton’s only senior, and Nia McCalphia used their speed to stifle the Lady Hornets and get the win. 

“The defensive play was the difference tonight,” Thigpen said. “Our girls are quick, so we wanted to use their quickness to put pressure on Lake to wear them down and cause turnovers, and the girls executed the plan well tonight.”

Bender saw her team take a 32-31 lead with 3:55 to go in the third quarter, but the Lady Tigers responded with five unanswered points behind McCalphia, who stepped up with a 10-point third quarter, scoring four of Newton’s five unanswered points to end the period. 

“We just haven’t grown up,” Bender said. “We haven’t had anyone step up and be the go-to-player. We’ve had a chance to win every game that we’ve played, but no one would step up and make plays in the moment.”

McCalphia led the Lady Tigers with 20 points and was a defensive force, causing numerous turnovers and controlling the paint along with Hickman.

“We just have to play together as a team to come out with the win, and tonight we were able to come together as a team,” McCalphia said. “We played together, we played smart, we didn’t foul a lot and we played played good defense.”

Lake fell behind 9-2 in the first quarter but narrowed it to 14-8 by playing tough, aggressive defense. 

The Lady Hornets took a 20-19 lead midway through the second quarter by outscoring Newton 16 to 11 to trail by one, 25-24, at the halftime break.

McCalphia took over in the third quarter with two strong putbacks off of offensive rebounds, and eight of her 10 points came in the paint to give her team a 37-34 lead after three quarters of play. 

Lake regained the lead, 38-37, with 5:32 remaining in the game, but Hickman took over the defensive board and hit a floater to give her team a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The Lady Tiger defense kept Lake at bay to take the 52-43 win. 

McClphia scored 20-points for Newton, and Hickman went for eight. 

Lake was led by Larikka Grayden’s 10 points. 

Newton upped its record to 3-4 on the year while Lake falls to 1-6.