By Jamey Lanier

Special to The Star

 

NEWTON — The Newton High School Tigers started the basketball season with 13 straight loses before getting their first victory. Coach Darrin Gray told his kids to be patient, and they would find the right chemistry. 

Gray can consider that mission accomplished, as the 5-2A tournament champions defeated the Enterprise-Lincoln High School Yellowjackets, 59-54, giving the Tigers 12 wins in their last 16 games,  and putting them one win away from the state championship tournament in Jackson. 

Brandon Payne went nine of eleven from 3-point land to pace the Tigers to the victory. 

“We try to find the right chemistry, get them to believe in our team philosophy and to believe in each other,” Gray said. “These kids are a group that I love to coach; they have high character on and off the court. They pull for each other and have high expectations for themselves, and they want to win. Not taking anything from Enterprise-Lincoln, but our kids have just shown a lot of poise down the stretch.”

Payne came out on fire, scoring the game’s first eight points off of two treys and a floor-length drive for a layup off of a steal and dish from Javarious Moore, but the Yellowjackets battled back, foreshadowing what would be each team going on a run and the other team battling back to make it a close contest. Payne hit 10 of Newton’s 11first-quarter points, but the Yellowjackets held a 13-11 edge after one quarter. 

Payne had plenty more for Enterprise in the second frame, as Gray called for his team to get Payne a look on the offensive end. 

“Brandon was in the zone. After he hit the second 3-pointer, I told the team to just keep feeding him the ball,” Gray said. 

Payne knew he was on after the first shot and gained more confidence with each shot. 

“I was just feeling it after the first shot. I want to be a big-game player so I want to take the big shots,” Payne said. “When I get out of bed on game day, I think about my game, I look at film and study my opponent and then go out and just play my game.”

The 0-13 start to the season also played a part for Payne and company. 

“It was a little shaky at 0-13, but Coach Gray and Coach Brown never stopped believing in us as a team and we bought into their confidence and we haven’t stopped believing since,” Payne said. 

Payne poured in four from downtown en route to 13 points in the second period to thwart a Yellowjacket run that saw Enterprise take a 27-19 lead with three minutes left in the half. Payne started to draw double coverage near the end of the first half, and he switched to being a facilitator as he set Moore up for seven points in the quarter. With the Yellowjackets’ defense having to pay attention to Moore, Payne stepped to the 3-point line and drained a bomb with 20 seconds left in the half to give Newton a 32-29 lead going into the locker room. 

Payne poured in 13 points in the third quarter to end his scoring for the night, but his teammates took the offense from there and answered the Yellowjackets, showing the poise Gray has seen during the final 16 games. 

Austin Taylor made a big basket on a drive after Enterprise tied the score at 37 with 5:44 left in the third. Taylor drew a foul and sank the charity shot and the Tigers led from that point on. 

Payne drove the lane and laid the ball in with 25 seconds left in the third frame and the defense stiffened to make it a 48-43 game in favor of the Tigers with one quarter remaining. 

Taylor, Moore and Dazmeon Page stepped up offensively for Newton in the final quarter. Enterprise outscored Newton 11-7 in the quarter and got within one, 55-54, with 1:20 left to play. But Moore sank a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left and Deshawn Watts showed the ice in his veins sinking two free throws with 5 seconds left to send his team to the next round. 

Payne led all scorers with 37 points while grabbing 7 boards and added four assists. Moore chipped in with 11 points while Taylor and Watts added five and four points respectively. 

Newton, now 12-17 on the year, will play host to Pisgah Saturday night with the winner advancing to Jackson for the quarterfinals of the 2-A tournament.