Newton’s Mia McClaphia dribbles through Forest defenders without getting fouled during the waning seconds of the game Thursday night.

When Perry Fletcher isn’t coaching the Newton girls basketball team, he’s fulfilling his calling as a pastor. 

The second-year Newton coach’s religious faith appears to have earned him favor from a higher power.

Newton overcame a 25-point second-quarter deficit to beat Forest 57-53 in overtime in late-week basketball action Thursday evening. 

“Look, I told the Lord that I owe him one,” Fletcher said with a laugh following his team’s win. “I told the girls to keep believing. Forest is the No. 1 team in 3A, and Coach (Teont) Boyd does a great job with those girls. I knew it was going to be a fight.”

A crowded Newton High Gymnasium offered little early benefit as Forest jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter before Nia McCalphia gave the Lady Tigers their first points of the game with 3:40 remaining in the opening period.

An aggressive Forest (7-2) defense and cold Newton (8-0) shooting resulted in the Lady Bearcats grabbing an 18-4 lead to enter the second quarter.

 Forest’s Vantasia Duncan pushed her team ahead 33-6 after a field goal with 3:59 left before halftime, but the basket was Forest’s last of the period.

Ja’Leah Hickmon scored a field goal with just under 3:30 left in the second, and Zi’a Shields connected on one of her two free throw attempts to cut Forest’s lead to 31-9. McKinley Ware added two 3-pointers, and McCalphia hit a shot from beyond the arc with seven seconds left in the second to send the Lady Tigers into halftime on a 12-0 run and trailing 31-18.

“These girls are a brilliant group of girls, and they believe in themselves,” Fletcher said. “And most importantly, they believe in what we do every day.”

Hickmon rattled off seven points in the second quarter, and Newton was able to bring Forest’s lead below double digits when Ware’s 3-pointer with under four minutes left in the period made the score 36-28 in Forest’s advantage. Newton outscored Forest 14-7 in the third quarter and trailed 38-32 entering the fourth. 

Newton took its first lead of the game when Myja McNichols made two free throws with 3:57 left in the game to put the Lady Tigers ahead 42-41. With the score tied at 46 with one minute left in the regulation, Orlandrea McGee went to the free-throw line and made both shots to move the Lady Bearcats ahead 48-46, but Keyshawna Nelson’s layup at the 4-second mark sent the game into overtime. 

In overtime, Ware took a hard foul near the baseline, but not before she put up a shot that rolled into the net. She drained the and-one shot to give Newton a 51-48 lead. Nelson (2 points), Hickmon (3 points) and Shields (1 point) scored in the overtime period. 

Hickmon ended with 16 points, Ware finished with 14 points and McCalphia tallied 13 points. 

Fletcher said his players were well-suited to handle the task of overcoming their early deficit due to a daily drill he has them perform during the week.

“A lot of times in practice, we do something that Nolan Richardson at Arkansas used to in practice,” he said. “I’ll make us be down 10 or 15, and we have 10 minutes to cut it. So that was something they were used to. They knew not to give up. I told them it’s just like practice. They went out, they blocked the crowd out, they believed in each other and they got it done.” 

In boys action, Forest edged Newton 51-48.

Up next: Newton is at Southeast Lauderdale on Dec. 11.