Jabez Blaylock had a game-high 22 points for Newton as the Tigers edged Northeast Lauderdale 73-69 in Tuesday night prep basketball action.

Cahden Thompson scored 16 points for Newton, and Tigers head coach Crandal Porter said he was happy to get a win despite his team not being as sharp as he would have liked.

“The attempt to execute was there, we were just rusty,” Porter said. “Balls were getting tipped, we weren’t catching balls cleanly, we were missing free throws, just stuff that comes from being off for a week. I’m always pleased to get a win. Anytime you can get a win, it’s a good thing, especially against a well-coached team that plays hard and smart like Northeast does.”

The Trojans were led by Bryce Bennamon, who had 19 points. Jake McElroy scored 12 points, and Cameron Butler chipped in with eight points for Northeast Lauderdale.

Newton (2-3) will face Choctaw Central in the Noxubee County tournament Saturday. Northeast Lauderdale fell to 1-4 on the season.

NORTHEAST LAUDERDALE 49, NEWTON GIRLS 33 

Ten Northeast Lauderdale players got in the scoring column as the Lady Trojans beat Newton in their first game in nearly two weeks.

Nakya Lloyd led the Lady Trojans with 12 points off four 3s, and Britney Wells added 10 points for Northeast Lauderdale. Tamorrea Marsh had seven points, Kennedi Jimison scored five points and Anna Backstrom finished with four points. 

“We came out really well early on and played well defensively,” Northeast Lauderdale head coach Lewis Lightsey said. “We hit some 3s early — Kya (Lloyd) hit three 3s in the early going — so that helped us. We did a great job keeping them out of the paint, which helped us build a lead, but I thought we were a little rusty in the second half. You can kind of tell we hadn’t played in two weeks. Also, you have to give (Newton) credit for fighting back and staying in the game.”

Northeast Lauderdale led 33-11 at intermission.

“We only practiced once or twice over the break… so yeah, you kind of want to just get back into it and get going in a game like this,” Lightsey said. “We have a lot of kids some playing time, so that helped us a lot, too.”

Braylen Tingle, Eboni Alford and Trinity Anderson each scored three points for the Lady Trojans, while LaTia Powe and Kennedy Boston had one point apiece.

For Newton, Zia Shields scored 10 points, while Ja’Leah Hickmon had eight points.

“I’ve been watching Coach Lightsey’s teams play for many years, and he always has his teams ready to play, and they just came out and gave us an old-fashion butt whipping,” Newton girls coach Marc Stribling said. “They came out and were ready to play. I was pleased that we kept fighting. A lot of teams would roll over after that, so it’s a credit to my girls that they didn’t fold and kept playing.”

Newton rose to 4-2 on the season. Northeast Lauderdale (6-0) will host Wayne County Tuesday, Dec. 8.