Newton collects win over Jasper
By GEORGIA PURDY

DOMINQUE BAILEY drives the lane for a bucket against Newton last Tuesday. Jasper fell to the Eagles 79-57 in their final tuneup before the start of district.

The Jasper Bulldogs lost 79- 57 to Newton Dec. 5 as the always-physical Eagles came prepared to win.

Newton coach Byron Northrup said they were disappointed in their performance in the recent Zavalla tournament and determined to “get it together” to beat Jasper.

“We played as a team tonight and we were more intense on defense than we have been,” Northrup said. “We didn’t do well at the Zavalla tournament and we knew if we could just put one good game together, we would be on top.”

District play began Dec. 18 and both Jasper and Newton find themselves in tough districts this year. The District 23- 2A lineup includes stateranked Woden as well as Nacogdoches Central Heights, who also does not play football. The ‘Dogs, in District 21- 3A face two state-ranked teams, West Orange-Stark, ranked third; and Hardin- Jefferson, 16th.

The first quarter ended 22- 12 and the ‘Dogs fell behind 37- 23 in the second period. Kwame Spikes hit a threepointer, followed by two from Jaren Bronson, to edge up to a 37-28 finish at the half. Jasper scored 16 points in the second period, to Newton’s 15.

But Newton poured on the heat in the third period, scoring 25 points to Jasper’s 11. Jasper couldn’t overcome the deficit even though they matched them 17-17 in the fourth.

Freshman point guard Dominique Bailey was highpoint shooter for the night. He scored 24 points, 16 of those in the second half. Freshman Kwame Spikes had 13.

Samuel Bryant led Newton with 16 points, followed by Darrell Jenkins, 12. Buddy Mattox, Steven Alfred, and Nelson Watson had 10 each.

The Bulldogs opened district last night against Bridge City and will face West Orange-Stark, Jan. 5, at home.