Sports - February 2003

Wolves fall short against Newton

TERRANCE THOMAS, LTN Staff writer

February 21, 2003 - BOILING SPRINGS — The Newton-Conover boys basketball team ran off seven straight points early in the second quarter of the Midwest Conference tournament semifinals Thursday at Gardner-Webb University.

It didn’t seem like much when the Red Devils play Lincolnton

From that point on, the Wolves couldn’t catch Newton the rest of the night.

The Red Devils advanced to the finals with the 68-62.

The Wolves had problems with Newton 6-foot-9 center Julius Powell all night long.

The sophomore had 36 the last time the two teams met in January. Thursday he poured in 35, with 23 points in the second half.

He was simply the antidote to stop every Lincolnton run. He used his size to get rebounds, putbacks and give his team second shots.

“It’s hard to compete with a 6-9 guy like that,” said Eric Wilson, who played the final minutes with four fouls. “I was trying my hardest to guard him, but it’s hard.”

Back in January, the Wolves beat Newton with Eric Wilson scoring 38 and Darren Wilson adding 29.

Eric Wilson did score 25 but Darren Wilson managed only 10. He didn’t score in the fourth quarter.

“Tonight, I had a bad game,” Darren Wilson said. “Hopefully, I’ll play better the next game. Tonight wasn’t my night.”

Robbie Lewis took out some of the scoring slack. He hit four 3-pointers for 12 points. Jordy Jefferies chipped in with 10.

In the game, Newton led after the first quarter 14-13.

But a couple of minutes into the quarter, Powell and John Rabold both scored. Then Josh Schmidt hit a 3-pointer.

Just like that Newton was up 21-13.

LHS closed within four off of a Darren Wilson 3-pointer.

Newton countered with a 6-0 run before LHS added a couple of baskets to make it 34-28 at the half.

LHS got a break late in the third and made it 45-43 with 2:15 to go when Eric Wilson nailed in a shot.

But Newton got a 3-pointer to push it back to five.

At the end of the third quarter, Darren Wilson’s bucket made it 52-48. With time running out, he shot a 3-pointer that rattled out of the rim. That could have made it a one-point game.

The margin shifted from four points to 10 for Newton.

Lincolnton had a couple of chances late in the game. One came after an Eric Wilson’s layup to make it 62-59 with 1:40 to play. The Wolves got the ball back with an opportunity to make it a one-point game to tie it. But Avery Farley knocked away a pass and took it the distance with a layup.

In the last minute of the game while down by five, LHS fouled Powell twice. He made all four free throws to seal the win.

There’s another chance that LHS may meet Newton down the road in the playoffs.

The Wolves could be at home Monday in the opening round of the playoffs if Newton-Conover defeats the conference’s No. 4 seed East Rutherford in the finals.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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