The Newtown-Harris Lady Tigers played defense when it counted the most and escaped with a one-point victory on Tuesday night at the Ketcham Community Center in Trenton.
Newtown held the Braymer Lady Bobcats to just six points over the course of the final eight minutes to rally for a 55-54 win in NCMC’s Holiday Hoops. Tara Collings provided the heroics for the Lady Tigers, driving the length of the floor with 5.5 seconds left for the game winning layup.
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The Lady Tigers came out battling evenly with the squad from Braymer and used a 7-0 run midway through the first quarter to take a six-point lead. Braymer responded to the challenge, however, and quickly cut the lead to a single point by the end of the opening frame.
The Lady Bobcats took the lead right off the bat in the second quarter and would lead the game all the way to halftime, but never stretched the advantage to more than three points. The Lady Tigers trailed 29-27 at the break.
In the third quarter, it appeared the Lady Bobcats were going to put the game away. Newtown was outscored by six as Braymer put up its biggest offensive quarter of the game, scoring 19 points. Braymer’s offense, however, was about to hit a wall.
The Lady Tigers locked down the defense and nearly shut out Braymer in the final quarter of play. The Lady Bobcats, who seemed to score at will in the third quarter, suddenly found themselves struggleing to even get the ball near the hoop. Newtown’s offense, meanwhile, maintained the steady pace it had been producing points with all night and the Lady Tigers erased the eight-point deficit and picked up the victory in the end by one single point.
Collings was huge for the Lady Tigers, pouring in a game-high 29 points. Mercedes Foster did her part as well, scoring 19 points, and Becca Holloway scored seven big points to help the Lady Tigers’ cause.
With the win, the Newtown-Harris girls improved to 6-3 on the season. The Lady Tigers will return to the court once more in the Holiday Hoops event, facing off with Southwest of Ludlow on Thursday, Dec. 30 at 10:30 a.m.
Newtown’s boys squad will be in action on Tuesday, Dec. 28, playing Hale at 5:30 p.m. in the KCC.