The Newtown-Harris Tigers basketball teams continued play in the Milan Tournament Thursday night. The boys squad clinched a trip to the championship with a 65-35 win over Milan in a game that saw the Tigers’ KJ Cool score his 1,000th career point. The Lady Tigers’ bid for a championship came to an end, however, as they fell to Linn County, 52-41.
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Tigers
The Newtown-Harris Tigers scored yet another victory and earned a trip to the Milan Tournament championship game in the process.
Newtown once again used a huge run in the first quarter to set the tone for the game. The Tigers outscored Milan 22-6 in the first quarter. The second quarter was closer but the Tigers still controlled the pace of the game and were able to add eight more points to their lead before halftime. Going into the locker rooms, Newtown led Milan 40-16.
The Tigers were on cruise control in the second half as they went on to take another 30-point win, 65-35.
The highlight of the night for Tigers’ fans was seeing junior KJ Cool score his 1,000th career point. Cool has started for the Tigers since his freshman year and has been one of the team’s top scoring threats since the first time he put on a purple and gold uniform. Cool’s achievement is even greater in the fact that he reached the 1,000 point milestone as a junior. Very few players ever make it to 1,000 points and even fewer do so as a junior. On the night, Cool scored 12 points and also contributed with a team-high seven assists and four steals.
Leading the way for the Tigers was Brandon Coin. Coin scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds for the Tigers underneath. Also hitting double figures for the Tigers were Levi Wollenzien, who scored 12 points, and Tyler Busick, who scored 11 points.
The Tigers moved to a perfect 13-0 on the season with the win.
Lady Tigers
The Lady Tigers’ bid for a Milan Tournament championship came up just a little short in their semifinal game with Linn County.
Newtown struggled in the opening quarters. The Lady Tigers found themselves down 19-11 in the first quarter and were outscored 10-4 in the second. At the half, Newtown trailed 29-15.
The Lady Tigers battled back, however, and doubled their point total in the third quarter behind strong play from Jessica Huffman. With a quarter to go, the Lady Tigers had cut the lead to 40-30. Newtown could not close the gap any more in the fourth quarter, however, as they fell, 52-41.
Turnovers were a big factor in the game as the Lady Tigers handed the ball over a total of 31 times in the contest.
One bright spot in the loss for Newtown was the play of Huffman. The Lady Tigers’ senior hit nine-of-15 shots from the field on her way to a 23-point night. Huffman also pulled down six rebounds and grabbed seven steals. Outside of Huffman, however, the Lady Tigers were just eight-of-26 from the floor.
The Lady Tigers’ record on the season fell to 11-2 with the loss.
Both squads will return to action on Saturday as the girls will play for third, while the boys will play for first.