By Cameron Dubin
Sports Reporter
Despite going tick for tack with Newton North throughout the first half, Newton South fell short against the cross-town rival, 61-46, Saturday at the Good Sports Invitational Tournament at the TD Garden.
The Lions had the lucky experience of stepping out on the court where NBA stars such as Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and so many others have stepped before them.
“It was kinda surreal playing on a court that so many NBA greats have played on,” said senior captain Geoff Gray, who scored 10 points in the game. “But once the game got started, I kind of forget where I was playing and for the most part it seemed like a normal game.”
“It was a humbling experience,” said senior sharpshooter Jack Groper. “Being on the court and being where legends used to play; that’s pretty awesome. You feel like you’re a celebrity or a NBA player on the court.”
The game started off with senior Joe Esbenshade scoring nine straight points for South to start the first quarter before leaving the game with an injury.
“Two of our players [senior Mark Karmiy and Esbenshade] that have put up big scoring numbers for us were plagued by ankle injuries,” Gray said.
The Lions also had a lift from sophomore big man Sasha Hoban, who had 10 points off of the bench.
“In the first half, [we] gave a good effort, worked hard and played hard,” Groper said.
The Lions were only down one, 28-27, at halftime.
But as the game progressed the Lions were stifled by the Tigers defense, scoring only 19 points in the second half.
“We just had trouble scoring,” Gray said. “Most of the reason we struggled on offense was Newton North’s defense. They play great team defense and we just couldn’t put the ball in the hoop.”
South had trouble controlling the flow of the game against North’s aggressive offensive attack, according to Groper.
“We could have treated every possession as if it was the last,” Groper said. “Executed our offense better.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the Lions held Tiger senior star Tommy Mobley to 13 points.
North only scored 61 points, which is 15 under their season average of 76.
“We held a held a team that has put up 100 plus points twice this season to 61,” Gray said.
With the North game at the Garden in the books, the Lions are starting to look ahead in their season, with certain playoff goals in the back of their minds.
“To have a home tournament game, which is the goal, we have to win six or seven of the [remaining games] and that’s going to be pretty awesome,” Groper said. “Hopefully we’ll have enough kids to bring down both sides of the bleachers.”
Gray is looking forward to the postseason as well.
“At the beginning of the season, our two goals were a home tournament game, which we will need at least fourteen wins for, and a back to back tournament championship,” Gray said. “We are going to stick to those goals and aim higher if we can.”
