Newton ups the 'energy' in win over Whitefield Academy

As the Newton Rams girls basketball team looks to keep momentum behind them heading into the final stretch of region games, the picked up a well balanced win on Monday as they defeated the Whitefield Academy Wolfpack 70-35 for their third straight win, improving to 15-3 overall.

Monday's win for the Rams came at the annual "4 Tha Culture MLK Classic" hosted by the Wolfpack in a game in which Newton never trailed after opening up on a 10-0 run before closing out the first quarter with a 18-6 lead.

With contributions coming from several Rams' players, Newton's lead would increase to 28 points by the end of the second quarter as they led 41-13 with sophomore Mya Perry scoring six of her seven points in the period as well as senior Camille Files scoring six of her nine points in the quarter.

Newton's dominance on both ends of the court continued throughout the second half as they led 59-27 by the end of the third quarter, despite Whitefield having their best offensive outing of the game in that period. And as the Rams held the Wolfpack to just eight fourth quarter points they would go on to pick up the 35-point win, their second largest margin of victory this season.

"Good energy," Newton assistant coach, Ashley Williams, said as she credited the Rams' players for their performance in Monday's win. "Just focusing on the little things, high energy, good defense and talking," Williams said of what the Rams did well, emphasizing their defensive efforts.

"That's our main thing, our defense, locking in and switching up our defenses and making sure everybody is on the same page," Williams said will be important as the Rams will get set to return to region play later this week. The Rams were led by sophomore London Smith with 14 points and senior Alissa Sandifer adding 12 points.