NEWBERRY – Newberry Academy’s girls basketball team (19-0) solidified their spot atop the SCISA A-I region standings Tuesday with a 55-33 win over Richard Winn (10-2). The loss was the Eagles’ second of the season, both at the hands of Newberry.
Behind 9-5 after the first quarter, the Eagles struggled to contain the Newberry offense, led by senior Kailey Cheeks and junior Daja Taylor, and found themselves down 29-14 at the half.
Newberry was able to mostly contain Eagle seniors Meredith Pope and Taylor Spires, allowing only six from Spires and four from Pope in the first half.
The Eagles mounted a comeback in the third, outscoring their entire first half score, but still trailed 47-29 heading into the final quarter, when Newberry put the nail in the coffin.
The Eagles managed only one score from the field and two from the charity stripe in the fourth, ending the game with a 55-33 final.
Pope, who is averaging 17 points per game this season, was held to 13 on the night. Spires, averaging 15.3 points per game, finished with 11. Averaging 11.3 rebounds per game, Spires had 12 on the night. The game was her ninth double-double of the season.
Now standing solid in second place, the Eagles look to the homestretch of their regular season. With games cancelled because of Covid precautions, they will attempt to make up a handful of games from their schedule.
First, that means a Friday night faceoff in Winnsboro with Cambridge Academy. Tipoff for the girls is set for 5:30 p.m. with the varsity boys to follow. Richard Winn boys did not play Tuesday night. Last week’s games against Laurens were also postponed.
RWA – 5-9-15-4 – 33
NA – 9-20-18-9 – 55
RWA: Pope 13, Spires 11, Maggie Hughes 4, Delaney Young 3, Rayne Williams 2
NA: Cheeks 24, Taylor 16, M. Rivers 7, J. Williams 2, A. Joyner 2, C. Senn 2, L Huggins 2.