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(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Keyton Newland runs from behind the basket to layup a shot in a home matchup against Gold-Burg last Friday, Jan. 3. Newland was a dominating force for the team with 16 points on the board overall. -
(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Jacob Omundi uses his height and jumping ability to his advantage to get possession for the Bobcats during the Friday, Jan. 3 matchup against the Gold-Burg Bears. The Bobcats came away with a 56-48 win on their home court. -
(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Jayden Hemby was a crucial scorer for the Bobcats during their game against Gold-Burg, with 13 points overall. After a back and forth game, the Bobcats fought hard in the second half to widen the scoring gap and secure their win.
What started as a back-and-forth effort between Newcastle and Gold-Burg turned into an all-out win for the homecourt team when the Bobcats pushed ahead for a 56-48 victory.
It was a battle between the two teams for the first two quarters with each overtaking the other in multiple instances. The four scorers who made an impact throughout the game and pushed the way to victory for the Newcastle team were Keyton Newland, Rylan Hinojosa, Jayden Hemby and Jacob Omundi.
The first quarter was led in scoring by Hinojosa who had two 3-point shots and a free throw while Newland added three 2-point shots and two free throws to lead the second quarter.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was within three points at 12-15, with Newcastle down. The back and forth nature of the game continued into the second quarter with the team overtaking each other until Newland scored a 2-point layup to move the team ahead at 25-23.
From there, the Bobcats maintained the lead in the second quarter with the score at 29-26 moving into halftime. After getting 17 points in the second quarter the Bobcats maintained that momentum with another 17 points in the third quarter while holding the Bears to only 10 points.
The same four scorers who made an impact the whole game came out again for the third quarter. Newland brought eight points, six from 2-point shots and two from free throws. Newland was not the only contributor, with Omundi scoring six points with three 2-point shots. Hinojosa brought a 3-point shot, while Hemby scored two points on a free throw.
At the end of the third the Newcastle team led by 10 points with a score of 46-36.
Two 2-point shots in the beginning of the fourth quarter from Omundi and Hinojosa brought the score to 50-38. The Bears did not stop their fight to attempt to overtake the Bobcats and with two minutes left they were within six points with the score at 54-48.
After a timeout with 2:04 left on the clock, the Bobcats held the line and kept any scoring from Gold-Burg. The final score of the game was a 2-point shot from Hinojosa to bring the final to 56-48.
Leading the Bobcats in scoring was Hinojosa with 17 points, followed by Newland with 16 points, Hemby with 13 points and Omundi with 10 points.
After traveling Tuesday, Jan. 7 to Moran, the Bobcats will open district at home against Bryson.
