Indiana commit Jakai Newton helps spark No. 4 Newton in season debut

LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA – The fourth-ranked Newton Rams couldn’t have asked for a better night to get Jakai Newton back on the court.

The four-star Indiana commit made his long-awaited return Friday night on the road at Archer after injuring his left knee seven months ago.

And on a night when the Rams were in desperate need of a sparkplug after getting bullied by the host Tigers for the first three quarters, there was Newton to fill that role.

The senior scored six of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and helped lead the Rams to a 65-55 win after they trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half.

Newton was second in scoring for the Rams behind McDonald's All-American Stephon Castle, who led the way with a game-high 26 points. Jabez Jenkins joined the duo with 11 points.

“Jakai gave us a good boost coming back,” Newton head coach Charlemagne Gibbons said. “He made some really big-time plays in the clutches of the game for a kid who hasn’t played basketball in almost seven months. I was really proud of that.”

The Rams struggled to get into any kind of rhythm early on.

Archer knocked down six three-pointers in the first half - two apiece from Darrian Joseph, Kahmare Holmes and Courtland Walker - and led Newton 36-27 heading into halftime.

“We weren’t surprised at the first half (Archer) had,” Gibbons said. “Especially at home these last two years that we’ve been over here, they’ve shot the ball extremely well. We played a lot of guys in the first half and I think we made too many mistakes. Too many guys were hungry to try and score instead of keeping the ball moving.”

A three-pointer from Bryce Kennedy and a layup from Holmes gave the Tigers its biggest lead of the night, 41-27 early in the third quarter. They maintained a nine-point lead with a minute remaining in the third quarter until disaster struck.

A jumper from Newton’s Tim Prather and a Castle layup cut Archer’s lead to 44-37 with 58 seconds remaining in the quarter and after a quick turnover, Castle was standing at the line with a chance to cut the lead down to five.

Castle missed the first attempt, but Archer head coach Joel Lecoeuvre was called for a technical foul after getting a warning for leaving the coach’s box and that awarded Newton four free throw attempts and possession.

Castle knocked down two of the technical free throws and Prather followed with two more. That cut Archer’s lead down to one point, 44-43 in the blink of an eye, and sent the game into the fourth quarter with momentum in favor of the Rams.

Archer managed to get the game back in control early in the fourth quarter after Dominick Wright converted an And-1 to give the Tigers a 48-43 lead with 7:10 remaining.

But a quick 7-0 run from the Rams led by Castle, who dished off two assists and converted a fastbreak layup, gave the Rams a 50-48 lead. It was Newton’s first lead since early in the second quarter.

Newton returned to the court with 4:38 remaining and the game tied at 50 and immediately got to the free-throw line. He knocked down both attempts to give the Rams the lead back, 52-50.

The Rams built a 55-52 lead with under three minutes remaining before Elijah Davis buried a clutch three-pointer from the top of the key, knotting the game at 55 with 1:57 left.

Out of a timeout, Newton converted a floater to give the Rams a 57-55 lead and then stole the ball on the ensuing Archer possession, leading to a Castle layup.

That gave Newton a 59-55 lead with 1:07 remaining and they were able to convert free throws down the stretch to pull away with a 10-point victory.

“In the second half, we only played seven guys,” Gibbons said. “I thought we tucked down in the second half and we did something that we really haven’t done all year - be good from the free throw line.”

Gibbons said he was thrilled for Newton to get back on the court and contribute with some big plays when the Rams really needed him.

“It’s a great feeling for the kid,” Gibbons said of Newton. “He’s one of the hardest working kids I’ve ever been around. He doesn’t take anything for granted. I thought you saw a kid who’s been out for seven months come in and play at a high-level game and still produce like a high-level player. That’s kudos to him.”

With the win, the Rams improve to 6-1 in Region 4-AAAAAAA play with two region games remaining on the schedule. With the loss, Archer falls to 3-4 in region play.

Next week, the Rams will face No. 1 ranked Wheeler on Monday, Parkview on Tuesday, who is their only loss in region play, and No. 2 Grayson on Friday.

Gibbons said they’re ready for the challenge.