PLANT CITY - Before Thursday night's Class 5A-District 8 season opener, Newsome boys basketball coach Jon Mackey told his team not to take Plant City likely.
His Wolves, favored to win the district this season, had to fight off a scrappy Raiders squad before pulling away late in the fourth quarter for a 52-45 win.
Senior forward Samal Shepherd led Newsome (1-0, 1-0) with 20 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists. Senior power forward Jake Hodges added 12 points and five rebounds.
Plant City (1-1, 0-1) led 32-30 entering the fourth quarter when Newsome went on a 14-4 run to take a 44-36 lead with 2:31 remaining in the game. Plant City closed the gap to 46-40 with 57 seconds left, but was forced to foul, allowing Newsome to ice the game at the free throw line.
"We made some plays when we needed to make plays," Mackey said. "Defensively, we did a pretty good job in the second half as far as contesting shots."
"We knew we were coming into this season with a target on our back," said Shepherd, who led Newsome to its first playoff appearance last season. "Coach was telling us [Plant City] wasn't going to lie down. [I was] taking what the defense gives you."
Junior center Chris Smith led Plant City with 21 points and five rebounds.
"We're inconsistent," Plant City coach Dale Chambers said. "[Newsome] stepped their level of play up and we didn't."
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