Sold out and loud, the gym at Newsome High School was rocking for Saturday night's Class 5A-Region 2 final. On one side was Bartow, a 2009 state semifinalist that brought hundreds of raucous fans. On the other was upstart Newsome, which had never gotten this far in the playoffs.
In the end it seemed experience might have been the difference as the Yellow Jackets held off a furious Newsome rally to hold on for a 60-58 victory.
"There were some key situations where I think (Bartow) showed more composure than we did," Newsome coach John Mackey said. "And I think that's because (Bartow) has been through this before. We needed to play more consistent. We had some turnovers that we don't normally have. It wasn't much of a difference, but it was a difference."
Newsome (22-9) jumped to an 8-3 lead, but Bartow, largely on the strength of its press and trapping, went on a run and held a 17-11 advantage after the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets (23-5) never trailed the rest of the way.
Newsome cut the gap to 34-31 with 2 minutes left in the third quarter, but on a series of turnovers and fouls that led to Bartow being in the bonus, the Yellow Jackets reeled off 10 unanswered points. But the Wolves never quit.
With 19 seconds remaining, Newsome had clawed back from a 13-point deficit to cut it to 58-55 after Jake Hodges hit a short jumper. On the ensuing play, however, Bartow guard Jerremiah Samarrippas was fouled and sank both ends of a one-and-one to all but seal the deal with 7.5 seconds on the clock.
When told of the final foul-shot tally, Mackey was a bit perplexed. Bartow went to the line 39 times and sank 22. Newsome went to the line 12 times and made seven. Two Wolves fouled out.
"I don't think we've had three players foul out all year," Mackey said.
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