By Rob Kiser
Miami Valley Today
PLEASANT HILL — The Newton boys basketball team executed its game-plan to perfection in the first quarter and a half.
And that was more than enough as the Indians cruised to a 56-37 win over Franklin Monroe in CCC action Tuesday night.
Newton improved to 2-7 overall and 1-3 in the CCC, while Franklin Monroe dropped to 2-10 overall and 0-5 in the CCC.
And it came down to Newton taking advantage of its size edge inside, as the Jets had no answer for 6-foot-3 junior Mitchell Montgomery, particularly in the first half.
“We have been working on doing that,” Newton coach Gavin Spitler said about taking advantage in the post. “Tonight’s is the first time we had the confidence to get the ball inside to Mitchell (Montgomery) and Franklin Monroe really didn’t have any way of stopping him.”
Newton sprinted out to an 11-0 lead — with nine of the points coming from Mitchell Montgomery in the paint, including a three-point play.
Gabe Sargent finally got FM on the board with field goal at the 2:02 mark and added another one, but Newton’s Kleyson Wehrley hit a 3-pointer and the Indians took a 16-4 lead to the second quarter.
Newton’s 6-2 freshman Harold Oburn got into the act, finishing the first quarter with a basket inside and opening the second quarter with a putback.
When Mitchell Montgomery scored on a rebound at 4:00 mark of the second quarter, Newton led 26-6 — with 13 of the points coming from Mitchell Montgomery.
“We got off to a great start,” Spitler said. “We wanted to take the ball to the basket and we did a great job of that.”
Mitchell Montgomery scored Newton’s final four points of the opening half from the foul line — with Franklin Monroe’s Jayce Byers hitting a 3-pointer in-between and the Indians took a 30-14 lead to the locker room.
Franklin Monroe opened the second half with an 8-2 run to get within 32-22 as Bryden Dicenu and Byers hit field goals, Sargent hit one of two free throws and Byers hit a three.
But, Chandler Peters answered with a three for Newton and by the end of the third quarter, Newton was in front 42-24.
“I think they got within 10 there in the third quarter,” Spitler said. “But, then we made a couple of layups and opened the lead back up. I was glad to see we kept taking the ball to the basket.”
Franklin Monroe was never able to make any kind of run at Newton in the fourth quarter as the Indians picked up win number two.
“Give Franklin Monroe credit,” Spitler said. “They played hard the whole game. They made some runs, but we would always answer them. I don’t think there was any point where our lead was in jeopardy.”
Montgomery finished with 21 points to lead all scorers.
Oburn added eight points, Hudson Montgomery and Peters both scored seven and Wehrley added six.
Byers led FM with 16 points.
Dicenu scored seven and Sargent added six points.
“To get any kind of a win is big for us right now,” Spitler said. “We have been in a lot of close games, but we have struggled to finish. Hopefully, we can start to finish off games.”
And the Indians will look to continue that momentum Friday, when Newton visits Bradford in CCC action.
BOXSCORE
Franklin Monroe (37)
Ky Cool 1-0-3, Cavin Baker 1-1-3, Bryden Dicenu 3-0-7, Jacey Byers 5-2-16, Gabe Sargent 2-2-6, Brandon Rumble 0-2-2, Landon Keller 0-0-0, Ethan Garber 0-0-0. Totals: 12-7-37.
Newton (56)
Ross Ferrell 0-0-0, Andrew Whittaker 1-1-3, Kleyson Wehrley 1-3-6, Mitchell Montgomery 7-7-21, Harold Oburn 4-0-8, Hudson Montgomery 2-3-7, Patrick Hughes 0-0-0, Ethan Cook 1-0-2, Quentin Smith 1-0-2, Chandler Peters 1-4-7, Amorie Maxwell 0-0-0, Jack Ballard 0-0-0, Clark Yoder 0-0-0. Totals: 18-18-56.
3-point field goals — Franklin Monroe: Cool, Dicenu, Byers (4). Newton: Wehrley, Peters.
Score By Quarters
Franklin Monroe 4 14 24 37
Newton 16 30 42 56
Records: Franklin Monroe 2-10 (0-5), Newton 2-9 (1-3).
Contact Rob Kiser at [email protected].
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