1971 Newton County p4
From 8-22-14
This is the 4th story on the 1971 team. As the 6AAA tournament opens, the Rams are trying to do something no Newton Co. team has ever done--win 4 region championships in a row.
On the day before our first tournament game, I took the boys team to Morrow to support the girls' team & we discovered that Shoneys was having a "centennial sale" with everything on the menu half-price! This added some excitement for the team, as they knew they would be able to eat anything they wanted (for as long as we stayed alive in the tournament)! The demands for a seat was unbelievable and by the opening game the gym was full, and the fire marshals would not let anyone in the gym until someone left. In the opening game the Rams made quick work of Griffin, 71-48. Clay Summers scored 18 pts. with 14 rebounds, & Donnie Freeman showed off his talents with 17 pts. & 14 rebounds!
This set up game with Price to determine one of the two teams from our region to go to the state tournament. With a packed house on hand, Kevin Price (21 pts.-14 reb) & Freeman (16 pts-11 reb), the Rams defeated Price 71-67. After the game, during a happy celebration at Shoney's, several players said that the Price team was the most talented team they had ever faced, and they felt sorry for them when in the final seconds, during a Ram FT, their two guards were laying on the floor, crying. This set the stage for a huge clash with Forest Park! The Rams led the Panthers 36-32 at halftime, & led most of the 2nd half, & Forest Park scored on the buzzer to tie the game 65-65. The overtime was all Newton Co., as they won 75-70 for their fourth straight Region Championship! Freeman's statistics at Morrow were outstanding as he made 19 of 31 field goals, 18 of 23 free throws, hauled down 41 rebounds, and had a total of 56 points! He was an easy choice for MVP, and it was obvious, when looking at the beautiful (& expensive) silver trophy was awarded, it was obvious that the local tournament directors thought someone from their Clayton Co. area would receive it!
In the opening game of the state tournament the Rams broke open a close game with R.L.Osborne in the 2nd half, going on to a 79-62 win. Summers led the way with 21 points. While staying in our hotel across from the Tech Coliseum, there was much talk about (if we won) we would get to play Carver-Columbus with their 7'1" center, "Fessor" Leonard, who (on one of his blocked shots), their crowd would yell, "The Moose is on the loose! The Moose is on the loose!" Prior to the start of the game, with a packed coliseum of 7,000, Savannah's Hall of Fame coach, Harold Scott, looked around & remarked that he "had never seen a high school team with fans as supportive as the Newton Co. fans," The Rams led Baldwin Co. most of the way, but Baldwin scored in the last seconds of the game to send it into overtime! The next 2 OTs had similar results as the Braves scored on the buzzer each time to extend the game. In the 3rd OT, which proved to be the longest game in the GHSA 50-yr. history, with the Rams leading 68-67, with :00s left on the clock, a Baldwin player heaved a shot from mid-court--that missed. But with tremendous noise from the fans, a Braves player rebounded, put the ball back on the board--& it went in! I ran to the scorer's table, & almost said, "it's good!" (to confuse the timer), but I didn't have "the guts" and I said, "It's no good!" The timer smiled at me, made a motion that it was good, and the 69-68 loss ended a great season with a 27-3 record and broke the "Ram" nation's heart!
Summers, with a 20 ppg. avg, earned All-region & All-state honors and a scholarship, which would make him a teammate with Forest Park's star, Rocky Davis, at Georgia Tech. Freeman, also earned All-region & All-state honors, with averages of 15.3 ppg. & 12.6 rpg. Kevin Price (15 ppg. avg,) was also named to the All-region team. But, Newton County fans all knew that without the great play & leadership of senior, Stuart Clive, this outstanding season would not have been possible. This was our 9th Region Championship in the last 11 seasons, and now our 13-year record stood at 355 wins, 44 losses, with 31 different championships! Article in AJC about Rams
