1972 Newton County p2

8/27/14

As the 1972 Georgia High School basketball season opened, the Newton Co. Rams felt like they had solidified their tradition the previous year. The Rams had been ranked in the state's Top 10 of all the largest schools all of the previous season (with their final record of 22-5 and a Region Championship, which led to a final state ranking of 4th in the final polls).

4 of the 5 losses occurred in overtime in very controversial games, with 2 of the losses being decided at the scorer's table! This much-anticipated season opened at home vs. strong neighbor, Rockdale County, & Kevin Price was successful on 8 of 13 field goal attempts, scoring 25 pts., with 14 rebounds, leading the way to a 77-64 win. Traveling to Griffin, Kevin improved his game with 9/12 attempts, again scoring 25 pts., as the Rams won 83-55. Assisting in the win were the steals by Greg Christian (6) & Neal Dickerson (5). In the following game with R.E.Lee, Kevin's brother, Scott Price, stepped up & scored 20 pts. in a 67-54 win as Kevin had 18 rebounds. We began to notice that many of our previous players were coming back to the games to watch the players that many of them had helped to coach in the Newton "midget basketball" program. Prior to the 4th game of the season, there was a scene that was to be repeated several times that year, as large groups of fans gathered in the parking lot, picnicking, while waiting to see 2 of the state's best teams play! With pressure from the state fire marshals, standing-room crowds were being limited, which only put more pressure on the local administrators! With the Newnan defense putting pressure on the Price brothers, Donnie Freeman dominated with 26 pts. & 20 reb., as he led the way to an 85-79 win! The trip to LaGrange proved to be a tough one as the Rams eked out a 64-60 win with the Price brothers scoring 18 pts. each, & Freeman having another 20 reb. game! After Therrell HS fell 71-51, Freeman again proved why he was one of the state's best with 22 pts. & his 3rd straight game of 20 rebounds! After a 71-57 win at R.E.Lee, & a spotless record of 8-0, the stage was set for a big game in Covington as Price HS was coming to town with another very talented team!----to be continued--