The historic season for the Grayson boys basketball team has come to an end.
The Rams, who were the only remaining No. 4 seed in Class AAAAAA, were eliminated from the state tournament with a 71-52 loss to eighth-ranked Newton in the quarterfinals Thursday at the University of West Georgia.
Region 2-AAAAA champion Newton (26-4) opened the second half with a 6-0 run to build a 10-point lead and outscored Grayson 23-9 in the third quarter to take control of the game. Junior guard JD Notae ignited Newton in the quarter with 13 of his game-high 23 points, and his tip-in gave his team a 52-34 lead at the end of the quarter.
Grayson (22-8), the fourth-place finisher from Region 8, had never won a state playoff game before upsetting top-ranked Wheeler and beating Lee County in the first two rounds last week. Newton, which was knocked out in the quarterfinals last season, advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2010.
Newton led 18-11 at the end of the first quarter and built the lead to 11 points at 24-13. Grayson got back within 29-25 by halftime, but Notae and Newton pulled away in the third quarter. A dunk by Jaquan Sims early in the fourth gave Newton its biggest lead, 60-36.
Newton’s Ashton Hagans had four points in each quarter to finish with 16. Simms scored 15 points, and Josh Tukes had 10. Grayson’s Alphonso Willis led all scorers with 24 points despite being held scoreless in the first quarter. No other Grayson player reached double figures.
