Bulldogs come up short in close battle with North Charleston

NEWBERRY — The Bulldogs season came to and end on Tuesday night with a heart breaking road loss in the first round of the state playoffs. Newberry(10-15, 4-4 region 4-AAA) fell 61-59 to North Charleston(15-10, 4-4 region 6-AAA) in hard fought battle that went down to the wire.

Newberry varsity boys’ basketball team took the long trip to North Charleston, S.C. to face the Cougars of North Charleston in a first round playoffs match. It was a tight battle in the first quarter, but the Cougars held a 15-9 lead going into the second quarter.

The scoring picked up for both teams as they combined to score 37 points in the second quarter. Newberry outscored North Charleston 20-17, but still trailed 32-29 at the half.

The Bulldogs came out on fire after the halftime and took command of the game in the third quarter. They held the Cougars to just nine points in the quarter and they went into the final period with 47-41 lead over the home team.

Newberry went into the fourth quarter looking to hold onto their lead and advance to the second round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs couldn’t keep their lead and were outscored 20-12 in the fourth quarter while losing their six-point lead.

The Cougars had three players finished the game scoring in double-figures, had 15 steals, grabbed 29 rebounds and forced 20 plus turnovers by the Bulldogs.

Newberry will lose six seniors in May, but will bring back four of their five starters. Congratulations on an outstanding season and good luck next year!