Basketball Game Preview: Newton Rams vs. Hillgrove Hawks

The Newton Rams will take on the Hillgrove Hawks on Wednesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Newton is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Georgia's top teams: Grayson, who was ranked first at the time (Newton was ranked sixth). Newton took an 84-74 hit to the loss column at the hands of Grayson on Saturday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Friday (65), Newton still had to take the loss.

Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Hillgrove beat Harrison 69-64 on Friday.

Newton better keep an eye on Bryson Jatta. He was instrumental in Hillgrove's win, dropping a double-double with 30 points and 15 rebounds. The dominant performance gave Jatta a new career-high in boards. Another player making a difference was Cowyn Glass, who posted eight points and three steals.

Newton's loss dropped their record down to 17-9. As for Hillgrove, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 20-9 record this season.