UPDATED: Lakers drop Miners in Classic opener

Shakamak's Billy Newton (center) goes high over Linton-Stockton's (from left) Blake Eaton, Austin Karazsia and Chase Rhoten during the opening round of the Wabash Valley Classic on Saturday night at Terre Haute North Vigo High School. The Lakers won the game 68-46. (By Shad Cox/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

TERRE HAUTE -- Senior Billy Newton scored a game-high 34 points and tied a tournament record for field goals with 15 to lead Class A No. 10 Shakamak to a 68-46 win over Linton-Stockton in the opening round of the 2009 Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic at Terre Haute North High School on Saturday night.

Chase Rhoten (18 points) and Caleb Stuppy (13) led the Miners, who fell to 0-6 on the year, in scoring.

The game marked the second meeting between the two teams in eight days -- and featured the same result.

On Dec. 17 the Lakers, who improved to 4-1, had defeated the Miners 69-49 behind 23 points from Newton who tied the mark for most field goals set by Rockville's R.J. Mahurin during the 2007 tournament.

Newton's hot shooting included 15-of-24 attempts from the floor. He also nailed 3-of-6 attempts from 3-point land -- half of the Lakers' 6-of-14 team shooting from the arc.

"Billy had a good game, especially the second half," Shakamak coach Steve Brett said. "He had foul trouble the first half, but came back pretty well."

Brett noted that if Newton hadn't been forced to the bench early in the second quarter with two fouls, he might have also added another record to his resume. He was just six points short of tying Mahurin's single-game scoring record from 2007.

"If he hadn't got into foul trouble he might have got it," Brett said.

But the heroics for Shakamak weren't just limited to Newton's record-tying night. It also got 10 points from Tyler Richardson who hauled in a game-high seven steals to add to Linton-Stockton's ballhandling woes.

"I thought Tyler Richardson did a great job of making some steals, picking up some loose balls and working real hard on defense," Brett said.

The Miners handed the ball back 28 times, almost negating the 24-24 deadlock in rebounding between the two teams.

"It was almost the same score," Linton-Stockton coach Darren Clayton admitted. "The difference tonight was turnovers instead of poor shooting. We turned the ball over way too much."

The similarities between Saturday's contest and the previous one also included the scoring.

On Dec. 17 Brett said he would've been a happy camper except for one quarter when the Miners were able to outscore his squad.

In Saturday's contest the Miners weren't able to duplicate the feat, but they came close.

"I thought they played better," Brett said. "Defensively from beginning to end we played a little better than we probably did the first time."

After trailing 13-9 at the first stop and 25-16 at the half, Linton-Stockton was able to match Shakamak almost basket for basket as the two teams played the third frame to an 18-18 draw.

"Eighteen points in a quarter, that's too many points to give up," Clayton said. "I'm glad we scored them, but that's where you've got to make your run.

"You've got to score the 18 and hold them to eight or 10 and make a run with that 18. We weren't able to do that."

Whatever happened to the Lakers' offensively in the third quarter, they more than made up for it in the fourth outscoring their county and conference rivals 25-12 in the final eight minutes.

"They're getting better," Brett said. "And we're getting better some. I don't think it's anything to write home about yet, but we're getting some better. This is only our fifth game."

After Jordan Langford hit a bucket just 14 seconds into the frame to push the Shakamak lead to 11 at 45-34, a steal by Richardson led to another Langford basket and a 13 point margin.

Things slowly got worse for the Miners who began to sputter after a 3-pointer from Chase Rhoten cut the lead back to 10 points at 47-37.

Newton stepped in front of Linton-Stockton pass and went the distance to push the lead to 49-37 before Rhoten hit another deuce that made the score 49-39.

From there things fell apart as the Miners fell into a three minute-long scoring slump.

During the span they turned the basketball over four times, missed their only shot (a trey attempt from Caleb Stuppy) and were victimized by Newton for two baskets, a trey from Richardson and another Langford bucket.

When the run ended thanks to a trey from Rhoten at the 3:31 mark, Shakamak had built the lead to 58-38 and little left to do but play consistent until the final buzzer.

"I thought for the most part we operated more under control this game than we did the last game (against Linton-Stockton)," Brett said assessing his team. "In the last nine or 10 minutes of the first game it was just harum-scarum. No control, no rhyme or reason to anything we did and this time out we did a better job -- and that's an improvement."

Notes: Newton's 34 point showing tied three players for the fourth-highest individual point total in tournament history ... it was also the most points ever recorded by a player from a Greene County school since the tournament was restarted in 2000.

SHAKAMAK (68) -- Tyler Richardson 4-13 0-0 10, John Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Jarred VanHorn 3-6 1-3 7, Billy Newton 15-24 1-2 34, Jordan Langford 4-8 0-0 8, Brock Dowell 1-2 0-0 3

Brodie Crowe 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Sparks 0-0 0-0 0, Jeb Batchelor 0-2 0-0 0, Justin Crody 2-4 2-3 6. Totals 29-61 4-8 68.

LINTON-STOCKTON (46) -- Caleb Stuppy 4-7 2-2 13, Chase Rhoten 6-8 4-6 18, Austin Karazsia 1-3 0-0 2, Dess Fougerousse 4-8 0-0 9, Blake Eaton 1-3 0-0 2, Gunnar Passen 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Flater 0-0 0-0 0, Stephen Franklin 0-0 0-0 0, Clayton French 1-2 0-0 2, Luke Jerrells 0-1 0-0 0, Tim Scott 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 17-36 6-8 46.

Shakamak 13 12 18 25 -- 68

Linton-Stockton 9 7 18 12 -- 46

3-point shooting -- Shakamak 6-14 (Newton 3-6, Richardson 2-4, Dowell 1-1, Smith 0-2, Batchelor 0-1), Linton-Stockton 6-9 (Stuppy 3-5, Rhoten 2-3, Fougerousse 1-1). Total fouls -- Shakamak 12, Linton-Stockton 8. Fouled out -- none. Rebounds -- Shakamak 24 (Newton 7), Linton-Stockton 24 (Fougerousse 7). Steals -- Shakamak 18 (Richardson 7), Linton-Stockton 3 (Karazsia, Jerrells, Fougerousse). Blocked shots -- Shakamak 1 (Langford), Linton-Stockton 1 (Fougerousse). Turnovers -- Shakamak 13, Linton-Stockton 28.