Staff photo/ Brian Yauger Newton Falls junior Phil Davis (1) goes up for a layup while being defended by Garfield’s Brandyn Bogucki (2)and Nate Gradowski.

NEWTON FALLS — Early in the season, both Newton Falls and Garfield are teams trying to find their footing. Both are lacking in varsity experience, and are searching for some quality wins to gain some momentum and confidence.

Friday, the Tigers got that win, taking down the G-Men, 75-63.

“The kids play hard,” Newton Falls coach Roy Sembach said. “We lost a ton from last year and we don’t have much size, but we’ve got some good skill. We’ve got ball handling and shooting, so we thought our best option is to play it all over the floor and get after it. We’re playing really hard, which is really important as the season goes because we’re so young. I think we’ll get better and better at the fundamentals and the things that need to be done to play the game.

“Our effort, I am very, very proud of how hard we played. We’ve got to be fun to watch, I would think.”

An oppressive defense and high-flying offense make for a deadly combination, and the Tigers showcased both on Friday, especially in the opening quarter.

During the first eight minutes of the contest, Newton Falls limited its opposition to just five points, all of which came from the free-throw line. On the other end of the court, the Tigers tallied 22 points.

While the G-Men recovered following the first quarter, it just proved to be too deep a hole.

“I thought tonight that we kind of got punched in the mouth there in the first quarter,” Garfield coach Matt Hill said. “Once we settled in and just played, we did some good things, but you can’t do that against a good team.

“In our home opener, we lost a big one against Rootstown, and it kind of felt that way tonight in the first quarter, where we just weren’t really ready to go. We were kind of nervous, almost shell-shocked. They kind of threw that first punch and we called timeout, and you could just see the looks in their eyes, we just weren’t ready to go. We settled in, we played better, but against a good Newton Falls team on the road, you can’t do that, but it’s good experience for our kids.”

Brandyn Bogucki, the one starter returning from last season, led Garfield with 17 points. Oliver Walker and Devin Bates both added 13.

Newton Falls was led by Phil Davis, who scored 20 points. Drayson Moore finished with 18 and Dallas Dunlap tacked on 17.

While skilled, the Tigers showcased their youth, often resulting in trips to the foul line for Garfield. The G-Men (2-2, 1-1) shot 24 free throws during Friday’s game.

Sembach is confident, though, that things like that will clean up with more experience. Footwork is the key.

“Basketball’s a foot game,” Sembach said. “If you move your feet more than your opponent moves his feet, you’re going to be in position, and the guy who is in position is the guy that’s not going to foul. The guy is just a little bit out of position, that’s the guy who’s going to foul. I think there’s a lot of times we were just a step or so out of position tonight, where we were fouling, and hopefully we can work on getting where we need to be.”

Newton Falls (3-3, 2-0) travels to the eastern end of Trumbull County on Tuesday to take on Brookfield. Garfield plays host to Crestview.