Staff photo / Dan Hiner Newton Falls’ Phil Davis, center, pulls up for a jumper while being defended by LaBrae’s Lucas Glaser during the first quarter of a game on Thursday at LaBrae High School.

LEAVITTSBURG — Things couldn’t have gone much better for the Newton Falls boys basketball team on Thursday.

The Tigers mixed a pressure defense with solid shooting from the opening jump, taking down rival LaBrae 61-46 at LaBrae High School.

The shots were falling early. The teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the first, and with each basket, cheers alternated between the LaBrae and Newton Falls hopefuls in a packed gym. But a few Viking turnovers allowed the Tigers to take an 18-11 lead at the end of the frame.

Phil Davis was the driving force behind the Tigers’ start. He accounted for 13 points in the first, including three 3-pointers.

“Phil’s one of the best players in the area,” Newton Falls head coach Roy Sembach said. “He had not been shooting the ball real well last game. Now his shot’s better. We depend on him for a lot – ballhandling, shooting, driving, a little bit of everything. He’s a really good player.”

Newton Falls (7-4, 5-1 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier) continued to control the tempo in the second half. Its press defense forced the Vikings to fight their way up the court, and occasionally, they got a turnover.

That combination of defense and shooting led to a 31-17 advantage for the Tigers at halftime.

LaBrae (7-3, 4-2 MVAC Grey) started gaining some momentum in the first four minutes of the third quarter. However, the Tigers sank three straight 3-pointers to extend their lead to 44-25 with 2:51 left in the period, forcing a timeout by the Vikings.

“We talk about playing 84 feet for 32 minutes – here, it’s 90 feet for 32 minutes,” Sembach said. “We feel that if we keep the pressure on all the time, we’re gonna have some bad moments, but we’re gonna have runs that hopefully take a smaller lead into a larger lead and hopefully tires the other team out too.”

The Tigers were in control and took a 50-30 lead into the fourth.

With Newton Falls trying to work the clock, the Vikings made a desperate push. They converted turnovers into points in the closing minutes and trimmed the lead to 61-46 with just over a minute to play. But it was too late to really threaten the Tigers.

“We gotta improve our effort,” LaBrae head coach Chad Kiser said. “We just got outworked. They wanted it a lot more than we wanted it. Didn’t defend well, didn’t cover out threes in the zone, we didn’t handle the pressure well – we got it over, but we never got in our offense.”

LaBrae’s Austin Rowe led all scorers with 20 points. The Vikings’ next leading scorer was Carter Box with six points.

Davis finished with 16 points to lead the Tigers. Leland Vargo was right behind with 15 points, and Dallas Dillon and Drayson Moore each had seven.

The Tigers are getting on a little roll. After a 55-39 loss to Brookfield, they have won four straight, with wins coming over Lakeview, Champion, Southeast and now LaBrae.

“We’ve reevaluated how we were playing, and the kids really bought in the last few weeks. And the last four games, we’re playing with the effort that’s needed, with the defensive intensity that’s needed and it also helps that we’re shooting the ball really well too,” Sembach said. “It’s been a nice four-game stretch for us right now.”