SPARTANBURG — The Newberry High boys basketball team participated in the fifth annual Upward Classic last week at Dorman High School in Spartanburg County.

The Bulldogs were one of eight teams participating in their bracket with three schools from Georgia, one from North Carolina as well as Gaffney, Hillcrest and Eastside from the Palmetto State.

The Bulldogs battled for third place honors Saturday afternoon and results will be played out in the next edition of The Newberry Observer.

Newberry 84, Alpharetta, Ga. 56

As the old saying goes, there is a first time for everything as Newberry High, a high school of a little over 700 students, never trailed in their 28 point victory over the Alpharetta Raiders, a school with over 2,000 students from Atlanta, Ga. on Thursday.

The Raiders found themselves trailing after five minutes of play, 14-8, as this six point lead would increase to eight points at the end of the quarter, 21-13.

If the Newberry fans in attendance weren’t comfortable with their 40-23 lead at the break, they all but could taste victory when the Bulldogs led 66-40 heading into the final eight minutes of play.

Jalin Alexander had a game-high 18 points to lead Newberry’s scoring.

Like Alexander, Trey Miller and Kaheem Praylow also scored in each of the four quarters as they finished with 16 and 10 points respectively.

Jeremy Summers and Notorious Booker scored nine points apiece for Newberry while Jaylen Lindsay scored eight.

Jimmy Willingham and Trey Gary each scored three points in the fourth quarter while the Newberry scoring ended with the two points apiece of Bennett Wilson, Tyon Williams, Dominic Gillmore and Greely Saddler.

Gaffney 94, Newberry 69

It’s been said that all good things must come to an end as the Bulldogs lost its first game of the season after 12 games to the hands of the Indians Friday evening.

Newberry scored the first four points of the ballgame but with the lack of ability to get any kind of good flow going, players battling sickness and Gaffney having a 11-6 advantage in first quarter field shot baskets, the Indians had a 23-18 lead after the opening quarter.

The Indians had built up a 53-40 advantage at the break.

Newberry made only four field shots in the third stanza while Gaffney’s nine from the same real estate area, started giving their fans plenty of reason to believe they would advance to the championship round as they had a 78-51 lead after three quarters of play.

Gaffney made 38 field shots on the night, including four from inside the three-point arc.

Newberry made 23 field shots with one of them being a three-pointer.

Praylow was the only Bulldog to score in each of the four quarters as he finished with 17 points.

Gaffney had three Indians to score in each quarter as they combined to score 59 points.

Summers scored 13 points, which all came in the first half.

Alexander finished with nine points while Lindsay scored six.

Miller and Tovaris Cureton scored five points apiece for Newberry.

Booker finished the evening with four points while four Bulldogs scored two points apiece including Saddler, Gary, Jaylen Reeder and Devin Harmon.

The Newberry scoring ended with a lone free throw each from Wilson and Raquon Davenport.