Focus on the Eagle stars and 'BB' Newson will make you pay

NEW MADRID – You can’t blame the Lafayette County High School boy’s basketball players and coaches if they lose sight of New Madrid County Central senior forward Brayden Newson here and there during Friday’s MSHSAA Class 3 state semifinal. After all, a lot of people tend to do so.

“This is really important for me,” Newson said of competing this weekend on the biggest stage in Missouri, “because I’m getting my chance to show what I can do and bring home a championship.”

The Eagles (22-7) will battle the Huskers (28-2) at 10 a.m. on Friday at the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield. And both teams have experience at this point in the state tournament.

New Madrid finished third in the MSHSAA Class 4 state finals a year ago, while Lafayette County lost to Charleston 58-56 in the MSHSAA Class 3 state championship game in 2022.

Without question, the Husker scouting report will have a heavy focus on Eagle forward Jadis Jones and lightning-quick guard BJ Williamson, as it should. However, just like on that ‘scout,” it is often Newson, who is the beneficiary of an opponent’s lack of attention to EVERY Eagle weapon.

“When (Jadis) is getting doubled,” Newson explained, “I’ll flash to the basket and get an easy lay-up.”

In the Eagles’ recent and dominating quarterfinal win over West County, the 6-foot-4 Newson was able to pick his spots to contribute a lot in the second half. The incredibly lanky athlete finished with 11 points, which is his average for the season, but nine of those came in the second half, as West County continually focused on Jones.

As much as Newson contributes offensively, the New Madrid County Central coaches say his most important contributions come at the defensive end of the court.

“We don’t have anybody else to substitute for him,” legendary Eagle coach Lennis McFerrin said of Newson. “We might have somebody to go in for him, but not play like him.

“He plays a heckuva defensive game for us.”

The journey to Friday has not been an easy one for Newson.

Newson, who averages six rebounds per game, played at the varsity level only sporadically until this year, while he continued to work and patiently awaited his opportunity to shine.

Eagle assistant coach Dontre Jenkins believes Newson is reaching his potential at the right time.

“He has stepped up big for us, of late,” Jenkins said. “But all season long, honestly. Coming into this season, we knew we had BJ, and we knew we had Jadis, but we were looking for that third and fourth person, and ‘BB,’ which is what everyone calls Brayden in the Eagle locker room, has definitely stepped up.

“He answered that challenge for us.”

That ability to do so runs in the family.

Brayden’s older brother, Asten Newson, was an All-SEMO Conference player for the Eagles on their way to a third-place finish in the MSHSAA Class 3 state finals.

Asten’s advice to his younger brother for his final games as an Eagle was pretty succinct.

“He said to go out and play hard every game,” Brayden said of the advice. “Leave it all on the floor.”