By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

NEWNAN – Jarrious Jefferson exploded for 37 points to lead the Troup Tigers to a 71-65 road win over the Newnan Cougars on Tuesday.

The Tigers secured a break-through win after opening with two losses, and Blake Craft earned his first-ever victory as a head coach.

Jefferson, Troup’s senior guard, had an outstanding night, and Craft said he had an efficient offensive night.

“He probably took three bad shots,” Craft said. “The majority of them were shots we want him to take.”

Troup maintained the lead for most of the game, but Newnan hung tough.

“We’d get up by 10 or 12, and we couldn’t get it over the edge,” Craft said.

While pleased with the offensive performance, Craft said the defensive effort needs to be better.

“We didn’t play very well defensively,” Craft said. “We got where we wanted to offensively. We want to average in the 65 to 70-point range. But we’re trying to average 50 points defensively, and we did not rotate very well defensively, and that’s on the coaching staff. We need to make sure to get them in better position.”

It was Troup’s first game as a full team.

The Tigers played their first two games without some key team members who were still playing football.

One of those football players, Kobe Hudson, scored 13 points.

“For the first game with the football guys coming back, I thought they gave some great effort,” Craft said. “They definitely make a huge difference.”

In Tuesday’s girls’ game, Newnan prevailed 56-50.

Troup led 15-14 after the first quarter, but it was limited to six points in the second quarter as Newnan took a 28-21 lead.

Newnan was ahead 40-34 after three periods, and it ended up winning by six.

Jada Green paced Troup with 13 points, Jedda Madden added nine points, and Kiya Fulton scored eight points.

Valerie Smith and Disney Brooks each scored six points.