Staff photo / Brian Yauger. Jackson-Milton junior Hannah Huzyak looks for a path to the basket while being defended by Tigers senior Madison Davis on Wednesday night.

NEWTON FALLS — It’s a new era for Jackson-Milton girls basketball.

Off to a 4-2 start after Wednesday’s 44-27 victory over Newton Falls, the Blue Jays are eager to prove themselves.

“It’s been exciting,” first-year coach Dan Turner said. “We’ve got a great group of girls, about 10 girls this year. A couple juniors, one senior, but the bond and the chemistry has been very, very good this year so far.

“The girls have been excited from day one when I got the job. They’re excited for change. I told them we’re going to rely on hard work and defense. They’ve been buying into it, and it’s been very good so far.”

Jackson-Milton set the tone early, limiting the Tigers to just three points in the first quarter and seven in the second.

Newton Falls senior Madison Davis scored all but two first half points for the Tigers. She finished with a team-high 13.

While the Tigers (1-4) were nipping at their heels throughout the third quarter, Jackson-Milton was able to keep the ship steady and close out the game on top.

“Any time you can deal with adversity and find some ways to work through it. It’s good for your experience,” Turner said. “We don’t want to make a habit out of that, because (you can run into a really good team). You could fall down and they’d keep you down, so I preached that to the girls right after the third quarter. We gave it away, but we got back on, and I think the girls got the message.”

Amani Yasin led Jackson-Milton with 17 points. Prentiss Fishtorn tacked on 12.

The Blue Jays have already gone up against one of the toughest opponents on their schedule, hosting rival Western Reserve.

Turner views the 67-47 loss as a measuring stick game and something to build off of before they meet again in January.

I won’t have it any other way,” Turner said. “Sometimes it’s good to start off with one of your good, hard opponents. Then, later on in the year, we see where we’re at, and see what we learned from that game and the rest of the games we’ve played. We’re hoping that it’ll be a better game when we play Western Reserve at their place.”

Plus those tough games get the team prepared for their goal this season, winning a district title.

“My goal is to try and be 1-0 every game,” Turner said. “If that doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen, but there’s lessons in (losses). At the end of the year, we’ll see where we’re at, but I do expect us to try to make a run at districts. That’s our team goal. We want a district title. I know it’s gonna be tough, that’s everyone’s team goal, but we’d like to set our standards high.”

On Friday, the Blue Jays play host to Campbell.

Newton Falls coach Mark Baker could not be reached for comment. The Tigers look to get back into the win column on Friday in a road game against Liberty.