NEWTON FALLS — Experience counts.

The five senior starters on Newton Falls girls basketball roster have been playing basketball together since they were kids. On Wednesday, They began one last tournament run with a 65-29 victory over Sebring in a Division IV sectional first-round game.

“It’s one game at a time,” Newton Falls coach Mark Baker said. “You have to show up mentally and be ready physically, every time. From now on, you have to win. It’s your last time stepping on the floor every single night.”

That was evident in the second quarter when Newton Falls began to pull away, despite Emma Whaley scoring 20 of her team’s 29 points.

After a slow start, the third-seeded Tigers certainly played with urgency. The score was tied at 6 midway through the first quarter before Newton Falls got it going. Madison Haidet, who scored a game-high 28 points, drilled a pair of 3-pointers. Bree Hutson had a steal, and a lefty hook-shot, as the Tigers led 15-7 going into the second quarter.

However, the Trojans scored the first six points of the second period as Whaley was a one-girl wrecking crew for Sebring.

But Newton Falls went on a 24-2 run to close the quarter. Shelby Fowler caught a loose ball, and put it in the basket just before the buzzer as the Tigers built a 39-15 halftime lead.

A running-clock rule came into play in the second half. The Tigers’ junior varsity players got into the action. Lily Derry hustled, and Aubrey Cadle connected on a runner in the lane, as Newton Falls moved on.

“If it’s more than 30 points, in the second half, then it’s a running-clock,” Baker said. “I’m not a big fan of it. I think it hurts other kids. If you do have a lopsided score, it gives me the opportunity to play some other kids. It also gives the team that is down a chance to play some other kids.”

Newton Falls will host Lowellville on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the next round of the tournament.

“As crazy as this year has been,” Baker said. “We played our first game on Jan. 9 with absolutely no practice whatsoever. We had a stretch where we played 10 games, and maybe practiced 3 or 4 times. If we didn’t have the experience, and the chemistry that we have on this roster, I don’t think we’d do as well as we have.”