High School Hoops Recap: Buchholz prevails against Newberry boys basketball
BY CLIFF TUMETEL
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Buchholz Bobcats defended their home court Monday night, beating the Newberry Panthers in a close game with a final score of 55-53.
Calm before the storm
It was a back-and-forth battle between both teams as they went at one another, looking to see what they were up against. Buchholz’s Peyton Warring ended the first quarter with a layup, giving his team a 12-11 lead.
In the second quarter, things started to pick up for both teams as Newberry’s Henry Mathias nailed a three to put the Panthers up 14-12.
The Bobcats managed to retake the lead and made sure to build on that lead, rather than settle on it, as players like Nate Muchnick, Lucas Bhatia, and Palmer Walton extended it.
Newberry managed to close the gap before the second quarter ended but still found themselves down. Heading into the third, the score was 32-27, with Buchholz on top.
Panthers strike back in the third
Newberry’s defense started to pick up and forced Buchholz into a couple of turnovers.
With their defense clicking and drawing fouls, the Panthers slowly clawed their way back into the game. Kaleb Woods started first, driving in and drawing contact.
Newberry was able to tie the game, 32-32, when Logan McCloud drained both of his free throws, and later on the team got the lead courtesy of Juwan Scippio, putting them up 34-32.
It looked like Newberry had the game well under control, but in the final minute of the third, Buchholz finally scored, getting their own steals and easy baskets, ending the third quarter down 40-38.
Buchholz roars back
At the start of the fourth, the Panthers still managed to keep the lead as Scippio and Mathias started the quarter off strong, building the lead up to 47-40.
However, the Bobcats weren’t ready to go down just yet, as Walton scored a three to start a comeback. That seemed to spark not only his team but also himself, as he scored nine points in the fourth.
The two teams battled all the way through the final quarter, and it came down to the wire.
Buchholz came roaring back in the game and retook the lead 53-51, but Newberry responded back as McCloud scored to tie the game.
With a couple of seconds left, Buchholz had an inbound pass that Walton lobbed up to Collin Dunmore, and he delivered, ending the game with a Buchholz win!
Words from Buchholz’s head coach: Elliot Harris
Buchholz’s head coach Elliot Harris said his guys stuck with it all the way through, and that resulted in them getting a hard-fought win.
“To get it in this type of environment, it’s like a playoff game; Newberry’s a great team. So my takeaway is that we don’t quit. We keep fighting back,” said Harris.
Collin Dunmore delivered in the clutch and gave his team the win, and Harris said the play they ran was something they practice every day.
“We typically set a back screen for the guy that catches the ball at halfcourt, but on that one, we want to set a back screen on the post, and we were able to get Collin the ball and he scored right there at the buzzer,” said Harris.
With this win, Buchholz improves to 15-8. 15 wins is something this program has seen in a long time, and for first-season head coach Harris, it’s something he’s proud to be a part of.
“15 wins at Buchholz, something that hasn’t been done in a long time, first winning season in eight seasons,” Harris said. “I’m proud of my guys–we’re finally getting together and we’re hitting our peak where we want to be for district time next week.”
What’s next
Buchholz will look to continue their success as they prepare against Santa Fe High at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
Newberry will be looking to bounce back as they take on Gainesville High at 7:30 p.m. tonight as well.