High School Hoops Recap: Eastside takes down Newberry in boys basketball
BY CLIFF TUMETEL
NEWBERRY, Fla. – The Eastside Rams boys basketball team defeated Newberry, 56-46, on the road in the Panthers Den on Tuesday. The Rams pulled through at the night’s end, securing their first win of the season.
Rams charging, Panthers clawing
In the first half, both teams were feeling each other out, resulting in a grind-it-out battle as both the Rams and Panthers traded buckets; however, the Rams were able to knock down their threes, with Kelvin Baker hitting two and Amari Ray making one, giving them a one-point lead at the end of the first.
Eastside was able to extend the lead in the second, but Newberry fought their way back to cut the lead by one again, with players like Henry Matthias knocking down a triple and Logan McCloud scoring four points in the second.
At the end of the half, Rams were up 23-22.
Eastside Finishes Strong
At the start of the second half, the Rams played tough defense and controlled the board in the third. They were up 29-24 at the three-minute mark, but again, Newberry fought their way back and cut the lead to one. Once again Eastside responded when their sharpshooter Kelvin Baker knocked down a three to spark a small run for his team.
The end of the third quarter brought the Rams ahead, 35-28.
Eastside’s offense was catching fire–at point one they were up 40-28. Newberry tried for one last run in the fourth, with Logan McCloud scoring nine points, but Eastside was able to get the win.
Words from Eastside’s head coach: Herman “Pop” Williams
Eastside’s effort on controlling the glass was something Head Coach Herman “Pop” Williams wanted to see out of his team, and last night, he was happy with what he saw.
“We’ve been practicing that for the last couple of days. Telling them that we really need to get on the board and eliminate the shots,” Williams said. “We’ve been giving people more than one shot and so we really worked on, for the last couple of days, rebounding.”
Another factor for the win was how the Rams responded whenever the Panthers went on a run, and for Coach Williams, limiting his team’s turnovers was the key to that.
“We’ve been having games where we turn the ball over at the end, and I think tonight we handled that. We turned it over a little, but not much,” Williams said.
He says his kids played hard and smart, and he was very pleased to get a win against a very good team in Newberry.
What’s Next?
Eastside will look to add another win as they face off against Buchholz at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Newberry looks to bounce back against Chiefland at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.