High school basketball: Eustis upsets Umatilla in boys basketball 'instant classic'
UMATILLA – It was an instant classic.
A packed gym — standing room only, in fact — filled with enough energy to light up an entire city.
Two teams, separated by about eight miles, both looking to claim bragging rights for the next year as the regular season winds down.
And, without a doubt, it lived up to the billing.
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Naysean Rhome scored 22 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, and Eustis’ young upstarts overcame an early deficit to pick up a 53-48 road win Thursday night against rival Eustis. With the win, Eustis improved to 6-11 overall, while Umatilla dropped to 10-8.
“Our kids have working hard all season to get better,” said Eustis coach Wesley Green, between pauses to accept the congratulations of a happy Panther Nation. “They’ve never playing hard and they’ve been so receptive to coaching. They’ve had to learn a lot by playing a tough schedule and I think this game shows just how much they’ve learned.
“I’m so proud of this team.”
Trailing 36-35 heading into the fourth quarter, the Panthers found their rhythm over the final eight minutes. Eustis crashed the boards — defensive and offensive — en masse and pressure the ball from baseline to baseline, never giving the Bulldogs’ ballhandlers an opportunity to catch their breath.
Eustis took its final lead with about three minutes to play and sealed the victory with just over two minutes left. Rhome, who scored from all areas of the floor — free throw line, putbacks, and jumpers from inside and outside the three-point arc — drained a jumper for a 48-44 lead and on the ensuing inbounds pass, the Panthers forced a turnover and Damarian Harris converted into what proved to be the game-winning points.
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The Panthers outscored Umatilla 33-21 in the second half, overcoming a 27-20 halftime deficit. Umatilla hit on just three field goals in the fourth quarter — 3-pointers by Kobe Diggs, Amarian Preston and Jamar Chambliss.
The Bulldogs managed only six field goals in the second half, five of which were from distance.
The Umatilla gym was packed prior to tipoff and filled in even more in the early minutes of the game. Some fans, including former Umatilla multi-sport standout Eric Samuels, noted the game generated more excited within the community than any other game in nearly 20 years.
Fan bases for both teams did their part, with half the building pouring out support for every Eustis basket and the other half showing their allegiance when Umatilla scored.
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Despite the raucous crowd, Eustis’ young players never blinked. Or seemed intimidated.
“Our guys are battle-tested,” said Green. “We’ve played in a lot of places with big, loud crowds, so these kids know how to handle that. This is was a great high school atmosphere and we were very comfortable with it.”
Neither team led by more than nine points and there were seven ties along with 16 lead changes.
Besides Rhome, Corelius Hines scored 10 points for Eustis, followed by Lomar Sparrow and Elijah Silver with six points apiece. Hagins added five.
For Umatilla, Diggs led the way with 12 points. Jeric Hutto scored eight, Preston, Chambliss and Tyler Hutto added seven points apiece.
Umatilla was to host Ocala Redeemer Christian Friday night and will welcome East Ridge into the Dog Pound at 7 p.m. Monday.
Eustis was set to host longtime rival Leesburg Friday night and will play Tavares at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Panther Den.
Prior to the boys varsity games, the Panthers and Bulldogs girls varsity teams squared off. In that game Tanaujean Brown and Alana Seward scored 12 points apiece and Eustis forced 10 turnovers on Umatilla's first 12 possessions in a 48-17 win.
The Panthers improved to 10-9 with the win, while Umatilla fell to 6-8.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: High school basketball: Eustis upsets Umatilla in 'instant classic'
