On Dec. 2, the Newberry boys basketball team defeated Buchholz, 70-52, to open the season.
That night, the Panthers were the aggressors.
But on Tuesday night at Bud Seymour Gymnasium, the host Bobcats got some payback with a 59-51 win to even the series.
“I thought we played great,” said junior Jacob Bromirski, who scored a game-high 17 points. “We played with the extra chip on our shoulder. We went down 18 points earlier in the season to them, so it was a really big comeback game for us. I think we just played with heart today.”
The game was back-and-forth in the first quarter with seven lead changes.
Buchholz senior Lucas Bhatia nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 15-13 lead with 1:31 remaining in the opening period, but Newberry answered.
Senior Quantez Robinson (6 points) hit a left corner 3-pointer to give the Panthers (14-2) the lead again, 16-15, and senior Kaleb Woods added a 3-ball from the top of the key for a 19-15 advantage at the end of the quarter.
However, Buchholz (14-5) held Newberry to just two field goals in the second quarter and used a 17-2 run to take a double-digit lead.
Newberry didn’t score its first field goal until the 4:50 mark of the second quarter when senior Juwan Scippio (11 points) gave the Panthers a 21-20 lead.
From there, Buchholz went on a 10-0 run and took a 30-21 lead on a left-wing 3-pointer by senior Lucas Bhatia, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half.
Newberry called a timeout, but Buchholz added another score on a layup by junior Gabe Williams to give the ‘Cats their largest lead, 32-21, with 31 seconds left in the half.
Then, the Panthers answered with a run of their own.
An 11-0 run that spanned the last 12 seconds of the first half and the first two minutes of the second half got them back in the game.
“I told them (at the half) we were basically getting outplayed,” said Newberry coach Patrick Green. “We’ve got to figure this thing out…just kind of reminding them who we are and that we’ve got to get out there and play our brand of basketball.”
Junior Colton Sembower (12 points) started an 8-0 run in the third quarter with an offensive putback, followed by buckets by Henry Mathias (12 points), Scippio, and a layup by junior Darius DeBose (5 points) to tie the game at 32-all with 5:57 left in the third quarter.
The lead was short-lived as Buchholz answered with a 6-0 run for a 38-32 lead with 4:20 to play in the third quarter.
“We knew that they were going to make their runs and they were going to be physical and overplay and kudos to them for trying to make some adjustments,” Harris said. “But our guys didn’t wither. We extended it back to six after they made their run and we were able to make some big plays down the stretch to extend our lead.”
After a top-of-the-key 3-pointer by junior Daniel Muchnick, and a pair of free throws by junior Tayshawn Jordan to extend it to 43-36, the Bobcats displayed their toughness when Bromirski ripped the ball away from a defender and scored inside for a 45-36 lead with 38 seconds remaining in the quarter.
“I thought we outtoughed them this game,” Harris said. “The first outing, they outtoughed us. They beat us. They got more rebounds. They pushed us under the basket and we cried and we complained to the referee about beating us up, but I thought we outtoughed them this game, and we were able to make those plays to rip the ball out and rip it away and then get some easy scores.”
Newberry got as close as four, 47-43, on a long 3-pointer from the top of the key by Scippio, but Buchholz senior Jamison McTureous scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter to help secure the win.
“I thought that we had better legs, and part of the game plan was to push the ball and get in the open floor, and I thought we did that,” Harris said. “It looked like they got tired a little bit at the end of the first half. That’s where we were able to extend. And we made them get out of their comfort zone. They play that 3-2 zone, and they got out of it and they played man to man for the rest of the game.”
Newberry will travel to Bradford (Starke) (14-2) on Thursday, followed by a home game against Williston (14-4) on Friday.
“I think this is one that we probably needed,” Green said. “We were kind of hitting cruise control mode, and so sometimes you’ve got to hit that reset button. Hopefully, this turns out to be that reset button for us, and we get back on track.”
Buchholz, which hosts city rival GHS on Friday, is back in action at home on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Saint Francis Catholic Academy (11-5).
“Saint Francis is a really good basketball team,” Harris said. “They’re coached really well. Coach Walker does a really good job. It’s going to be a battle. We don’t look past anybody. When you do that, that’s when you trip up, so St. Francis is on our radar next. We can’t look past that.”
