A standing-room-only crowd was on hand to watch a matchup of top 10-ranked boys basketball teams between Williston and Newberry on Friday night.

Tempers flared, the rivalry got heated, but the Class 3A No. 6 Panthers prevailed at home, 66-51, to sweep the two-game series.

“It was a game where it kind of got out of control,” said Williston coach Jim Ervin. “I mean, just a physical game, typical rivalry game, it just got out of control.”

Before the drama that unfolded on the court, which included law enforcement, coaches and administrators stepping in after the crowd got out of control, it was a close game in the first half and for half of the third quarter.

Newberry (15-2) scored nine of his first 11 points of the game on 3-pointers by senior Juwan Scippio (9 points), senior Kaleb Woods (3 points), and senior Henry Mathias (game-high 21 points).

The FHSAA Rural No. 3 Red Devils scored three of their first four field goals on 3-pointers by sophomore Jac Edwards (team-high 12 points) and freshman Kyson Chever (7 points), and an and-one by junior Jaden Magee, who fouled out with seven points with 5:55 remaining.

A little over 20 seconds into the second quarter, Williston senior Marcus Appling knocked down a 3-pointer in the left corner to tie the game at 14.

After the two teams traded a pair of free throws, Newberry took the lead for good, 19-16, on a left-wing 3-pointer by Mathias.

The senior finished the night with seven 3s.

“I’ve just got a lot of trust in my work,” he said. “I’m in here in the gym a lot by myself on the shooting machines. All the work that I put in just gives me confidence to shoot on the floor. When I’m hot, I’m hot, and I just let it go.”

His fourth 3-pointer of the half, from the right wing, gave Newberry its first double-digit lead at 30-20 with 2:23 to play in the half.

Williston (14-5) closed the half with a 6-0 run to make it a four-point game, 30-26, at the break.

Mathias quickly set the tone in the third quarter with a deep 3-ball from up top just 25 seconds into the third quarter.

“He’s money in games like this,” said Newberry coach Patrick Green. “I think he has some of his best nights versus Williston, for whatever reason…and I just encouraged the guys when we had those timeouts, like we’ve got to keep feeding him, and so the guys put their pride aside, Juwan Scippio being one in particular who can shoot the ball really well, but he decided to just change his role tonight, and we shared the ball.”

Williston got as close as three in the third quarter at 40-37 on a free throw by sophomore Treston “Woody” Jones (10 points), but Newberry answered and ended a 6-0 run on the first of two dunks by junior Colton Sembower (10 points).

A little over a minute later, chaos ensued as Chever was given a technical with 1:33 remaining in the third quarter, followed by a technical on Ervin.

“It was over a missed call, and obviously I shouldn’t have been upset, but then they teed me up because I was off the bench, which it was during the timeout, so I thought I could be off the bench during the timeout,” Ervin said.

The Red Devils got as close as nine, 56-47, on a bucket by Chever with 5:14 remaining, but Mathias made his seventh 3-pointer of the night just 12 seconds later to seize back the momentum.

“Newberry played a great game,” said Ervin, whose team will travel to Eastside at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. “They’re a great team. I mean, there’s a reason they’re ranked where they’re at, no doubt about it. Coach Green does a great job. It’s a shame the game wasn’t played the way it could have been played. It had been a great high school basketball game, but it wasn’t so. We’ll move on. We’ll get better. Games like this only make us better.”

Senior Kai Washington added 12 points off the bench for Newberry, which will travel to GHS at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

“Just a great rivalry,” Mathias said. “I mean, we knew coming in that it was going to be a tough game. The gym was packed before the JV game, so I think we kind of got our energy from that. I think we stayed composed, which will help us later on in the playoffs, and I think we just really kept our heads about us, and I think that’s what ultimately helped us win the game.”

Williston 81, Newberry 46 (GIRLS) – It was a tale of two halves in the girls game, which was another matchup of top 10 teams.

However, a 13-0 run in the second quarter ended up being the difference as Williston imposed a running clock late in the third quarter and cruised to an 81-46 win on the road.

“First half, we were just lackadaisical, walking the ball up the court, not guarding their best player (Brandy Whitfield),” said Williston coach Willie Powers II. “That girl is the best player in the area, hands down.”

Whitfield scored 17 of her game-high 32 points in the first half, but Williston exploded for 37 points in the third quarter to put the game away.

The FHSAA Rural No. 1 Lady Red Devils (14-2), who swept the two-game series, built an early 14-4 lead as junior Tiona Wilkinson (19 points) made four straight free throws following a layup.

Newberry answered on a bucket by Whitfield and a runner off the glass by senior Jada Brown (8 points) with 24 seconds to play in the opening quarter to make it 16-9.

Following a basket 30 seconds into the second quarter by Williston sophomore Kierce Solomon (10 points) to give Williston an 18-10 lead, the host Panthers (16-2) put the ball in the hands of No. 1.

Whitfield hit a left-wing 3-pointer to make it a 5-point game, followed by a layup to make it 18-15.

The senior added another layup to pull Newberry within two, 19-17, with five minutes left in the half, and then she hit a deep 3-ball from up top to give the Panthers a 20-19 lead with 2:48 remaining in the half.

But it would be their last lead of the game.

“Because we got out and ran and stopped walking the ball up the court, letting them get set in their defense,” Powers said. “The whole thing was to make them go to the bench. We know we can go to the bench, but we’ve got to make sure they can go to the bench, so once we started pushing the tempo, the game changed, where they got really tired.”

In less than two minutes, it went from a one-point Newberry lead to a 12-point advantage, 32-20, for Williston.

Wilkinson had an offensive putback, junior Delecia Dallas (20 points) knocked down a left-corner 3-pointer, and a minute later, sophomore Trinity Solomon, who had all seven of her points in the second quarter, ended the 13-0 run with a 3-pointer in the right corner.

Newberry was held to just one field goal for over half the third quarter.

Dallas outscored Newberry, 15-14, during the period and the Red Devils hit the 35-point mercy-rule on a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Dallas with eight seconds left in the quarter.

Williston, which was playing without leading scorer Ashlyn Young, who has been out three weeks with an ankle injury, had four players in double figures.

Freshman Janiyah Span added 13 points for Williston, which will travel to Bradford (Starke) at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Newberry, which is ranked No. 9 in 3A, is at Buchholz at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to take out that the two teams had to be separated.