Eastside Falls to P.K. Yonge in Close Game

The Eastside High boys basketball team nearly left P.K. Yonge with a win Tuesday night, but couldn’t get past the Blue Wave in the 50-44 loss.

Offensive Leaders

Kelvin Baker led Eastside (0-2) with 24 points and a 75% free-throw percentage. The Rams struggled behind the arc with a 15% 3-point field goal percentage.

Junior point guard Jantzen Griffin led the Blue Wave (4-1) with 16 points.

A Different Game

At the half, Eastside was leading the Blue Wave 26-18 and held its lead through the third quarter.

P.K. Yonge became a new team in the fourth quarter. The Rams were forced to take a timeout when junior Lee Strong hit a 3-pointer at the beginning of the period.

The Blue Wave scored 22 points in the period alone. The Rams were left behind when they could only answer with a total of seven points in the final quarter.

Missed Opportunities

The Rams were given numerous free passes by P.K. Yonge that they did not take advantage of. Eastside went 57% from the line and missed a few fast-break layups toward the end of the game.

“That’s a lot of concentration,” Rams’ coach Herman Williams said. “It’s nothing that I can teach. They’ve just got to have more focus on them.”

A technical foul by Eastside clinched the game for the Blue Wave with 31 seconds to go. Griffin  made the two free throws for P.K. Yonge for a 48-42 lead.

The Rams’ defense allowed Griffin back to the line where he would extend the lead to eight. Quashaun Brittingham closed out the game, bringing the Rams back up another two points.

Up Next

The Rams look for their first win of the season at home against the Ocala Forest Wildcats at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Blue Wave travel to Santa Fe for a 7:30 p.m. game Friday.

“We’ve got to get better off our mistakes,” Williams said. “Hopefully we can build on this.”