5 Takeaways: Eastside Rams v. St. Francis Wolves
Gainesville-Eastside is undefeated to start the year at 3-0, with their narrowest win coming by 19 points vs. Buchholz High. The Rams held the St. Francis Wolves to just TWO points in all of the first quarter, and finished with a 69-43 win on Tuesday night. Here are five takeaways from the game.
1. Anthony Richardson Is A Legit Offensive Threat
Last season, the Eastside 2020 F made most of his buckets around the rim, in the painted area. But in THIS particular game, you saw the Florida football commit get out on the perimeter, and hit the trey from the top of the key and the corner. Richardson gave the crowd a few alley-oops, and a posterizing slam coming from along the baseline. But if he can continue to improve upon this new outside shot, he’s going to be one of the toughest covers in the city. He finished with 24 points.
2. St. Francis Lacks A Threatening Post Presence
The Wolves have a few guards who can really get it to the rim & create plays for themselves, but the one or two players they put in the post struggled to finish around the rim. Easily, St. Francis left 10-12 points off the board just by failing to hit the short five-footers and layups. It’s still early, but for St. Francis to compete in that area, this has to be corrected. Coach Isaac Selva is solid as a teacher, I’m sure he’ll get them right, over time.
3. Anthony Wright Can Still Contribute Despite The Knee Woes
During the 17-18 season, 2019 G/F Anthony Wright was one of Eastside’s top four scorers on the squad. Then a grave knee injury kept him from competing the rest of the season. He had surgery on February 8th of this year. Fast-forward to present day, Wright was out on the floor with the “DonJoy Titanium” knee brace (as used by UF quarterback Feleipe Franks) giving it all he had. While he moved a step slower than last season, he defended well, hit a couple buckets, and wasn’t a liability. His play will get better with rest, time, and trust from his team.
4. St. Francis Should Play Aidan Newman, More
This young man came off the bench, COLD. Towards the end of the second quarter, he rattled off three trey-balls to cut the Eastside lead to 20, instead of the 29-30+ the Rams were on track for. This includes a three right as the half ended and the buzzer sounded. If you give him space, he will splash it down. If Newman proves he can shoot like this consistently, PLAY HIM MORE.
5. Korin Bradley Could Be The Season’s Leading Scorer For Eastside
I’ve literally watched him play since the eighth grade, and cannot remember a time where I said “he had a bad game”. The boy can ball. He’s tenacious, he’s humble, and he doesn’t like to lose. The 2020 G finished with 20 points of his own, scoring in a bevy of ways. With Richardson’s three-point-shooting yet to be proven true, don’t be surprised if Bradley emerges as a main scoring option.
If you have high school basketball news, you can reach Jerome Reed via text at 352-406-1965.