Even though the Jefferson Dragons scored an imposing 63 points on Thursday, the Umatilla Bulldogs still came out on top. Umatilla took their   match against Jefferson   70-63. Given Umatilla's advantage  in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings  (they are ranked 219th, while Jefferson is ranked 486th), the result  wasn't entirely unexpected.
 Umatilla found their leader in underclassman  Herly Brutus, who  dropped  a double-double on 26 points and ten  rebounds. The  match was  Brutus' eighth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was  Henry Clendinen, who  scored 12 points.
 When it comes to explaining why Jefferson lost, one person who can't be blamed is  Lazzaro Ford. Despite the final result, he  scored 34 points along with seven  rebounds and six  assists. The team also got some help courtesy of  Kavanagh Cooper, who  scored nine points along with six  rebounds.
 Umatilla is  on a roll lately: they've  won six of their last seven matchups,  which provided a nice bump to their 8-2 record this season. As for Jefferson, they are  on a three-game losing streak  that has dropped them down to 3-8.
 Umatilla won't have much time to rest: their next  contest is against Greater Atlanta Christian at 8:30  p.m.  on December 29th. Greater Atlanta Christian knows how to get  points on the board -- the  squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past ten games -- so hopefully Umatilla likes a good challenge. Jefferson won't have much time to rest: their next  contest is against Keswick Christian at 2:30  p.m.  on December 29th. That game will pit two of the most dominant  players against one another:  Isaiah Batey and  Ford.