Eastside lost against Santa Fe back in December of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. The Eastside Rams took a 43-36 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Santa Fe Raiders. While losing is never fun, the Rams can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 437th, while the Raiders are ranked 196th).
Despite the loss, Eastside saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Jai'Vion Williams posted seven points. Another player making a difference was Gage Webber, who put up three steals.
Even though they lost, Eastside smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Santa Fe only pulled down four offensive rebounds.
Leading Santa Fe to victory were Mikijah King and Antonio Hall. King went 6 of 9 en route to 14 points, while Hall dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds. Those 14 points gave King a new career-high.
Eastside has been struggling recently as they've lost 12 of their last 14 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-16 record this season. As for Santa Fe, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-9.
Eastside will face off against Gainesville at 7:30 p.m. on January 31st. Gainesville will roll in looking for their sixth straight victory, something Eastside surely won't give up without a fight. As for Santa Fe, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 64-57 defeat against Columbia on the 24th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
