submitted by Grant Mollett, M.ED and Senior Bryan Lupianez, East Ridge High School
Prior to winter break, East Ridge High School split a win and a loss in its two contests during the last week of school. The Knights played host to St. Cloud on Monday, December 17, and won convincingly 75 – 61. The Knights traveled to West Port High School on Tuesday, December 18, and lost a close and contentious game, 79 – 67. The loss against West Port dropped East Ridge’s district record to 0 – 3. Unfortunately, the Knights continued to struggle with district competition in the new year with a loss to East River. Fortunately, East Ridge was able to secure two wins at the close of last week to bring their record to 5 – 5.
January 10, 2019 – Orlando, Florida
Records: East Ridge Knights (3-5); East River Falcons (5-7)
The Lead: Senior Kendrick Brown lead the Knights with 18 points but wasn’t enough as the Falcons pulled away late in the 4th quarter.
The Knights traveled to East River High School to face off against the East River Falcons looking to win their first district game of the season. As the first quarter came to a close, the Knights led 14-12, as Senior Guard Kendrick Brown made a last-second layup to push the Knights up by 2. During the second quarter, senior guard Bryan Lupianez went on a tear to score 10 out of the Knights 15 points. At the half, both teams were tied at 29.
In the 3rd quarter, both teams seemed to trade buckets with each other, and nobody seemed to pull away. The 4th quarter was crucial, as the Knights seemed to pull away and go up by 6 points with 2 minutes left in the contest. The Falcons quickly scores 8 straight points after some bad decision making by the Knights, which made it a 2 point game, 60-58, with 45 seconds left to go in the game. The Knights couldn’t execute and had to keep on fouling down the stretch, hoping for some missed free throws by the Falcons. Unfortunately for East Ridge, the Falcons made all of their free throws, sealing the game 64-58.
Top Performers:
Kendrick Brown (Senior) – 18 points
Bryan Lupianez (Senior) – 17 points
Malcolm Reed (Senior) – 7 points
Game recap written by senior Bryan Lupianez
January 11, 2019 – Clermont, Florida
Records: East Ridge Knights (4-5); South Lake Eagles (4-6)
The Lead: East Ridge displayed a total team effort during Friday night’s game against South Lake High School with three players scoring double figures, including senior guard Malcolm Reed leading all scorers with 18 points.
The Knights hosted cross-town rival South Lake Eagles in a packed gym with the team looking to get its first win of the New Year. The 1st quarter gave hope to the Eagles as the score was only 12-8 in favor of East Ridge High School. Senior Guard Carter Holt had one of his best games yet in his first start of the season, giving the Knights a huge momentum boost to start the run with back to back layups, finishing the half with the Knights leading 24-14.
The Knights kept their foot on the gas in the 3rd quarter, with senior guard Malcolm Reed contributing to 10 of the Knights 17 points, giving East Ridge High a big lead going into the final quarter of play. The secondary unit picked up where the starters left off and kept scoring to secure the win over the Eagles 59-40.
Top Performers:
Malcolm Reed (Senior) – 18 points
Bryan Lupianez (Senior) – 13 points
Carter Holt (Senior) – 10 points
Austin Grant (Junior) – 6 points
Game recap written by senior Bryan Lupianez
January 12, 2019 – Winter Garden
Records: East Ridge Knights (5-5); Foundation Academy Lions (2-12)
The Lead: East Ridge defeated Foundation in a rough win, as East Ridge seemed to be the better team, but had their struggles throughout the game. Luckily, Senior guards Malcolm Reed and Jose Morales stepped up and led in scoring with 18, and 16 points, with some help by junior Forward Treasure Bennett grabbing 9 rebounds and senior guard Bryan Lupianez dishing out a season-high 7 assists.
The Knights traveled to Winter Garden on Saturday to face off the Lions of Foundation Academy in what is to be the Knights 3rd straight game. The Knights went up ahead early in the 1st quarter with senior guard Jose Morales hitting two 3 point field goals, a nice pull-up jumper, and a trio of free throws. However, the Lions did not put their head down once during this game. They played hard and kept fighting in hopes to win their third game of the season. The Knights had a comfortable double-digit lead the whole way until the Lions went on a run late in the 4th quarter, bringing the game back to a 9 point difference with 3 minutes left. The Knights then started stalling by holding the ball and forcing the Lions to foul, giving the Knights 10 free throw attempts and securing 7 of them and running away with a 57-43 win.
This game was originally scheduled to be played on Thursday, December 20. However, that evening all Lake County after-school activities were canceled due to inclement weather and threats of tornadoes.
Top Performers:
Malcolm Reed (Senior) – 18 Points
Jose Morales (Senior) – 16 Points
Treasure Bennett (Junior) – 9 Rebounds
Bryan Lupianez (Senior) – 7 Assists
Game recap written by senior Bryan Lupianez
The Knights have a busy schedule ahead, with games in the next seven days.
- This week the Knights will host Umatilla High School on Monday, January 14th for a 7 tip-off.
- On Tuesday afternoon, January 15th, the Knights will host Mount Dora High School in an in-school contest. Earlier this season, the Knights won an in-school game against Mount Dora.
- On Thursday, January 17, East Ridge will travel to take on district rival Ocoee High School.
- Over the following holiday weekend, the Knights will travel to Apopka High School to play in the Metro Challenge against Evans High School on Saturday, January 19.
- Additionally, the Knights will travel to Ocala to play in the Martin Luther King Jr. Classic at Forest High School against Dunnellon High School on Monday, January 21.
