The Newberry Panthers had circled Friday night’s meeting with two-time defending state champion Williston on their calendars all season.
And the host Panthers showed how ready they were, as Newberry stayed undefeated with a 72-60 triumph over the Red Devils.
Newberry improves to 13-0 and with the win and drops Williston to 11-7 in the 2024-25 boys basketball season.
Junior Henry Matthias was on fire all night long, knocking down 8-of-10 3-pointers and scoring a game-high 26 points as Newberry slowly but surely pulled away from Williston.
“This game was huge for us,” Newberry coach Patrick Green said. “Although we are in 3A classification now, Williston is a playoff-caliber team, the type of team we can see down the road. It’s also a rivalry game, so the records go out the window and you just have to lock in and get the job done.”
Newberry jumped out to an early lead thanks to two 3-pointers by Matthias. Senior Juwan Scippio scored six of his 13 points, and the Panthers were clinging to a one-point lead through the opening period at 18-17.
The second period was more of the same. Newberry moved out to as much as an eight-point lead, but Williston again cut the deficit to 34-33 at the half, with Red Devil junior De’andre Harvey scoring 13 of his team-high 19 points.
“We had to challenge our kids to keep up the intensity, and they were able to do that and never fell behind,” Green said. “We more than met the challenge.”
Matthias caught fire in the third period, with three 3-pointers as the Panthers outscored Williston 17-13 to extend their lead to 51-46.
“He (Matthias) is a blessing in disguise,” Green said. “Henry actually missed the last game with a high ankle sprain and I think that kind of triggered something because he hadn’t been shooting like he normally can.”
Newberry finally wore the Red Devils out in the fourth quarter, going on a 21-5 run to pull away to their biggest lead of the game at 72-51 with two minutes left. Matthias knocked down two more treys in the run putting the game away.
Williston seniors Joel Washington added 15 points and Xavier Kirkpatrick chipped in ten points.
Newberry and Williston will play each other again at Williston on Jan. 24.
