Bud Seymour Gymnasium was the place to be Thursday Night. In the undercard, two undefeated JV teams went toe-to-toe with the JV Bobcats downing the JV Red Devils 40-39 after being down 15 points at halftime. The game was won on a 3-pointer from Sophomore Luke Windels that put the Cats up by 1 with 7 seconds left, the Red Devils got a last second shot off but it fell short giving the JV Cats and Coach Josh Stanaland their 18th win of the season. They play Fleming Island’s JV tomorrow in an attempt to pull off the perfect season.
After the insane ending to the JV game, the Seniors of the 2024-25 Buchholz Bobcats Basketball team were honored for Senior Night. Peyton Warring, Nard McFadden, and Mark Gelin. Warring, McFadden, and Gelin along with Junior Lucas Bhatia and Sophomore Jacob Bromirski made up the Starting 5 for the Bobcats. This was both McFadden and Gelin’s first career starts on Varsity and they both started hot for the Cats. Mark Gelin got the scoring started for BHS on a layup assisted by McFadden, then the next time down the court Nard made his own basket which was assisted by none other than Gelin. After this hot start however the Bobcats would allow a 10-0 scoring run by Williston to fall down 14-4. A newly entered Evan Walker would end the scoring drought with a layup with under a minute to go and after a defensive stop on the other end Buchholz was left with 3 seconds on the clock and the whole court to go to score as they were staring at an 8-point deficit to end the first quarter, Peyton Warring had other plans however. Pulling up from past halfcourt Warring banked in a 3-pointer to cut the Williston lead down to 5. The Red Devils’ lead would hold steady around 5 until the start of the 4th quarter where Buchholz finally earned the lead, and they wouldn’t give it back for the rest of the game. It was not easy to hold however as Williston shrank their lead to 2 points in the last minute, but they couldn’t hit the clutch shots when it mattered most and they ended up on the losing end of the game.
Buchholz could not have won without the efforts of Junior big man Evan Walker. Walker, who had a very late start to his basketball season due to the Bobcats Football team making a deep run in the state playoffs, has found his groove at the exact right time. He had a career high 19 points while going perfect from the field, shooting 8 shots and making 8 baskets, while also leading the team in rebounds with 4 and being the defensive anchor in the paint for the Bobcats. Evan’s impressive performance comes just one day after his first D1 offer for football, an offer from Florida Atlantic, where his former teammate on both the Bobcat Football and Basketball team is playing, Dylan Lloyd.
Senior Guard Peyton Warring also deserves recognition for his performance, as in his last game in The Bud, he played a pivotal role in bringing home the win. He was the only Bobcat to make a 3-pointer, going 2-3 from behind the arc, scoring 8 points total. He also assisted on 4 of his teammates baskets while only recording 1 turnover. Junior Forward Jamison McTureous was another key contributor in the game for Buchholz, he recorded 2 stocks(steals + blocks), with one each. He also heavily contributed in the offensive realm of things with 8 points. Senior Nard McFadden in his first career Varsity start went 2 for 2 from the field scoring 4 points and hauling in a defensive and an offensive board each. He was a key part of combating Williston’s size inside the paint.
The Bobcats have one more regular season matchup before they travel to Ocala to play Forest in the District Semifinals. They will play Fleming Island Friday Night. Fleming, who is 18-5, comes into the game on a 7-game winning streak that the Bobcats will look to end.
Bobcat Stat Leaders
***THE STATS I AM PRESENTING ARE UNOFFICIAL AND MAY NOT BE TOTALLY CORRECT***
Points – Evan Walker(19), Jamison McTureous(8), Peyton Warring(8)
Rebounds – Evan Walker(4), Peyton Warring(3), Lucas Bhatia(3)
Assists – Lucas Bhatia(5), Peyton Warring(4), Jamison McTureous(2)
Steals – Jacob Bromirski(3), Davarian “Hitman” Howard(1), Peyton Warring(1), Jamison McTureous(1), Lucas Bhatia(1)
Blocks – Jamison McTureous(1)
3 Pointers Made – Peyton Warring(2)
Team Stats
FG% – Buchholz(65%), Williston(51%)
3P% – Buchholz(29%), Williston(25%)
FT% – Buchholz(64%), Williston(86%)
Rebounds – Buchholz(18), Williston(17)
Offensive Rebounds – Buchholz(4), Williston(6)
Assists – Buchholz(15), Williston(6)
Fouls – Buchholz(9), Williston(12)
Steals – Buchholz(8), Williston(8)
Blocks – Buchholz(1), Williston(2)
Turnovers- Buchholz(11), Williston(12)
