By Kyle Coppola
East Ridge High Basketball Wins Thriller 71-70 Against Tavares High
CLERMONT, FL – What a thrilling way to enter the 2024/2025 high school basketball! Nothing like a last second shot to get you feeling good about the season! That’s exactly what happened during the Tavares vs East Ridge High game on Tuesday night. Tavares High was trailing by 18 points and cut the lead to 5 with just 2 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. Charles Hendry led the charge for the Bulldogs with 19 points and 8 rebounds. East Ridge High had played a good game. Senior Jordan Corman played a terrific game all evening. Corman had 11 points and more on him later.
(Jordan Corman wound up making the winning pass to Uriah Maynard who sunk the game winning shot. Corman represented the USA playing in Spain earlier this year.)
Meanwhile it was junior Joshua Joehill who would be the star of the evening points wise. Joehill is a highly regarded junior and he did not dissapoint. Joehill scored 21 points aloing with 5 rebounds. It was a big night for Joehill but the game ultimately came down to the final seconds. Tavares would take the lead with under 30 seconds remaining. It was an incredible comeback for the Bulldogs. However East Ridge High head coach Clarence Bell devised a great play and the Knights executed it.
Jordan Corman was able to make a great pass to Uriah Maynard who hit a game winning shot. Tavares had about 6 seconds left and drove down the floor. They were able to get two shots off but neither of them successful. East Ridge High would win it in a thriller. We also have to give a shoutout to Tavares High’s Kevin Daniels who had 23 points and Ackeem Byfield who had 11 rebounds in the game. Tavares plays at home tonight against Mount Dora High while East Ridge will host Lake Minneola High this evening.
We have to give it up for East Ridge High. They are coming off a 7-17 season. Right out of the gate they look improved over a season ago. East Ridge High only won one game in 2023 last year. It took them until January of 2024 to win a second game. Overall only winning 7 games last year. They hope things improve for 2024. A win in the first game of the season is just what the doctor ordered.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
