Our Sonic Drive-In-Player-of-the-Game for Friday, February 2 is Malik Robertson of the Eastside (Gainesville) boys’ basketball team.
Robertson, a senior, scored eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and also led Eastside with solid rebounding and defense throughout as the host Rams completed District 6-6A regular season play by rallying past Dunnellon 47-39 on Friday night.
Robertson scored in the opening quarter, but missed nearly all of the second period after suffered an early second foul. Eastside struggled to score through most of the first half, but only trailed Dunnellon 22-19 at the halftime break as each team only scored seven points in the second quarter.
The Rams came out on fire in the second half, using a 10-0 run right out of the gate to take a 29-22 lead, and led 32-24 after the third quarter. Eastside outscored the Tigers 13-2 in the third period, with Dunnellon’s only points coming on two free throws by senior Marvin Martinez.
Robertson scored inside in the third period, and then took over in the fourth quarter with an assortment of spin moves to work inside. He scored his eight points in the final half of the fourth period as Eastside maintained mostly a double-digit lead down the stretch.
Anthony Richardson led the Rams with 13 points, and Jimmy Johnson also chipped in with nine.
Eastside is now 18-4, and finishes district play at 7-1, tied for the #1 seed with North Marion (Citra). The district tourney will be held at North Marion.
The Rams are back in action on Saturday night on their home floor against another Gainesville city rival, Saint Francis Catholic Academy. You can watch a ‘live’ video streaming broadcast of the game on ThePrepZone.com via the NFHS Network beginning at 7:15 PM.
Dunnellon falls to 13-10 and 3-4 in District 6-6A. The Tigers, who were led in scoring by Marvin Martinez with 11 points and Caleb Schroeder with 10, return to action on Monday night to close district play against Santa Fe (Alachua).
Every game The Prep Zone will recognize a Player-of-the-Game. The recipient receives a $10 gift certificate courtesy of Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville & Ocala.
