Lower Richland delivers coach bittersweet win vs. Eastside to open postseason
The Lower Richland boys basketball team came into the postseason with a losing record, but its players knew they had a secret weapon.Although Eastside brought a much gaudier record to the Diamond Mine, it didn’t mean much as the teams opened the Class 3A playoffs Tuesday.
The edge was Diamond Hornets’ coach Mark Burnitz, who spent 12 years on the Eagles’ coaching staff as an assistant.
“We were in the film room all day,” junior guard Carlos Nuttry said. “Coach, he knows the team, he’s from there. We had to prepare for them. We didn’t want them to come here and beat us, his own team.”
Lower Richland weathered a furious rally and kept things together down the stretch to secure the 52-43 victory. It earned the Diamond Hornets (12-13) a trip to South Pointe on Friday.
Both teams tried to stick to patient offenses, and Lower Richland led by as many as 10 in the early going. But Eastside (17-9) rallied after halftime and led by three points heading into the final quarter.
Buckets from Ja’cor Nelson and Nuttry put the hosts ahead, and they hit their free throws down the stretch. Clyde Trapp scored most of his game-high 17 early, and Nuttry lived at the free-throw line late, on the way to 16.
Eastside coach Tom Chamness said his team got outplayed in final quarter, especially running into trouble with the Lower Richaland press. The Eagles turned the ball over on a third of its possessions and shot only 35.7 percent, though Tyius Lewis did score 15.
And there was something different about the familiar face on the other side.
“It’s something when you compete against other coaches that you always have competed against, that are in your region,” Chamness said. “But when you have a guy that’s been in your trenches for 12 years, that makes it more difficult. He’s done a great job.”
That also left a tinge of sadness on the other side. Chamness and Burnitz led Eastside to lofty heights, including an overtime loss in the 2013 state title game.
Burnitz left the Eagles in 2014, and got choked up seeing many of his former players season come to an end.
“It’s hard because I coached all those kids,” Burnitz said. “And to see their dream end hurts for me. I’m ecstatic for my kids, but I know what they’re going through in that locker room over there, and they’re my kids too.”
E: Lewis 15, Wilson 12, D. Rucker 10, S. Rucker 3, Wilder 2, Williams 1. LR: Trapp 17, Nuttry 16, Washington 8, Higgins 5, Nelson 3, Jones 2, Townsend 1.
This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 10:44 PM.