On Tuesday night in Hawthorne, the Class 5A No. 6 Gainesville boys basketball team was the aggressor early in a rare Alachua County showdown between the Hornets and the Hurricanes.

The visiting Hurricanes built an early 9-0 lead, but the Hornets’ bench helped give the team a spark as Hawthorne rallied for a 56-47 win at the Hornets’ nest.

Gainesville junior Craig Thomas knocked down two free throws for the first points of the game with 5:53 to play in the first quarter, senior Cornelius White added two and senior Brian Smith added a pair, as Hawthorne called timeout down 6-0 with 4:52 to play in the opening quarter.

“I think they came out and shot well, they got the ball inside, we missed a couple of chip shots,” said Hawthorne coach Greg Bowie. “You have to give them credit, they came out pretty strong.”

But the Hornets, who are ranked second in the state in the FHSAA’s Rural classification, responded with a 10-0 run of their own.

Senior Demetrius Brown, who was playing his first game of the season, gave the Hornets a lift by scoring five points off the bench as part of an 8-0 run to end the first quarter.

Then, sophomore Nathan Jennings, who scored three off the bench for the Hornets in the opening period, scored the first two of the second quarter on a layup to give Hawthorne its first lead of the game at 10-9 with 6:56 to play in the second quarter.

After getting outscored in the first quarter, Hawthorne proceeded to outscore GHS over the next three quarters.

“With the crowd and the second unit, when it got to 9-0, I put the second unit in and those guys got in and they were really scrappy,” Bowie said. “They were hustling, getting loose balls, they brought a lot of energy and they were able to cut that lead. So I give a lot of credit to that second unit tonight. They sparked it.”

The Hawthorne bench outscored Gainesville’s bench, 11-1.

“Obviously when our starters got back in, they were able to maintain,” Bowie said.

Leland Johnson tied for game-high honors with Chasion Wilson as the two seniors scored 15 points apiece to lead the Hornets (5-0).

Johnson scored all 15 of his points in the second half including a right corner 3-ball with 22 seconds left in the third quarter to stretch the lead to 37-30. He made two treys and converted an and-one in the quarter.

“He is just one of those guys that can hit that switch,” Bowie said. “Offensively, he’s probably one of the best in the area. He’s a lefty, got a nice touch, he can dribble, a nice floater game, so he can turn it on and score in spurts. Sometimes he can go on an 8, 10-0 run by himself, so he was definitely a spark in the second half.”

So was Wilson, who entered the game averaging 14.3 points per game but was held scoreless in the first quarter.

His left-wing 3-pointer with 6:09 to play in the second quarter gave Hawthorne the lead for good at 13-11, and his dunk with 40 seconds left in the half gave the Hornets a 20-16 lead at the break.

Eight of his 15 came in the second half.

He opened the scoring in the third quarter with a baseline layup just 11 seconds into the frame, followed by another layup with 7:03 to play in the quarter and a 24-16 advantage.

Wilson, who was 6-of-11 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds, made two free throws with 1:58 to play in the game for a 50-45 lead.

“He’s kind of adjusting to our style of play. I mean obviously you see the athleticism, you can see the skill set, but now he’s adjusting to the way that we play and he has a real, real high ceiling,” Bowie said. “He can dribble, shoot, pass and he can finish aggressively at the rim…and he’s a great rebounder. He’s a total all-around player and he showed that tonight. He had a complete game tonight.”

Junior Cordarius White (game-high 20 points) had a dunk with 40 seconds to play to bring the Hurricanes (11-6) within four at 51-47, but Hawthorne made 6-of-7 from the free throw line in the last 30 seconds to ice the game.

White’s older brother, Cornelius, had 13 points for Gainesville before fouling out with 1:58 to play.

GHS, which had a four-game winning streak snapped, travels to city rival Eastside at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, while Hawthorne will travel to Dunnellon for a 7 p.m. tip.

“A lot of these teams that we’re scheduling, teams that I know are going to force us to play our best game, we’re not going to be able to go in and relax,” Bowie said. “Normally down there at Dunnellon there’s a nice crowd…so it forces us to play our best game.”

With only five games under their belt during the 2023-24 season, and the regular season ending at the end of the month, Bowie just wants to see progress.

“We’re trying to just keep progressing and be ready by the time district starts,” he said.