Wins against the Gainesville boys basketball program are hard to come by, especially if you are Buchholz.

Heading into Friday night’s city showdown between the two rivals, GHS had won 17 of the last 19 overall including a 16-2 record in their last 18 home games against the Bobcats.

However, visiting Buchholz outscored GHS, 18-6, in the fourth quarter and rallied for a 50-41 win at The Purple Palace.

“When I was at Santa Fe and we played at Gainesville it was always a tough environment,” said first-year Buchholz coach Elliot Harris. “They say it’s a palace but man this thing is a hot box, there’s a lot of people standing around, and a great atmosphere. But it was a great win for my program.”

Gainesville (3-2), which rallied from an eight-point deficit in the first half to take a 26-24 lead at the half, carried a 35-32 lead into the final quarter.

However, the Hurricanes managed just two field goals in the last eight minutes.

“We just didn’t execute the way we needed to,” said Gainesville coach Mike Barnes. “They were able to slow us down. We couldn’t hit a basket and we were just taking a lot of tough shots that weren’t really high percentage. We just didn’t make very good decisions.”

Senior Palmer Walton converted an “and one” for a 39-37 lead with 5:12 remaining. He scored seven of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.

“Palmer is our leader,” Harris said. “We’re going to go where he pulls us. He came up big at the end, on the boards as well as scoring the ball at the end of the game to secure a win.”

Sophomore Lucas Bhatia exited the game with cramps in his left leg with 4:46 to play and the Bobcats clinging to a two-point lead.

Six-foot-four sophomore Zion Newkirk gave the Bobcats (3-1) a spark late, scoring seven straight Buchholz points in the final 3:30 to help his team rally from a fourth quarter deficit.

Following a pair of free throws by Gainesville senior Anthony Leivonen (team-high nine points) to tie the game at 39-39, Newkirk gave Buchholz the lead with a bucket.

Newkirk, who was on the JV team this past summer, helped ignite the run by also knocking down a 3-pointer to a break a tie and give Buchholz a 44-41 lead with 2:11 to play.

“He shot a 3 and I was like, ‘no, no, no, yeah,’ ill-advised, but it went in,” Harris said. “He had foul trouble until that fourth quarter, had those seven points and it made a difference in the outcome of the game.”

Despite picking up his fourth foul less than 10 seconds into the fourth quarter, he helped his team close the game with a 9-0 run.

“I got out of my head like my coach told me to and went back in the game and played aggressive,” Newkirk said.

He added his final bucket of the night on an alley-oop layup for a 46-41 lead with 1:54 remaining.

“Zion is a major part of what we do,” Harris said. “We’ve got some guys coming in from football, they’ve only had a couple of practices so they’re not quite ready to contribute. Zion is very athletic, very active on the defensive end and we count on him to rebound the ball and attack the basket when he can.”

Buchholz used the long ball to take control early.

Bhatia’s 3-ball from the top of the key bounced off the rim and in for a 10-5 lead and then Palmer’s 3-pointer in the left corner gave the Bobcats their largest lead at 13-5.

But in the second quarter, GHS reserve Brian Smith scored seven points off the bench, including a 3-pointer on the right wing and a left baseline jumper as the Purple Hurricanes pulled within one, 20-19.

With 1:33 left in the half, the junior knocked down two free throws for a 24-20 lead, using a 9-0 run to rally from a 20-15 deficit.

“BJ’s a great kid and really helped us out there and allowed us to take the lead,” Barnes said. “He’s a special talent and he’s got a bright future.”

Bhatia, who didn’t return from his fourth quarter injury, led all scorers with 15 points, followed by Newkirk and Walton with 14 points apiece.

“That’s the way that we have to play,” Harris said. “In our three wins, our scoring is distributed pretty equally…we feel confident that if one can’t go, somebody else is going to be able to help us.”

Buchholz, which will host GHS on Jan. 26, will host Columbia (Lake City) at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

GHS will travel to North Marion on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. to face the host Colts in the Tim Brinkley Shootout.