The Gainesville Hurricanes came into their game against P.K. Yonge on Wednesday night winners of four in a row against the Blue Wave.
Every game in that run had been either four points or overtime.
Not so much this time around.
Gainesville jumped out to an early 10-point lead and never trailed as the host Hurricanes took care of the Blue Wave, 67-46, at the Purple Palace.
Gainesville (10-8), who had won at P.K.Yonge, 61-51, in overtime in their second game of the season on Nov. 28, had an early 12-0 run and seven different players scored points as the Hurricanes led 16-6 after the opening period.
“We played really good from the get-go and I thought we had very good energy,” Gainesville coach Mike Barnes said. “We have been trying to work on our press a little bit and I think it was very effective tonight.”
It was more of the same in the second period. Junior Cornelius White hit two three-pointers and scored eight of his game-high 15 points in the second quarter and the Hurricanes’ lead was extended to 39-18 at the half.
“We were down pretty much that whole game at their place and were able to pull it out in overtime,” Barnes said. “Tonight, the focus was to not have a letdown and you know what they are capable of and we were successful.”
P.K. Yonge (8-9) went on a 5-0 run early in the third quarter, but Gainesville followed with a quick 7-0 run to extend the lead to 46-23 and the Blue Wave were never closer than 16 points the rest of the game.
“I never expect to have blowout wins,” Barnes said. “Not that we aren’t capable of that, but everyone plays really hard against us and it’s never easy.”
Eleven players scored for the Hurricanes, with White and senior Anthony Leivonen leading the way in double figures with 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Gainesville returns to action Thursday night at the Purple Palace against Santa Fe before traveling to Columbia (Lake City) on Saturday.
P.K. Yonge also is in a stretch of three games in four days. The Blue Wave will play at Buchholz on Thursday and at Eastside on Saturday.
