Wins have been hard to come by for the Gainesville High boys basketball team, especially since Craig Thomas Jr. went down with an injury last week.

Despite being without their senior captain, the Hurricanes got back in the win column on Thursday with a 54-41 win against Westminster Christian (Miami) in the Gold Championship Division of the Battle on the Island at Fleming Island (Orange Park).

“Proud of the guys, stuck to the game plan, played smart for the most part, and some guys stepped up,” said Gainesville coach Mike Barnes. “Obviously, Craig Thomas is hurt, so I thought Corvaughn White played very well. I thought Willie (Brooks) led us very well, and we were able to kind of survive some foul trouble.”

The victory put the Class 5A Hurricanes (3-6) in the winners’ bracket against either Ribault (Jacksonville) or Atkinson County (Pearson, GA) at 8 p.m. on Friday.

“Every year when we come here, lots of good teams, local Jacksonville teams, especially, and also teams that come from afar, like from Miami, so good competition, good test for us,” Barnes said.

It was raining 3’s in the opening quarter for the Hurricanes, who built a quick 12-0 lead.

Three different players drained a shot from beyond the arc, beginning with senior Kyle Pinter’s 3-ball from the left wing almost a minute into the game.

That was followed by a 3-pointer from the right wing by White, a sophomore, with 5:43 to play in the first quarter, and a trey from up top by Brooks with 4:46 to play that just beat the 35-second shot clock, which was implemented for the tournament.

Pinter’s 3-ball in the right corner forced the Warriors (4-7) to call a timeout with 4:17 left in the quarter.

It was four of five 3s for the quarter and a total of seven in the first half for GHS, which led 34-15 at the break.

The Hurricanes also held the Warriors without a field goal the entire first quarter in taking an 18-2 lead.

They extended it to a 21-4 lead on a 3-pointer in the left corner by sophomore Bronx Johnson.

The lead had risen to 51-30 in the fourth quarter, but Westminster Christian went on an 11-0 run to get within 10 at 51-41 with 59 seconds remaining.

“Right now, we’re just working to get better as a team. And you know, we, you know, somebody told me yesterday, you got to go through it to get to it. So we’re going through it right now, and hopefully by the end of the year, you know, we’ll be getting to it.”

White led GHS off the bench with 17 points, followed by Brooks, a junior, with 10 points.

Fleming Island (Orange Park) 74, Columbia (Lake City) 58 – It was a tale of two halves for the Columbia Tigers in their opening Gold Championship Division game at the Battle on the Island.

The Tigers (3-5) were outscored 40-17 in the opening half of a 74-58 loss against the host Golden Eagles (6-3).

“We did not play very well in the first half,” said Columbia coach Steve Faulkner. “I don’t know, intimidated, just weren’t ready to play…and then some encouraging words at halftime were given by myself, and we played a little bit different the second half.”

Columbia outscored Fleming Island, 41-34, in the second half, but was never able to overcome the big halftime deficit.

“We’re a work in progress,” Faulkner said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys getting time and first experience playing this level of competition, so it’s growing pains right now.”

Kadrian Wilson led the Tigers with 20 points.

“He’s an incredible athlete,” Faulkner said. “I think he had two dunks there in the second half, and for a 5-foot-11 guy, that’s pretty impressive, so he can do that. The way we were playing the second half, just trying to make chaos, it’s perfect for him because of his athleticism. But he stepped up big for us today.”

Sophomore guard Zadrian Knowlton and sophomore center Ty’avious Cooper each had 11 for Columbia, which will play at 12:30 p.m. on Friday against the winner of Thursday’s late game between South Dade (Homestead) and Auburndale.