C.J. Gish
Hawthorne raced to a fast start and maintained a double-digit lead the remainder of the contest en route to a 46-33 win at Eastside on Friday night.
The visiting Hornets capitalized on 10 turnovers and outscored the Rams 15-2 in the opening quarter and held a 26-13 halftime edge.
“That’s probably one of our better starts of the season,” Hawthorne coach Greg Bowie said. “The defense played well and we got a couple of early layups. But the fast start definitely helped.”
Jailen Ruth scored nine of his game-high 15 points in the first half as Hawthorne (6-4) snapped a two-game losing streak while C.J. Ingram added 14 points and a team-high eight assists. D.J. Slater chipped in 10 points for the Hornets.
In the second half, the Rams never threatened as Hawthorne held a 34-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“We tried to contain (Ben Davis) as much as possible, he can really shoot the ball,” Bowie said.
Davis and Kelvin Baker led Eastside with nine points apiece. Mike Cottrell and Aaron Wright also scored six points each for the Rams.
With Hawthorne playing in the Class 1A football state title game, coupled with a team bout with COVID-19, the Hornets haven’t played many games this season.
“Us playing football, we got a late start and we had some games canceled with COVID, so this was only our 10th game of the season and we haven’t had much work,” he said. “But I think if we can bring some of the intensity we had tonight going forward, we’ll have a chance to compete at district.”
Eastside (4-15) dropped its fourth straight game and will host Gainesville next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Hawthorne will travel to Gainesville to play P.K. Yonge on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.