Last January, the Gainesville boys basketball team led 9-0 at Hawthorne, but the Hornets rallied to win.
On Tuesday night at The Purple Palace, it was almost a reversal of fortune as the visiting Hornets built an 11-point lead in the third quarter.
GHS got within one with a little over a minute to play in the game, but the Hornets made four free throws in the final 38 seconds for a 59-56 win on the road.
“Dom (Dominick Harvey) came out with a with a lot of energy early on,” said Hawthorne coach Greg Bowie. “He was big on the glass, but eventually I knew their size was going to play a factor. Man, they’re long, lanky, they got a lot of rebounds, they deflected a lot of our shots, but overall, I think we still played well.”
Harvey scored Hawthorne’s first seven points of the game, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 5:27 to play in the opening quarter for an early 5-4 lead.
Following a 5-0 run by GHS (6-11), the Hornets (3-3) took the lead for good when junior Raheem Moore drained a 3-ball in the right corner at the buzzer for an 11-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
After the two teams traded baskets to start the second quarter, Hawthorne went on a 6-0 run as Harvey had a steal and a layup for a 19-11 lead with 4:44 to play in the half.
“I think we just outworked them,” said Harvey, a GHS transfer who finished with a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds. “We conditioned longer than them. We just came off football season, so I think that’s a big part too because we’re well conditioned, so that helped us down the stretch. We work hard in practice too.”
After a low scoring first half, both teams put it in another gear in the second half.
GHS nearly matched what they had in the first half (21 points) with a 19-point third quarter. They had 16 in the final quarter.
“I thought our kids played hard enough to win and it just didn’t go that way,” said GHS coach Mike Barnes, who was ejected from the game after his second technical late in the game. “It’s just been that type of season. We’ve had opportunities to finish and make plays. I’m real proud of the guys for coming back. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Hawthorne had a 22-point third quarter and the Hornets took their first double-digit lead at 33-23 after spacing the floor, which led to an easy layup by junior Nathan Jennings (14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) with 2:04 to play in the third quarter.
“When you’ve got bigger teams, you’ve got to spread the floor because if they can pack that paint, man, I mean, I’ve got 5’10, 5’9 guys driving against 6’5 and 6’6 kids, so that’s not going to work,” Bowie said. “If you can spread the floor and force them to come out some then that will open the lane up.”
The Hurricanes were able to keep it close thanks to the play of 6’6 senior AJ Hall, who scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half.
“Once he got cooking, kind of in the third quarter and getting downhill, we were just trying to get him the ball in some space so he could make some plays,” Barnes said. “And he has that ability. He’s a very special kid and a real special player.”
It was a frantic fourth quarter as GHS got within four, 55-51, on an and-one by Hall with 2:24 to play, and Hall’s layup cut it to two, 55-53, with 1:50 remaining.
“Coach Barnes is always going to have those guys ready to play,” Bowie said. “They play a good brand of basketball. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They’re not going to hurt themselves, and that’s what I told our guys. We’ve got to hit some of those free throws because at some point those shots are going to fall and AJ, I mean, he kind of tried to take over right there at the end. He almost took it over by himself. I mean, he was just determined to will them to a win.”
Hawthorne senior Kyler Ingram tried to take a charge, but was called for a block, putting Hall at the free throw line with a chance to tie.
Ingram (6 points, 5 rebounds) fouled out on the play and Hall made one of two free throws to make it a one-point game, 55-54, with 1:12 left.
“Ky (Ingram) kind of operates the back end of our defense,” Bowie said. “If anybody gets beat, he’s in helping take charges, so without him in there…he’s a pretty smart guy who understands all the defenses. I was a little nervous playing without him that last minute because he puts guys into position.”
Moore made 1-of-2 free throws with 37.9 seconds left for a 56-54 Hawthorne lead, but Barnes was called for a technical foul with 16 seconds left, giving the Hornets two free throws and the ball.
Jennings also hit 1-of-2 free throws for a 57-54 lead, which proved to be the game-winning point, and senior Darian Bowie (8 points, 3 assists, 4 rebounds) iced the game with two more.
With 1.5 seconds left, Gainesville was able to get the ball to junior Willie Brooks (8 points) who released the potential game-tying shot from half court. The ball hit the front of the iron and bounced away to preserve the win.
Hawthorne will host P.K. Yonge (6-6) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday
“Records don’t matter,” Bowie said. “Coach (Willie) Power’s got a great young team over there. He always does a good job with them. So, for us, it’s another game to get better. And again, I keep preaching to my guys, it’s all about what we look like that last week of January going into February.”
Craig Thomas Jr. added 10 points for GHS, which will host city rival Eastside on Friday. The game will be broadcast on Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 7:15 p.m.
“I think they’re much improved from what I’ve seen in years past,” Barnes said of the Rams. “They’re really solid, and they’re good defensively. They’re playing with a lot of confidence, and we’re going to have to try to defend the home court and put four quarters of good play together.”
