The Hawthorne boys basketball team entered Day 2 of the Florida Get Down Gainesville Showcase at Santa Fe College a bit understaffed as a team.

Compared to their opponent, North Florida Educational Institute (Jacksonville), they were also a little undersized.

The combination of the two contributed to a 57-51 loss as the Hornets dropped to 1-3 on the season.

The Class 1A Eagles built as much as a 9-point lead in both halves, then ended the game with a 6-0 run in the final two minutes of the contest to pull away.

“Definitely got to applaud them for the effort and short bench with seven guys,” Hawthorne coach Greg Bowie said of his team. “When you dig that hole and you’ve got to fight to get back, and then you dig another hole and fight to get back, so a lot of that energy trying to climb kind of affected us those last three minutes.”

The Eagles (4-4) raced out to a 7-0 lead before sophomore Shaun Bowie drove the right baseline and got the Hornets’ first bucket with 5:07 to play in the opening quarter.

Following a right-wing 3-pointer by NFEI’s Juan Rivera (6 points) for an 11-2 lead, Bowie (game-high 14 points) hit a 3-pointer in the right corner to make it a two-possession game.

Hawthorne junior Nathan Jennings (13 points, 3 steals) added a layup, a free throw, and an and-one as part of his own 6-2 run to cut the deficit to 13-11 with 1:52 remaining in the first period.

Down by as many as six in the second quarter, Hawthorne began to chip away and the Hornets eventually took their first lead, 25-24, on a free throw by senior Kyler Ingram (7 points, 5 rebounds) with 1:12 remaining in the half.

But the Eagles, who outrebounded the Hornets, 31-19, started the second half the way they began the first, with a 7-0 run.

They turned a 25-24 deficit at the break into a 31-25 lead just over two minutes into the third on a left wing 3-pointer by Pether Castro (game-high 18 points).

“They went on a 7-0 run to start that third quarter, but we still recovered after that,” Greg Bowie said. “But I think their length overall kind of bothered us at the rim. And you know, my guys, we try to get to that rim as much as possible, to try to get them in foul trouble. If we could have fouled out one of those bigs, I think that would have opened the floor up a little bit more.”

Hawthorne, which defeated Fort White, 56-39, on Monday at former Gator Dan Cross’s event, trailed by nine again, 40-31, with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter.

However, the Hornets answered with a 10-0 run, highlighted by a couple of huge triples by Bowie.

The sophomore drained a 3-pointer near the left corner and then, following a travelling call against the Eagles, hit a 3-ball at the buzzer in the left corner with a hand in his face.

“Well, he’s just playing, he’s not even thinking,” Greg Bowie said. “He played some JV for us last year. He’s just relaxing. He plays, and he doesn’t really show much emotion, but he takes advantage of his opportunities, and he’s playing well to start the season.”

The 41-40 lead was short-lived as both teams exchanged buckets for the first few minutes of the final quarter.

Hawthorne led one final time, 50-48, with 4:11 to play in the game.

Bowie got a steal at mid-court and found Dominick Harvey (7 points, 6 rebounds) for an easy layup.

Following a free throw by Harvey to tie the game at 51-all with 3:17 to play, Castro had what proved to be the game-winner on a layup for a 53-51 lead with 1:45 remaining.

Senior Darian Bowie added 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists for Hawthorne, which is back in action this Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against Scholar’s Prep Academy (Orlando) at the Eastside Shootout.

Despite playing only four games so far due to the football team’s late championship run, Greg Bowie is pleased with his team’s current position.

“I think we’re kind of ahead of where I expected us to be,” he said. “With Shaun knocking down shots, and then we’ll have a few more guys…I think once guys learn their spots, and we can start playing defense the way we want to, we really haven’t worked on our press yet…I think we’ll be fine, but we’re ahead of where I expected us to be.”

Rickards (Tallahassee) 50, Trenton 46 – The Trenton boys basketball team had its 8-game winning streak come to an end with a 50-46 loss to Class 4A Rickards (Tallahassee) in the first game of the day on Tuesday.

Trenton, which defeated AAAA No. 10 Cedar Shoals (Athens, GA) on Monday, trailed by as many as 10 points against the Raiders (6-6), but they eventually rallied and took their first lead in the second half.

“Yeah, I thought we were a step slow to start the game,” said Trenton coach Eric Bullis. “I was a little disappointed in that because we played yesterday, they played yesterday, we both have to tip off at 10 a.m., they’re from out of town and we slept in our own beds last night, so I really challenged the team at the half to come out and with a much higher level of urgency to play Tiger basketball, win or lose, and just compete, compete, compete.”

The pep talk triggered a 12-2 run to start the second half.

It began with a top-of-the-key 3-pointer by his son, Tyler Bullis, who finished with a team-high 16 points.

The junior added an up-and-under move for a layup, followed by a pair of free throws to get the Tigers (10-3) within three at 32-29 at the halfway point of the quarter.

Tyler Bullis, who is “dealing with some torn ligaments in his shooting and thumb and taping it pretty heavily,” added six rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 32 minutes of action.

“He’s our floor general,” Eric Bullis said. “He’s really our only truly reliable ball handler against pressure. He carries a huge weight (injured hand), and I think for him it was nice to see the ball go through the basket…he’s been in a pretty big shooting slump, but I told him the only way you get out of it is to keep shooting when you’re open, so good for him to see the ball go through the net.”

Trenton took its first lead, 34-32, with 2:58 left in the third quarter on a fall-away shot in the paint by Nate Ridgell (12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists).

After a 7-0 run by Rickards, Hunter Hilliard hit a 3-pointer in the right corner to get the Tigers within two, 39-37, with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter.

But with 20 seconds left, the Raiders answered on a layup by 6’5 Calvin Harris (game-high 17 points) for a 41-37 lead heading into the final period.

Junior Mason VunCannon (11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals), who is averaging 18.2 points per game for the Tigers, hit a floater with the right hand on the right baseline to tie the game at 43-all with 3:23 to play.

Trenton tied it one final time at 46-all with 1:55 remaining on a left wing 3-pointer by Tyler Bullis.

“When your best player struggles, and this was probably the first game all year he struggled and this is game 13 for us, to be in that game with three minutes left, high game with a chance to win, it just says a lot about our team. We’re really balanced,” Eric Bullis said.

Trenton will return to action on Tuesday, Jan.6, for a home game against Chiefland.

Florida Get Down (Scores) – Tuesday, Dec. 30

Rickards (Tallahassee) 50, Trenton 46

North Florida Educational Institute (Jacksonville) 57, Hawthorne 51

Eastside 64, Fort White 22

The Rock 100, Next Level Academy (GA) 61

Buchholz 58, Cedar Shoals (GA) 44