On the day when Hawthorne’s C.J Ingram was recognized as the best football player in the state in Class 1R, the junior showed why he may be the best on the hardwood this year too.
Ingram scored a game-high 30 points, including 19 in the second half, as Hawthorne defeated Alachua County rival P.K. Yonge, 69-59, on the road.
“He does it in different ways,” said Hawthorne coach Greg Bowie. “A couple of 3s went down tonight, attacking the rim, mid-range a couple of times. He was baseline. Some of the guards found him down there. We move him around a lot so teams can’t really focus on him at one position. He can score from all over the floor.”
His first basket of the game came on a 3-pointer a little over a minute into the opening quarter as the Hornets (3-0) took a quick 8-0 lead.
A reverse layup by junior Leland Johnson and an offensive put back by USF football signee Alvon Issac (12 points) grew the lead to 12-0 with over half of the opening period still remaining.
“We actually want to get out to a fast start,” Bowie said. “Last night over at Bradford (Starke), same kind of start, we got out to a 12-0 run at the start and we kind of cruised on, but by no means did I think it would be the same tonight. I knew they were going to make some runs. They’ve got some really good shooters, they’re always coached up well, but that fast start probably was the difference in the ballgame.”
P.K. Yonge (6-3) didn’t score its first basket until junior Joel Washington (team-high 16 points) hit a jumper in the paint with 4:20 to play in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 12-2.
The Hornets took their largest lead of the game at 18-4 on a basket by senior Caleb Rollerson (13 points).
“Nothing happened that they were not prepared for,” said P.K. Yonge coach Boderick Johnson, who lost all five starters from last year’s 3A playoff team. “We took some shots that didn’t fall, Hawthorne hit some shots that did fall and had a couple of long ball leak out layups, so yeah, we kind of put ourselves in the hole and we just had to fight all game from behind…I give credit to Hawthorne. They played well and controlled the pace of the game.”
But P.K. Yonge didn’t give up, cutting the deficit to six at the half, 29-23, and they scored seven of the first nine points of the third quarter to move within one, 31-30, on a reverse layup by sophomore Jack Muller.
That’s as close as the Blue Wave would get and they were never able to take a lead.
Hawthorne answered with a 7-0 run, and following a fastbreak bucket by Isaac, were on an 11-1 run which gave the Hornets a 42-31 lead with 1:14 to play in the third quarter.
“Physicality, second chance opportunities, they were hitting the boards hard,” Bowie said. “It just boiled down to physicality. Credit to them.”
Hawthorne will be back in action next Wednesday at 6:10 p.m. against defending 1A state champion Williston at the Kingdom of the Sun in Ocala (Vanguard High School).
“I kind of want to see where we’re at,” Bowie said. “Coming off a state title run last year, right now they’re the measuring stick in our class.”
The game will be broadcast online (audio only) at Mainstreet Daily News.
Juniors Jantzen Griffin and Lorenzo Hill had 10 points apiece for P.K. Yonge, which will return to the Hitchcock’s Challenge after a two-year hiatus next week.
The Blue Wave will play The Rock on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Legacy Park in Alachua.
