On Wednesday afternoon at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, the No. 1 seed Hawthorne boys basketball team was clicking on all cylinders.
In its FHSAA Rural State semifinal game against No. 4 seed Graceville, the Hornets (19-3) opened a 12-point lead after one quarter and cruised to a 69-44 win against the Tigers (17-13).
Hawthorne, which never trailed in the game, advances to the state championship game at 7 p.m. on Friday and will play the winner of Wednesday night’s other state semifinal game between Fort White and Crossroad Academy (Quincy).
Defense was the key for the Hornets, who forced 27 turnovers and outscored the Tigers, 25-6, in fast break points.
“We wanted to make that a point of emphasis today,” said Hawthorne coach Greg Bowie, who was coaching in his 8th final four. “Come in and play defense, limit them to second chance shots, and then Chaison (Wilson) got it going early offensively, but it definitely started on the defensive end.”
They held the advantage in points off turnovers, 24-10.
“That’s Hawthorne basketball,” Wilson said. “We’re swarming everywhere. We’re fighting for every loose ball. We want to play defense at a high major level every single night.”
The senior hit a 3-pointer from the right wing just 25 seconds in and he added a 15-foot jump shot following a layup by senior Decarion Debose for a 7-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later, Wilson added a steal and a dunk with 2:31 to play in the first quarter for its first double-digit lead at 12-2.
“He (Wilson) was really aggressive,” Bowie said. “I kind of saw him bouncing around during warmups. He was super focused, super locked in so I expected him to come out and have a big game.”
Wilson was 7-of-8 from the floor and finished with a game-high 16 points. He scored nine of his points in the opening quarter.
“It all starts in warmups, telling myself find it early,” he said. “I get in that rhythm and flow inside my head where I can just play.”
Hawthorne went on a 13-2 run to start the second quarter, including an 8-0 run following a pair of free throws by Graceville senior Bryson Reynolds (team-high 11 points).
Debose (14 points) finished the run with a steal and a dunk for a 33-10 lead with 5:18 remaining in the opening half.
“We practiced every day, from the day after the Williston win up until today,” said Debose, who added six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. “Defense was the key to everything today. We knew if we pressured them and made them turn it over a little bit they were going to give us the ball, so we came in here locked in and focused and made sure defense was our main priority.”
The Hornets led by 25 at the half (43-18) and went on a 6-0 run to start the third quarter, building their largest lead of the game, 49-18, on an offensive put back by Debose with 6:43 to play in the period.
“I told the guys in the locker room coming out we worked hard to get to this point and by no means are we going to let up,” Bowie said. “If you work hard, you deserve to get paid. The guys took that to heart, and they came out and just applied pressure the whole game.”
For the game, Hawthorne shot 48.3% from the floor, including 69.2% in the second quarter when they outscored Graceville, 23-10. They held the Tigers to just 37.5% shooting for the game
They also outscored their opponent, 48-18, in the paint.
Senior Demetrius Brown (10 points) and junior Darian Bowie (9) had 19 of the 23 bench points for the Hornets, who are one win away from their third state title in program history.
Hawthorne, which pulled its starters out midway through the third quarter, won the Class 1A state title in 2020.
“Either opponent is going to be tough,” Bowie said. “Crossroad (Academy) is super athletic; they get up and down in transition. They have a short, quick guard who can really shoot the ball. Of course, Fort White, they’ve got two kids in (Jayden) Jackson and (Tafari) Moe, those kids can go for 18 or 20 easily on any given night. We’re going to wait around and watch some of the game. Either way, I know it’s going to be a dog fight on Friday night.”
