Gainesville boys basketball senior Anthony Leivonen played his best game of the season on Thursday night, scoring a career-high 29 points.
His teammates fed off that energy as the Hurricanes scored a season-high in an 84-61 win against visiting Santa Fe (Alachua) at The Purple Palace.
“It was great to see the ball go in the bucket, and when you see the ball go in the bucket you play harder defensively and you play looser, you play freer, you play with passion and energy, and I was really proud of the guys tonight,” said Gainesville coach Mike Barnes.
GHS (11-8) defeated an in-county opponent for the 10th time in the last 11 games and 16 of its last 18, including a rout of P.K. Yonge on Wednesday night.
“They’re always fun,” Barnes said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Glen (Banks) and what he does at Santa Fe. We’re fortunate to be able to play well. We were able to pull some close ones out earlier in the year versus some county teams and we were able to kind of stretch it out a little bit here the last couple of nights. The kids always get excited for the games, I get excited for them.”
The Raiders (7-12) took an early 9-8 lead on a dunk by sophomore Antonio Hall (10 points) with 4:32 to play in the opening quarter.
However, senior reserve guard Jacob Wright hit a left baseline 3-pointer to give the ‘Canes an 11-9 advantage and a lead it would never relinquish.
Leivonen drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing and then added a layup following a steal by Wright to cap a 9-0 run and a 17-9 lead with 1:26 remaining in the opening period.
Gainesville took a double-digit lead on a layup by junior Cornelius White (18 points), and then junior guard Simon Childers gave the Hurricanes a spark off the bench.
Following a 3-pointer by Santa Fe senior Braylon Guyden (team-high 17 points) to cut the lead to 10 at 32-22, Childers answered at the other end with a 3-pointer from the left baseline to push the lead to 35-22.
On Santa Fe’s next possession, he stole a pass in the backcourt and laid it in. Santa Fe called a timeout down 37-22 with 2:43 to play in the half.
Following the timeout, Childers got his second steal in 20 seconds and found Leivonen, who knocked down a deep 3-pointer for a 40-22 lead.
“When he’s cooking like that, we’re hard to beat,” Barnes said.
Childers made a 3-pointer with 1:40 to play in the half to put GHS up 43-22.
He scored eight points off the bench in the quarter.
“Simon’s a really great kid,” Barnes said. “I think for a lot of our guys it’s just taken some time to get adjusted to the varsity level. He’s putting in the work and he’s had a great attitude…I’m just really proud of him and all the guys.”
Juniors Aidan Bell and Jordan Dixon also hit 3-pointers in the second quarter for GHS, which made 11 on the night.
Leivonen led the way with five 3-pointers.
Things were going so well for Leivonen that he banked in a 3-pointer from the right corner, another first.
“Yeah, I didn’t know that was going in,” he said. “Offensively I just started to try and get guys early and they were hitting so it made everything just open up for me. It just made everything easier for me for my teammates.”
It was the most points since a 70-40 win at home against Columbia (Lake City) on Dec. 5.
“After this break we’ve all just been playing together, everything is just coming together,” Leivonen said. “We’re just all being there for each other, no being selfish from any of us.”
It was also a season-high in points allowed by the Raiders.
“We didn’t offer any resistance,” said Santa Fe coach Glen Banks. “Most of their shots were wide open. We didn’t guard well. It was probably our worst game defensively all year.”
Santa Fe, which was allowing just 54.3 points per game, entered the game with a 3-game winning streak, including a 73-65 win at Columbia.
“Usually when we score over 50 we’re in the game, I mean it’s games that we can win” Banks said. “But 80? We’re not ready for that. We don’t shoot the ball well and we don’t have ‘that guy’ that can take over the game like that…that’s how you’re supposed to defend your home court.”
However, the Raiders trailed by as much as 21, which came on Leivonen’s banked in 3-pointer for a 56-35 lead with 5:32 to play in the third quarter.
“No team is going to take it easy, you’ve got to be ready,” Banks said. “Tonight, we thought we were ready, but hats off to those guys. They shot the ball pretty well.”
Junior Camden Mcleod added 13 points for Santa Fe, which will host Suwannee (Live Oak) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
GHS will travel to Columbia at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a trip to defending 1A state champion Williston on Tuesday night.
“I just really want to kind of brag on our guys,” Barnes said. “They’ve kind of turned the corner I think it terms of maturing, coming in prepared for games, and it’s just kind of a totally different vibe from what I was seeing earlier in the year. I think that anybody on our schedule, they’re going to get our 100% best.”
Trenton 73, Branford 64 – The Tigers shot 50% from behind the arc and used a 31-point second quarter to pick up a win against the Bucs (9-6) on the road.
Freshman Mason VanCannon scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds as the Tigers (8-6) won their third straight game. VanCannon was 5-of-8 from behind the arc and Trenton finished 12-of-24 for the game.
Clark Hausner added 13 points and Zander Grant had nine points, six assists and only one turnover for the Tigers, who host Bell at 7 p.m. on Friday.
