Wednesday night was a special night at Gainesville High’s Purple Palace.
In what was believed to be the first time in 20 years the two teams had met, Gainesville’s boys basketball team hosted the Hawthorne Hornets.
And GHS used a raucous home crowd to get a much-needed win.
Senior Cornelius White scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half, and the Hurricanes built a big lead, fell behind, and rallied late in the fourth quarter to knock off the Hornets, 66-61.
Gainesville (8-7) broke a three-game losing streak, with all the losses coming in the Mainland Shootout in Daytona Beach last week.
“We really needed a win because it has been a tough stretch,” Gainesville coach Mike Barnes said. “Our home crowd seemed to help tonight because we shot better than we have lately.”
The Hurricanes came out on fire, hitting five 3-pointers in the opening quarter and jumping out to a 22-8 lead through one period. Five different Gainesville players hit from behind the arc, with Cornelius and brother, Cardarius White, both scoring five points apiece.
The lead grew to as many as 17 at 25-8 before Hawthorne woke up. The Hornets went on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 25-18. Junior C.J. Ingram scored 10 points in the quarter after only one point in the opening period.
Gainesville took a 34-25 lead into the halftime break.
The Hornets started fast in the third quarter, taking their first lead of the game late in the period.
Ingram scored nine of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter, including back-to-back rim-rattling dunks to give Hawthorne a three-point lead late in the quarter.
The lead had grown to 47-41 when Cornelius White threw in a nearly full-court 70-foot shot at the buzzer to cut the Hurricanes deficit to three at 47-44.
“That shot was big,” Barnes said. “It cut our deficit back to three and we weathered the big run from them and were still in the game.”
Gainesville turned up the defense in the final period, outscoring Hawthorne 22-14. Cornelius White took over with 11 points including back-to-back traditional three-point plays. He also hit free throws late as the Hurricanes scored the final five points to break away from a tie.
“He (Cornelius) is a special player,” Barnes said. “I’m not surprised with anything he does on the court. He’s just a huge talent.”
