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By Daniela Ortiz and Sebastian Sabatino
The six seed Gainesville Hurricanes upset three seed Oakleaf at the Purple Palace in a thriller, 47-46, Thursday in the first round of the 6A boys basketball state tournament.
Slow Paced First Half
Although Oakleaf (19-7), out of Orange Park, started the game off with a 6-0 lead, Gainesville (18-11) recovered to trade blows with the Knights early on.
Despite good shot selection from both teams, neither side managed to pull out in front convincingly. The first quarter ended 14-10, Knights.
Tension Builds
The second half mirrored much of the first. Oakleaf started to pull away with a 7-0 run at the beginning of the third quarter, just for Gainesville to reel the game back in with crucial baskets and a timely 3-pointer by Cordarius White to make it 30-27, Hurricanes.
The tension noticeably ramped up, and the game devolved into a foul frenzy. Both teams spent the rest of the quarter taking turns at the free-throw line. Ultimately, it was Oakleaf’s Tyler Owens with a buzzer-beater 3 to give his Knights a 38-37 lead at the end of the third.
The first couple of minutes of the fourth period were tight. Gainesville’s Anthony Leivonen broke through to score the first points of the quarter, but it was Oakleaf that was able to gain a 43-42 lead with two minutes to go.
After a controversial foul call on Oakleaf, the Hurricanes were given two opportunities at the free-throw line, much to the anger of the Knights fans in the building. Cordarius White drained both shots, and after that, it was all Hurricanes.
After a couple more made free throws, Gainesville led 47-43, to put the game away.
Oakleaf regained possession and Tyler Owens hit a 3 with only a few seconds to go, but it was too little, too late, and the buzzer sounded to cement a Gainesville victory.
Looking Ahead
The Hurricanes will play in the Sweet Sixteen for the 13th time in 17 years, traveling to take on two seed Ponte Vedra (21-7) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. A win Tuesday would put the ‘Canes in the region final Friday.
A photo gallery from the game can be found here.
