Gainesville High Gets Key Boy’s Basketball Win

The Gainesville High School Purple Hurricanes (19-2) hosted the Vanguard High School Knights (15-6) in a crucial 7A District 4 match in boy’s basketball on Thursday night.  The Canes continued their 11-game win streak finding after beating Vanguard in a very scrappy game 51-48.  With the win, Gainesville and Vanguard find themselves tied in the district standings with a record of 7-1. Gainesville High won the tiebreaker decided by a coin toss and will host the district tournament in a couple of weeks.

Canes win coin toss and will host district boys basketball tournament at GHS.

— GHS Hurricanes (@GHSHurricanes) January 27, 2017

A Game to Learn From

Boys Basketball defeated Ocala Vanguard 51-48 tonight in the Purple Palace. pic.twitter.com/ezi75rkdGs

— GHS Hurricanes (@GHSHurricanes) January 27, 2017

It was a highly contested game all the way up until the end with neither team ever achieving a double-digit lead. With one last chance, Vanguard heaved a contested shot from well beyond the arc that bounced off the back iron, sealing their fate.  The shot left one side of the gym ecstatic and the other in stark silence.  The game was so close that Gainesville coach Kelly Beckham said he was just glad to come out with a win.

The game was played at a fast pace with driving down the lane recklessly and poorly executed kick out passes the theme for both offenses.  It was not the prettiest game as both teams had countless turnovers, leading Beckham to laugh when asked about it.  Not surprisingly, both teams found themselves well below their season’s scoring average from the excessive amount of turnovers. Gainesville was eight below their season scoring average of 59 and Vanguard was more disappointing as they were 14 below their season scoring average of 62 points a game.

The biggest concern for the Hurricanes may be their performance from the charity stripe.  The Hurricanes shot just 16 of 31 from the free throw line.   Vanguard had a night to forget there too as they hit just 6 of 15 from the charity stripe.  Down the road, poor free throw shooting could be costly to both teams.

Positives for Gainesville High

There were positives as Gainesville’s Christian Miller-Caldwell was the high scorer with 16 points with forward Isiah Wilson was not far behind with 11 points.  The team emerged victorious and will move on to play in the districts but Beckham is focusing on winning the regular season games ahead before turning his attention towards districts and a possible rematch with Vanguard in the final.