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The Hamilton County Trojans (16-9) will face off with the Hawthorne Hornets (22-5) tonight at 7 from Hawthorne. This match-up marks the beginning of the Class 1A Florida State Championships. For the Hornets and Trojans this is nothing new as they have battled in this tournament in each of the past four years.
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Recent Meetings
2016
Last year the Hornets and Trojans met in the regional finals of the class 1A tournament. The game was played at Hamilton County and the Trojans came away with the one point victory 61-60. The Trojans closed strong last year coming from behind in the 4th quarter to advance to the State Semifinals.
2015
In 2015 the story line was almost identical with the home team coming out with a close victory over their opponent. Except in the year the Hawthorne Hornets came out on top by a score of 64-61 in overtime. This was another exciting game between these two schools that featured the Trojans coming behind from a 32-23 halftime deficit to force overtime. The Hornets went on to the state championship after this victory where they subsequently fell to the Chipley 69-40.
2014
2014 was one of the more lopsided victories in the recent history of these two teams. The Trojans left victorious after a 10 point victory on their home court, 79-69. The score does not exactly tell the whole story although as these two teams were tied at 55 at the end of the third quarter. The Trojans outscored the Hornets 24-14 in the final frame. The Hamilton County Trojans went all the way to the state championship this year where they fell to Malone 78-61.
2013
2013 saw the same trend of the home team coming out with the victory. The Hawthorne Hornets won this match-up 63-53. The Hornets advanced all the way to the State Semifinals where they fell to Holmes County.
Home Court Advantage
Home Court has been a major advantage for both of these teams in their recent meetings. In the past four meeting the home team has come out on top all four times. The Head Coach for Hawthorne Greg Bowie says this will be a big advantage for his team coming into tonight’s game.
Keys to the game
Tonight’s game will most likely be another tightly contested showdown in what has become a sort of rivalry between these two schools. Hawthorne’s Coach Greg Bowie says tonight game will come down to rebounding for his Hornets team. Coach Bowie says if his team is able to put up a good effort on the boards it will give his team a good chance to advance on to the Regional Finals on February 12th, against the winner of Newberry Vs. Madison County.
