It was a wild, back-and-forth game throughout this rivalry match-up between Hawthorne and P.K. Yonge boy’s basketball teams but Hornets pulled through in the end to win 63-62.
Hectic final few minutes
It looked like Hawthorne had wrapped up the win when they went up 62-56 with just under a minute to go, but fouls and missed free throws plagued them.
“I felt good about our chances pretty much the entire game,” Hornets’ head coach Greg Bowie said.”But right there at the end with the technical situation, I was a little concerned because they got two free throws and the ball back.”
Bowie was right to be worried because P.K. Yonge scored six straight points to tie the game at 62 with 16 seconds remaining in the game. After two free throws by Christian Norman, Adrian Bloodworth split the defense for the quick tying layup.
PK Yonge’s Adrian Bloodworth (@worldwideadrian) split the defenders and hit a clutch layup to tie the game with Hawthorne at 62 piece with just seconds remaining.
Bloodworth scored 20 points for the Blue Wave, 17 of which came in the second half.@PKYBasketball @ESPNGainesville pic.twitter.com/2ldkhlHltl
— Mike Kennedy (@MikeKennedyNFL) January 31, 2020
On Hawthorne’s next possession, Torey Buie was fouled and went to the line for two. However, he split the pair, leaving the door open for the Blue Wave to steal the win. A steal and save by Jeremiah James however sealed the victory for the Hornets at the buzzer.
A great defensive play by Jeremiah James (@thejerryjames1) after a clutch free throw by Torey Buie (@ToreyBuie) seals the one-point 63-62 win for Hawthorne over PK Yonge in a classic.@ESPNGainesville @HawthorneHoops @ThePrepZone pic.twitter.com/ZtkZUBu8Dp
— Mike Kennedy (@MikeKennedyNFL) January 31, 2020
“That last possession was defense- I took out my bigs and went all guards, so we could apply a little bit more pressure and that’s how we were able to get that steal at the end,” Bowie said on the final play.
On the other side, P.K. Yonge was short-handed down the stretch, as the Hornets weren’t the only ones dealing with foul trouble.
“I think dribble penetration was hurting us. Allowing their players to get to the basket, being able to score or cause us to get into foul trouble,” Blue Wave head coach Boderick Johnson said. “Some of our key players weren’t able to play extended minutes and eventually fouled out there that last almost three and a half minutes of the game, so we had to rely on some other players.”
Back-and-forth affair in a raucous atmosphere
The game was back-and-forth throughout, never reaching a double digit deficit for either side. P.K. Yonge built an eight-point lead in the third quarter, but Hawthorne immediately responded with a 9-0 run to retake the lead. Besides that short stretch run, the game was always within a few points.
Being a rivalry game, the gym was packed before the JV game beforehand even reached halftime.
Stands are filling up and it’s not even halftime for Hawthorne Hornets vs P.K. Yonge Blue Wave JV boys basketball game. Stay tuned @ESPNGainesville @ThePrepZone @HawthorneHoops @PKYBasketball pic.twitter.com/LpZ1nxBFHF
— Syltavius Kelley (@tavius21) January 30, 2020
The already raucous building erupted after a missed dunk by P.K. Yonge’s Aaron Small.
Missed Dunk by P.K. Yonge Blue Wave #24 Aaron Small electrifies the crowd @ESPNGainesville @ThePrepZone pic.twitter.com/J4JBXXblpc
— Syltavius Kelley (@tavius21) January 31, 2020
Stars for both teams shine
The phrase “big time players make big time plays in big time games” definitely applied Thursday night for players on both squads.
Not only did Adrian Bloodworth hit the game-tying layup for P.K. Yonge, but he was also the leading scorer for the game overall. He was getting everywhere he wanted in the second half, scoring 17 of his 20 points.
PK Yonge’s Adrian Bloodworth (@worldwideadrian) pulls up at the free throw line to give the Blue Wave a 33-29 lead in the third quarter against Hawthorne.@ESPNGainesville @PKYBasketball @ThePrepZone pic.twitter.com/CoSVtdOlvI
— Mike Kennedy (@MikeKennedyNFL) January 31, 2020
Teammate Christian Norman was right behind him with 19 points; he scored 12 of those in the fourth quarter, including this clutch three-pointer.
On the fastbreak after a blocked shot, Christian Norman of PK Yonge hits a three-pointer to put the Blue Wave up 51-50 with just over four to go in the fourth quarter against Hawthorne.@ESPNGainesville @PKYBasketball @ThePrepZone pic.twitter.com/pqxnEarmeL
— Mike Kennedy (@MikeKennedyNFL) January 31, 2020
Aaron Small and Greg Maxwell scored nine and eight points, respectively.
P.K. Yonge Blue Wave #11 Greg Maxwell with a difficult layup in the first half to put P.K Yonge up 15-14 @ESPNGainesville @ThePrepZone pic.twitter.com/NS3hGCa2Rq
— Syltavius Kelley (@tavius21) January 31, 2020
For Hawthorne, Jeremiah James and Torey Buie tied for the team lead with 14 each. James got the scoring started, notching eight points in the first quarter alone. Thanks to a concussion, this was Buie’s first game back in action in 10 days, and he did not let his team down, scoring nine points in the final period, including the game-deciding free throw.
Hawthorne Hornets #10 Torey Buie (@ToreyBuie) hits 3 pointer to put Hornets up at the end of the 3rd quarter 43-41 against P.K Yonge Blue Wave @ESPNGainesville @ThePrepZone pic.twitter.com/YEt9bAFGrd
— Syltavius Kelley (@tavius21) January 31, 2020
Thurman Mills was the other Hornet in double figures. He did most of his damage in the third quarter when he scored eight straight points in the low post. Key’shaun Williams and Dre Lawrence were next on the team with eight and seven points, respectively.
Hawthorne’s Dre Lawrence (@AgentD_4) fights through traffic to hit a contested underhand layup in the second quarter.
At halftime, Lawrence has four points and the Hornets lead PK Yonge 28-24.@ESPNGainesville @HawthorneHoops @ThePrepZone pic.twitter.com/Uky8MiFBuV
— Mike Kennedy (@MikeKennedyNFL) January 31, 2020
Moving forward
After moving to 18-3 with the win, Hawthorne will have time to rest before their last regular season game on Wednesday at home against North Marion. This will give the team time to work on their free throw shooting more.
Following last week’s loss to Eastside, Bowie said that was the team’s biggest issue, and despite the win over P.K. Yonge, he’s still not happy with their efforts at the line.
“Right now I think it’s just mental. We’ve spent a whole hour on free throws the last two or three weeks at each practice,” he said. “We have to go to the line with confidence and knock them down.”
With the loss, P.K. Yonge fell to .500 on the season at 11-11. They have to turn things around quickly for their home conference game against Trinity Catholic on Saturday.
“I told the guys in the locker room that I hurt for them. I’ve been there so I understand where they’re at, but you’ve got to let it go,” Johnson said. “Tomorrow’s a new day and we’ve got a big district game coming up on Saturday potentially for first place in the district, so we’ll refocus, come in to practice tomorrow and bring the same energy.”