Hawthorne Girl’s Basketball Head to State Semifinals

The Hawthorne Hornets girls basketball team is in the State Semifinals in Lakeland.

The Hornets will face off against the Holmes County Blue Devils. This will be the second year in a row that these two teams have met in the state semifinal. Tip off for today’s game is set for 4 p.m. at the RP Funding Center.

Hawthorne comes into the match up at 27-2 on the season. Their only two losses came out of conference play against University Christian and P.K. Yonge, an Alachua County rival. Holmes County comes in at 23-4, with two district losses. Their two district losses were both from Ponce De Leon, one of which went into double overtime.

Hawthorne head coach Cornelius Ingram knows that no matter the outcome of the game, being able to play on the road is a great experience for the girls to have.

Last Game

In their last game, the Hornets defeated the Wildwood Wildcats 47-41 to advance to the semifinals. Jayla Williams was Hawthorne’s leading scorer with 17 points, nine of which came from three-point range. Everyone that entered the game for Hawthorne scored.

The Hornets will look to hold on to this momentum as they face off against Holmes County.

Last Year

The 2020 semifinal in Lakeland will be a rematch from the 2019 season. Hawthorne and Holmes County faced off in the same game this time last year to move on to the state finals.

Holmes County defeated Hawthorne 56-40 and knocked them out of the tournament. The Hornets will be taking the feeling from last year and moving it to this game to fuel their fire.

However, Ingram knows that the main key to this game doesn’t come from stat sheets or a redemption win. And if this one key is ever taken out of today’s game, then the team could struggle.