Senior-Day Night Lights: Buchholz Batters Hawthorne

By: Anna Tsemba and Tyler Kenyon

The Bud Seymour Gymnasium was packed for a Thursday night showdown between the 11-13 Buchholz Bobcats and the 7-5 Hawthorne Hornets. Buchholz hoped to get their first win in 3 games on their home court. The Bobcats are led by head coach Blake Golden, with team captains Tyler Gainey and Ryan Webster. Hawthorne is 7-5 and is led by their Head Coach Greg Bowie.

First Quarter

The Bobcats senior night game got off to a slow start. The rebounding and slashing game from Hawthorne sophomore CJ Ingram frustrated the Bobcats early. Buchholz had a hard time getting settled into the flow of the game with an opening 9-2 run from the Hawthorne Hornets. Their ability to get inside the paint was hurting the home team. After a couple of minutes, however, the Bobcats pulled ahead with a 1-3-1 zone to stifle the Hawthorne offensive pressure and led at the end of the first 16-15.

Second Quarter

After Buchholz frustrated the Hornets with their full-court zone in the first quarter, Hawthorne decided to open the second quarter with a full-court defense of their own. At this point, the offensive front for the Bobcats had started to heat up. Jacob Sterck was able to pull three-pointers from the top of the key at will. By the five-minute mark, however, Hawthorne started to interrupt the Buchholz passing game substantially.

A big dunk a minute later from Sterck shifted the momentum back in the Bobcat’s favor. Sterck followed with a big three to tie the game at 25. For the remainder of the quarter, Hawthorne had no answer for the offensive barrage of Buchholz. They went on an 11-2 run for the last four minutes. 27-38 at the half.

Third Quarter

Hawthorne played frustrated in the third quarter. The Hornets full-court press in the second quarter slowed the team’s hustle down considerably. Buchholz was able to have more success in the paint during this quarter, as the Hawthorne defense broke down play after play. The Bobcats had much more time to settle into their offense and cherry-pick free buckets at various times throughout the half.

The tired Hornets picked up fouls, trying desperately to stop the continued offensive front from the Bobcats. Buchholz Point guard Tyler Gainey did a great job controlling the pace of the team and not letting the momentum shift the other way during the more chaotic moments of the quarter. Buchholz led by 10 at the end of the third quarter 49-39. 

Fourth Quarter

The final quarter began with the Hornet defense developing a sense of urgency. Tyler Gainey continued to remain calm and composed under the press, leading forward Palmer Walton into foul after foul. A frustrated Walton and company punished the Hornets for every mistake they made, shooting 91% on 11 attempts at the line.

Hawthorne struggled to get anything going on the offensive end. They missed almost every shot attempt inside the paint. CJ Ingram was unable to do everything for his struggling unit on the offensive end. An impressive all-around showing from the Bobcats and clever defensive adjustments from the coaching staff led the Buchholz Bobcats to a well-earned 67-57 win.

Exclusive interviews from coach Blake Golden via Anna Tsemba and shooting guard Jacob Sterck via Tyler Kenyon