Hawthorne and Williston Boys Basketball in Semifinals of State Tournament

Two Gainesville area high schools have reached the semifinals of the FHSAA 1A State Tournament. The Williston Red Devils and Hawthorne Hornets will compete for a spot in the state championship.

Williston beat Wildwood 66-63 in the regional finals, earning themselves a state semifinals matchup against Franklin County. Williston and Franklin County will face off on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, Hawthorne upset Newberry 43-41 in the regional finals to punch its ticket to the state semifinals. Hawthorne will play Chipley on Wednesday at 9 p.m.

Hawthorne head coach Greg Bowie joined Sport Scene to discuss Hawthorne’s regional final win and its upcoming matchup.

Regional Final

Prior to the regional final matchup, Hawthorne and Newberry matched up in the district championship. While the Hornets won both meetings, the paths to get there were very different. Bowie recalled that in the district championship, Newberry had a hot start and held a 10-point lead at halftime. In the regional finals, Hawthorne jumped out first and had a near double-digit lead at halftime.

However, Hawthorne would eventually fall behind in the second half and Newberry had the lead late in the game. With seconds left, Newberry tuned the ball over and Hawthorne made clutch free throws to win the game.

 

Experience

Bowie said the experience that his players have in different situations helped Hawthorne in the win. He explained that regular season games are scheduled with this in mind:

“You try to schedule to make sure you experience the highs and the lows during the course of the game” he said. “You don’t want your kids to get caught off guard.”

State Semifinal

Hawthorne faces Chipley in the state semifinals. Chipley is a team that has beaten Hawthorne twice in the past to win the state championship. Bowie described Chipley as a “super athletic team” and highlighted its ability to shoot beyond the arc. He compared Chipley to Hawthorne in the sense that they are a “scrappy” team and said they play well defensively.