GHS Girls Basketball Falls Short To Unbeaten Wildwood

The Gainesville High School girls basketball team was unable to hold off the visiting Wildwood High School Wildcats and ended suffering a 54-50 loss Tuesday.

The Hurricanes dropped to 9-8 heading into their last two games of the regular season. The Wildcats (18-0) also completed the season sweep of the ‘Canes, adding to a 74-63 win on Dec. 19.

Four-Part Thriller

Every quarter of this game provided a different storyline. The first quarter brought an intense battle with an electric environment. The second quarter featured the ‘Canes controlling the court. Coming out of halftime, the Wildcats flipped the script and stormed back. And a whirlwind finish that had fans on the edge of their seats.

Intense Battle

The game started as a back-and-forth battle that saw the Wildcats leading 6-5 at the 3:12 mark. However, thanks to a corner 3 from senior leader Jamison Cardwell, the Hurricanes went on a 9-2 run for a 13-8 lead.

The players were putting on a show for the fans. A show so good, that an overzealous spectator was removed from the stands with 25 seconds left in the first quarter.

Controlling Court

GHS knew that in order to win it needed to keep up the intensity in the second quarter, and that is just what it did. Wildwood started this quarter with four free throws, but went 1-of-4 and were now trailing 13-9. Sophomore Sarah Collins went 2-of-3 from the field and was strong on defense to help put together an eight-point run that increased the lead to 12.

The Wildcats were finally able to make their first field goal of the quarter with 1:24 left to go. Along with one more basket and some free throws, the Wildcats inched closer. The half would end with GHS leading 23-16.

Jayden Terry hits both free throws with around 1:45 left in the half to put the Gainesville Hurricanes up by 10!
GHS- 23
Wildwood- 13 pic.twitter.com/5FYsGR8nUb

— Riley Candreva (@ReliableRileyC) January 29, 2025

Flipped The Script

The beginning of the third quarter looked like it was going to be continued success for the ‘Canes. Senior, and Louisiana Tech signee, Jayden Terry made a quick 3-pointer right off the inbound and GHS went on a 5-0 run to extend its lead to 28-16.

From that point on Wildwood coach Vincent Brown saw a different team. The Wildcats shot 7-of-14 from the field and 5-for-8 from the free-throw line to close with a 35-31 lead, their first lead since the 2:31 mark of the first quarter. They were able to outscore GHS 19-8 en route to the lead.

A major part in the third quarter comeback was shutting down Cardwell. In the third quarter she only took one shot, a 3, compared to seven shots in the first half. She was also struggling to dish the ball out to her teammates.

Whirlwind Finish

Cardwell was finally able to get back on the scoreboard with two made free throws in the early fourth quarter to cut the Wildwood lead to 35-33.

Then freshman phenom Zoey Brown showed up to help the Wildcats close the game. She went 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc to score 10 points in the fourth quarter.

It felt like anytime the Hurricanes were able to get it close again Brown was there to drain a 3 to keep the lead.

With 4:46 left in the game, Terry made both free throws to bring the score to 45-39 Wildwood. A 5-0 run for GHS brought life back into the home gym. The ‘Canes were only down 1 with 2:13 left and all the momentum. Unfortunately for GHS, Brown stole all the momentum back with a quick jumper.

Jamison Cardwell drains it to get Gainesville back within one!
GHS- 44
Wildwood- 45
2:28 left in the 4th pic.twitter.com/zlnwaIfVgv

— Riley Candreva (@ReliableRileyC) January 29, 2025

The last minute of the game saw fouls being called left and right. The Hurricanes went to the line with the score sitting at 48-46. After making the first one to get to 47, GHS missed the second and couldn’t haul in the rebound.

The final seconds saw an errant pass and a technical foul that gave Wildwood two free throws and the ball back to seal the victory.

“I really believe we played hard, we fought hard, we gotta make a few minor corrections at the end of the game,” Hurricanes coach Jazlynd Rollins, said.

GHS Girls Basketball head coach Jazlynd Rollins after her team falling just short to visiting Wildwood. pic.twitter.com/2R2KujzOi6

— Olivia Bass (@oliviabass05) January 29, 2025

Up Next

The Hurricanes travel to Newberry High School on Friday night to face the Panthers (14-4) at 6 p.m. The Wildcats play their final game on the regular season Friday vs. Mount Dora Christian Academy (14-8) at 7:30 p.m. with an undefeated season on the line.