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By: Benjamin McLeish and Dylan Olive
After a tight loss at home to Williston on Tuesday, their first home loss of the season, the Gainesville High school basketball team looked to bounce back against their rival Buchholz. The “Purple Palace” was packed, and fans buzzed with anticipation as the two teams warmed up. The first quarter lived up to the anticipation, featuring eight lead changes between the two teams. Neither team could separate itself from the other until Buchholz secured a six-point lead over the Hurricanes with about a minute left in the first half.
Closing Out the Half
That’s when everything went wrong for Buchholz. With 54 seconds remaining in the half, Theo Stephens was fouled and rewarded with two free throws. Right after Buchholz’s shooting foul, they were charged with a technical foul for arguing a call. Stephens sunk all four of his free throws and the momentum was swayed in the Hurricanes’ favor. The Hurricanes finished the half with a 10-0 scoring run after a steal and layup by Elijah Williams and four more made free throws by the team.
Dominant Finish
The Hurricanes never looked back, outscoring Buchholz 23-13 in the third quarter with the help of five made three-pointers. Buchholz was able to shrink the Hurricanes’ lead down to eight points with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter, but ultimately the Hurricanes regained control and defeated Buchholz 76-55.
The big win was emphasized with a buzzer-beater three-pointer from Cormac Davis, causing the gym to erupt with excitement. Theo Stephens stole the show for the Hurricanes, scoring 25 points with the help of three made three-pointers. Anthony Leivonen also had a big night, scoring 15 points with three made three-pointers.
Never Perfect
Though the Hurricanes defeated Buchholz by over 20 points, head coach Mike Barnes stressed that they didn’t play a perfect game. “I didn’t necessarily like our energy at the beginning of the game,” he said. “I told them in the locker room I think we can take it up a notch, and we came out and did a little bit better in the third quarter.” Barnes said that he hopes his players can always play with the same intensity they had in the third quarter.
“Guys tend to play a lot harder when the ball is going in the basket,” he said.
The ball certainly found the basket on Friday night, as the Hurricanes scored the most points this season since their opening game on November 22. The Hurricanes will look to carry their momentum into Tuesday’s away matchup between Newberry.
