Hawks Stung By Hornets, Lose in 2^nd Round

     The Hayfield Boys Basketball season came to an end on Tuesday night, with a 94-83 loss to top seeded Herndon HS. The Hawks had a brief lead to start the game, as PF Dalon Thomas (4pts, 2dflcts) secured the opening tip, and banked his first shot in on a runner down the lane. After that, the Hornets were off to the races. Hayfield would not score again until the Hornets were up 16-2. Herndon was explosive out of the gate, raining threes, and attacking the basket. They racked up 6 offensive rebounds in the opening quarter, en route to 23 first quarter points, matching a season high of points allowed in the opening quarter (23 to Edison back in December).

     Hayfield did not cave however. The Hawks chipped away at the deficit, at one point trimming it to 10 (19-9) in the first, and early in the second quarter, their defensive intensity increased, worrying the Hornets. SF Tyler Hodge (12pts, 5rebs, 2blks) had his best game of the season, both on the offensive end, and on defense, where he has been up and down this season. Hodge gave a preview of next season, when he is projected to be one of the go to guys for the Hawks. During one 2 minute stretch, Hodge played shut down defense on the Hornets main offensive threat; snaring a clean steal, and then blocking a sure basket attempt. Unfortunately, his brilliant play was not enough, as the Hawks fell farther behind at the half, trailing by 22 points (easily their largest hole of the season).

     The second half was an awakening for the Hawks, and had they been playing almost anyone else, it would have been more than enough. The Hawks offense finally found some holes, and finally drew some fouls. They scored 9 from the line, and converted 7 field goals, including two 3 pointers. Normally a 25 point quarter is excellent, but the Hawks could only trim 1 point of the lead. In the 4^th quarter, the offense centered on SF Amir Atkins (31pts, 4rebs, 1stl, 1blk), who was playing in his last high school game. One could tell that he wasn’t ready for it to end. Atkins scored 17 of his 31 points in the final frame, including 3 long three pointers. Again, normally a barrage like that from Atkins, who broke out of his shooting slump in a big way tonight, would have been more than enough to put a team away. The Hawks were able to trim the lead to 11 (from 22) outscoring the Hornets 31-20, but it was not to be for the 2013-2014 Hayfield Hawks.

      Other notable contributions: C Eliet Donley (10pts, 10rebs, 2blks) scored 10 or more points for the eleventh straight game. Additionally, he had two sweet dunks in this game, including a sweeping one handed flush in the fourth quarter, when he took his man off the dribble from the left corner. Senior PG Tyler Thornton (12pts, 2rebs, 1blk) scored in double digits for the 6^th time this season. Thornton was perfect from the stripe tonight, and swished two threes during the comeback attempt. Senior SG Phil Guydon (5pts, 1reb, 1ast) sank his 22nd three pointer of the season (2^nd to Atkins on the Hawks), making him one of five Hawks (Atkins, Donley, Thornton, Thomas the other four) who scored 150 points or more this season. SF Kelsey McCrimmon (7pts, 2rebs) scored 5 points in the closing minutes, including dropping in a long range three, and a put back tip-in.