Warriors Overcome Hawks; Donley Returns

    The Boys Varsity once again stepped it up when playing ranked competition; this time vs. the Warriors of Wakefield HS. The Warriors were led by PF/C Dominique Tham, who scored his 1,000 point of his illustrious HS career on an emphatic one handed jam, early in the 1^st quarter. The crowd erupted, and play halted, so he and his family could celebrate his accomplishment. Later in the first half, the Warrior crowd thought perhaps that had been the highlight, for the Hawks came to play. C Eliet Donley (12pts, 5rebs, 3asts) came off the bench, in his first game of the season (recovering from a broken hand), early in the first quarter, sparking the Hawks immediately with 5 first quarter points. After 16 minutes, it was the Hawks, and not the vaunted Warriors who led the game (31-30).

   This night seemed to be the Hawks night, with Donley returning to action. His presence, and interior defense, bolstered the other four on the floor with him (and those on the bench as well). In fact, after 24 minutes, the Hawks led by 3 points, and the improbable seemed possible. Unfortunately the final 8 minutes were mighty cruel to the struggling Hawks. After keeping Tham in check most of the night, he got it going, scoring 6 of his 12 points in the pivotal 4^th quarter. The first shoe to fall, in a span of 30 seconds, was when Donley was docked his 4^th and 5^th personal fouls on successive Warrior possessions. His final foul, happened when the referee was blocked off from the play, and thought he saw Donley foul the ball handler, although Donley’s hands were at his sides. The game was far from over though, for D. Nhial from Wakefield was then assessed a blocking foul, which he took umbrage to, and received a technical foul too. This removed him from the game with five fouls. The Hawks scored 3 (3-4 from the stripe) points on this play, to stay within striking range. Unfortunately, three fruitless trips on the offensive end, sealed the Hawks fate, and Wakefield escaped with and 8 point win, and their win streak very much alive.

   The Hawks were paced by Donley, and SF Muharrim Haque (12pts, 8rebs, 2asts, 1blk), who were joined in double figures by SF Tyler Hodge (10pts, 3rebs, 1ast). Haque rebounded from a bad game vs. St. Stephens, with his third double figure scoring game of the season, and led the team with 8 rebounds. PF/C Jeremy Jones (8pts, 4rebs) gave valuable minutes of the bench, and combined with Donley to give the Hawks their best game of the season from the center position (20pts, 9rebs, 3asts, 1blk). PG Daquan Poindexter (7pts, 4rebs, 3asts, 2stls) wowed the crowd with an amazing circus shot under the basket, and pushed his team lead to 43 assists on the season (3.9/game). SF Kelsey McCrimmon (7pts, 4rebs, 3asts) kept the Hawks close in the final minutes, by draining a contested three from the top left, late in the fourth quarter.

Pts. Scored By: Poindexter (7), Phox (0), McCrimmon (7), Hodge (10), Jones (8), Biniam (dnp), Oakley (0), Donley (12), Haque (12), Douglas (0), Thomas (2), Cobbs (0), Jeter (IR), McGhee (0),