Hawks Subdue Sea Hawks, Streak Now at 9!

       The first place Hayfield Hawks ventured to Reston to take on their nemesis, the South Lakes Sea Hawks  on Friday night. Last season, Hayfield fell to the Sea Hawks by one point in the Liberty Conference Championship, which was a bitter pill to swallow. This year, fresh off their defeat of previously undefeated (in conference) Fairfax HS, the Hawks stepped up their second half defense to avenge last season’s loss, with a 23 point victory over South Lakes. This victory, (Hayfield’s 9^th in a row) gave Hayfield an excellent chance to be the number 1 seed in the upcoming Liberty Conference Tournament, as Hayfield currently stands 6-0 in conference, with only the Generals of Washington & Lee HS remaining (Friday, February 13, 2015; senior night at Hayfield).

     Tonight, the Hawks had a well balanced attack, led by SF Tyler Hodge (17pts, 5rebs, 2asts), who followed up his strong game vs. Fairfax with another excellent game, especially from downtown, where he drained 3 of Hayfield’s 4 threes. Hodge, the Hawks main scoring threat from the wing, has also blossomed into the Hawks main threat from beyond the arc (converting 39% of his shots). He was joined in double figures by C Eliet Donley (11pts, 16rebs, 6asts, 3blks) who had his biggest rebound game of 2014-2015. Donley shrugged off a lower than average scoring night, by leading the team with 6 assists.

    Hayfield, unhappy with their 6 point cushion at halftime, limited the Sea Hawks to 16 second half points, including a 6 minute 51 second stretch of the 4^th quarter, where they held South Lakes scoreless. PG Kyle Phox (4pts, 4rebs, 1blk) came off the bench to spark the defensive recharge. Hayfield had been victimized on several occasions in the first 16 minutes by Sea Hawks guards taking our defenders off the dribble, down the lane for easy scores. Phox put a halt to that, as he used his length and quickness to limit those penetrations. When starting PG Daquan Poindexter (6pts, 2asts, 4stls) returned to the floor, the Hawks took advantage of their two point guards quickness, and defensive pressure to get key stops, and easy baskets. Another defensive stalwart tonight was PF Dalon Thomas (8pts, 11rebs, 2asts, 4chrgs), who had another multi-drawn charge game, registering 4 in one game for the 3^rd time this season (and now has 29 on the season). Time after time as South Lakes desperately tried to come back, Thomas would be in the right position to take away would be baskets. The Hawks had another strong game rejecting shots as well, accruing 11 total, including 3 each from Donley and PF Jeremy Jones (9pts, 4rebs, 2stls).  Jones returned to the starting lineup, and kept up his hot shooting, going 4 for 4 inside the arc, to raise his team high 2PT FG percentage to 63%.

     Other contributions included: SF Muharrim Haque (4pts, 2rebs, 3asts), was second on the team with 3 assists, bringing his total up to 31, becoming the 6^th player on Hayfield’s varsity with 30 or more assists. SF Kelsey McCrimmon (7pts, 2asts, 1blk) provided solid wing defense, and connected on his team leading 20^th three pointer. Jr. SF/PF Aaron Jeter (2pts, 2rebs) returning from injury just last game, provided valuable rest for Hayfield starters, and chipped in with two clutch rebounds. Jr. PF/C Corey McGhee (4rebs, 1ast, 1blk) came off the bench late, to finish off the game, grabbing 4 rebounds, and blocking a shot in just under 3.5 minutes.  Fr. SG Brian Cobbs (2pts, 2rebs), connected twice from the charity stripe, bringing his percentage to 69% (3^rd on the team). So. PG Will Douglas (1stl, 2dflctns) quickly made his presence felt, by swiping a steal in his first minute of play, while Jr. SG Romaine Oakley (2rebs) came into the game late in the first half, and snagged an offensive rebound, and but was unable to get it back up as the half expired.

Pts. Scored By: Poindexter (6), Phox (4), McCrimmon (7), Hodge (17), Jones (9), Oakley (0), Donley (11), Haque (4), Douglas (0), Thomas (8), Cobbs (2), Jeter (2), McGhee (0)