Saxons Clip Hawks’ Wings 42-31

    Hayfield’s Boys’ Varsity matched last season’s start to the season, with their 8^th loss in 11 games. Last season, the Hawks went on to capture their first conference championship in 10 years, by not dropping another game until the regional quarterfinals. It remains to be seen if this season’s group has the same moxie. Last night seemed to suggest otherwise, as Hayfield lost their second Liberty Conference game this year, one more than they had lost in 2013-2014 & 2014-2015 combined. However, if there is anything Hayfield has shown over the past three seasons, it is that they have the ability to rally. That ability is needed now!

   Last night, The Hawks played one of their better games defensively, holding the Langley Saxons to a season  low 42 points, 24.8 points lower than Hayfield was averaging (66.8 pts/game) for team defense. Hayfield amassed 21 deflections, 8 steals, and 4 blocked shots over the course of the night, but were often unable to parlay any of those disruptions into points, as they turned over the ball 24 times themselves, often just after making crucial stops. This defensive effort was a silver lining within this tough conference loss, proving to the Hawks, that they have the ability to defend when they need too.

   Hayfield was paced last night by SG Brian Cobbs (12pts, 5rebs, 1stl), the Hawks lone double figure scorer. Cobbs also drained Hayfield’s only two three pointers last night, including one in the fourth quarter, when he scored 5 points, as the Hawks made a last ditch effort to catch the Saxons. Cobbs, in his second year on varsity, has quietly become one of the leaders on this team. Hopefully his offensive confidence will be contagious, spurring the others onto a roll.

   Junior C Kareem Hamadouche (7pts, 2rebs, 1stl, 1blk), the only other player to score more than 5 points, started for the first time this season, and had his best game to date. Sr. Aaron Jeter (4pts, 4rebs, 3asts, 2stls, 1blk) who had been on a roll, scoring 57 points (19 pts/game) over the last three games, struggled vs. Langley’s tough perimeter defense, but did manage to lead the Hawks with 3 assists (not bad considering the Hawks only converted 13 field goals). Sr SG Romaine Oakley (4pts), playing with an injured hand, struggled to find his outside game, but did convert his two trips to the free throw line.

   Hayfield’s biggest area of opportunity is their PG position. This game clearly illustrated that concern, as the 4 players who played that position, combined for 6 points, 4 rebounds, 8 turnovers, 4 assists, 1steal, which translates to a combined stat line of: 1.5 pts, 1.0 rebs, 2.0 to’s, 1.0 asts, .25 stls / player. Hopefully, practice will make it possible for one or more of the Hawks point guards to find their mojo, and develop into a solid floor leader. Another silver lining, is that Jr PG Langston Gaither is returning to action after recovering from concussion symptoms, and will dress for the first time in 3 weeks, when Hayfield travels to Fairfax HS on Friday.

Pts. Scored By: Oakley (4), Cobbs (12), Douglas (2), Jeter (4), McGhee (0), Curetan (0), Jones (0), Wilkerson (0), Gaither (dnp), Brox (0), Wheeler (2), Mahmoud (0), Miles (0), Hamadouche (7), Joiner (0)