Hawthorne wins slugfest, defeats Wildwood for second Class 1A state championship in school history

Hawthorne head coach Cornelius Ingram won a state title in football back in December and added another in girls basketball on Friday night

LAKELAND, Fla.- Hawthorne head coach Cornelius Ingram had already led the school to its first ever state championship in football back in December at Gene Cox Stadium in Tallahassee.

Winning one state title was nice, why not make it twice?

Ingram led Hawthorne to its first state championship in girls basketball back in 2020, defeating Port St. Joe. On Friday night at the RP Funding Center, he led the Hornets to a second. Hawthorne had to scrape and claw its way to the finish line, defeating Wildwood in a physical 42-38 victory for the Class 1A state championship. 

Also with the victory, the Hornets avenged two losses to Wildwood from the 2021-2022 season, with one of them knocking Hawthorne out of the postseason. 

"That's what we are building at Hawthorne," Ingram said about winning a second state title between football and girls basketball. "This is a special place and we just love the kids that we coach. I had an opportunity to speak on it the day before yesterday. Myself, my brother being the head boys basketball coach, the other other assistant coaches. We want to be one of the top schools with a great football program, girls basketball program and boys basketball program."

If you came to Lakeland looking for a physical game, the Class 1A state title game was it. Both teams saw plenty of hard fouls and players hitting the floor at times. Both schools brought arguably the best crowds of the day and the teams didn't disappoint. 

Early indications that this would be a slugfest all evening long was the first quarter. Wildwood (24-2) could never really shake Hawthorne no matter how many times they tried. After the Hornets took a brief 4-3 lead, the Wildcats regained a 6-4 advantage. 

Another lead change wouldn't take place until the 2:06 mark of the second period when Hawthorne' Zakena Ealy scored on a layup to give the Hornets (15-5) the lead back at 14-13. It would be awhile until the Hornets owned a lead, but once they got ahead, it would never be relinquished. 

Wildwood guard Essiance Jasper works around a Hawthorne defender during the Class 1A girls basketball state championship game at the FHSAA Finals on Friday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland / Photo by Bill Kemp

Wildwood entered halftime with a 17-13 lead and never built it any larger than six. The Wildcats started to have problems against the Hornets' 3-2 defense that was implemented and the turnovers started to pile up. 

"We switched the defense to a 3-2 so they couldn't get as many open looks as the first half" Hawthorne guard De'Mya Adams said. "In the first half, I wasn't really doing good finishing. At halftime, we just said we have to finish. Go to the rim and attack. Just finish."

The Wildcats ended the night giving up the basketball 21 times and the Hornets with 18. Slowing down one of the state's leading scorers in Wildwood's Trinidy Harris was a team assignment and they were able to pass the test. Harris scored a game-high 20 points, but it would be on 7-of-20 from the field. 

Trailing 30-25 in the fourth period, the Hornets began making their 12-8 run to the end of the game. Hawthorne took its first lead since back in the second quarter with 2:43 remaining, going up 33-31 on a Lakijah Brown (five points) layup. 

Multiple trips down court for Wildwood ended with turnovers and Adams would be right on the other end to convert on easy layups. Adams, who ended the game with 18 points and six steals, contributed in Hawthorne building a 38-31 lead late and never looking back. 

"Man, it feels great," Adams said about winning the state championship. "(Football team) was very supportive. I can't even imagine (winning a state championship). It's crazy. So many emotions going through my head."

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.