The Hawks were focused, energized and ready. Sparks skimped under their sneakers during warm-ups. Spirit seemed reinvigorated in the faltering team desperate to meet the excellence of last seasons’ performance.
The last time these two teams went head-to-head the Hawks came out with a 14-point victory. But the Hawks were hungry for more. Feb. 10, they won over skyline again 93-78.
The Las Positas Bench was uncharacteristically loud with tenacious whooping and cheers, probably because this was the last of the Hawks home games for the season. Even freshman guard CJ Ward showed up to encourage his team from the bench despite his injury and season long suspension.
The game was tense, both Skyline and the Hawks matched in skill and tenacity. The game was fast paced and unlike the Hawk’s usual playing style, they focused more on scoring than brute force.
But after halftime the intensity increased. At the start of the second half, Skyline’s coach Justin Piergrossi argued with a referee and held up the game. The quarreling didn’t end there.
Skyline consistently pestered the referees about missed foul calls on Las Positas. By the fourth quarter, a referee got agitated and said, “Let us do our jobs.”
By then the fouls started racking up and frustrations were running high. Isaiah Victor exclaimed “you can’t keep doing this to me man” after getting his second foul in a row.
Despite this they were able to maintain their lead on skyline throughout the end of the game.
“This guy right here (Brandon Fisher) really stepped up,” freshman forward Jajuan Mitchell-Cox said.
Sophomore forward Brandon Fisher collected an impressive twelve rebounds over the game. In tandem with the ten rebounds Jordahn Johnson had, the two were key pieces in the Hawks victory. Another standout, freshman forward Jajuan Mitchell-Cox had four separate dunks throughout the game.
As their final home game of the season, the team seems to be ready to move on to bigger and better things.
“I won’t miss playing home games. We’re a team that plays off energy, there’s only a few members on our bench and it’s just not the same, ” sophomore guard Jalen Patterson said.
Putting the past behind them the Hawks as a team have been putting in work to be ready for playoffs.
The team is working towards improvement with every game. Nearing the end of the season, they are excited for what lies ahead.
“Now that we won against Skyline, we are in a higher placement going into the playoffs, and if we win our next game, our seating will be even higher,” said Patterson.
Brijae Boyd is a writer for the Express.
