In the five years that the Hawthorne High School Boy’s Basketball Team have been entering the Weehawken Christmas Tournament, the results have been less than spectacular.

This year was a little different.

The boys entered the tournament with a 2-1 record and were penciled in to play Hoboken in the first round. What would happen next is nothing short of amazing. At the end of the first quarter Hawthorne maintained a 17-10 lead; but after being outscored by thirteen points in the second quarter, they entered halftime down six points.

During the third quarter the boys dug themselves a hole by going down eighteen points, but the fourth quarter is where the magic happened. Danny Rodriguez and Ramon Mariano combined for seventeen of Hawthorne’s 30, fourth quarter points. Hawthorne outscored Hoboken 30-11 in the fourth quarter and it ended with Dallas Hoffman hitting two free throws with 1.4 seconds left to ice the game for good. Mariano led Hawthorne with eighteen points, Hoffman had sixteen, Kendale Butler with 12, and Rodriguez with 11 points.

The boys won the game 65-64 in what was an instant classic.

Mr. Ward was asked about how he felt about that game and he said, “Yes!!!”, with a Tiger Woods-esque fist pump. The team went on to beat Secaucus in the final by twenty-six points (56-30).

This was their first win at the Weehawken tournament ever. Congratulations to the team.