To begin the year, the Hawthorne boys basketball team has a record of 3-4 on the season, with 11 remaining games left on the regular season schedule. Ridgefield and Manchester Regional High School handed the Bears their first two losses of the year, which caused Hawthorne to open up the season with an 0-2 record. Despite these losses, both of these games were very winnable, as Hawthorne only lost by 7 points to Ridgefield, and by 3 points to Manchester. The team then bounced back to get their first win of the season with a dominant victory over Eastern Christian, with a score of 51-39.
The boys now have a 2-2 record in their past four games played. The Bears suffered a tough loss in Mahwah as the final score was 52-33. Hawthorne then flipped the switch with a big win four days later against Leonia in the Bears Holiday Classic. The boys won this game by 12 points, with a final score of 52-40. They then suffered a tough loss the very next day to Weehawken in the Bears Holiday Class, with the final score being 43-30. Their last win consisted of a dominant offensive performance in a huge win against Lakeland, with a final score of 57-37. This 20 point victory has been the biggest win of Hawthorne’s season so far.
Player Stats
This year, there have been 330 points scored throughout 7 total games this season. The leading contributors have been Sophomore Adam Reilly with 96 points, Senior Pablo Gonzalez with 73 points, and Junior Alfonso Coba with 60 points. These three players are also the most experienced players on the team, as they were a big help to last year’s winning season. They all combined for 393 points last year out of the team total of 990 points. This means that these three players contributed to about 40% of the points of last year’s team’s scoring.
In the team’s three wins so far this season, Sophomore Adam Reilly has led the team with 42 points combined, followed by 35 points by Senior Pablo Gonzalez, and 34 points by Junior Alfonzo Coba. These 3 players have scored over 70% of the teams points in their wins this season. The other 30% comes from Junior Uriel Acosta, Senior Max Coba, Senior Kyle Pollick, Senior Angel Clemente, and Senior Justin Kolldani. This Senior heavy team is only returning 3 starters from last year and they are eager to improve from their 11-10 record from the previous season.
What’s Next?
Hawthorne’s next four games consist of an away matchup against Butler (1-4), away at Pompton Lakes (2-3), at home against Glen Rock (4-2), and away versus Hawthorne Christian (1-4). The toughest team that they will see in their next couple of games will be the Glen Rock Panthers, as they have an impressive record of 4-2 on the season. This game will take place in Hawthorne on January 8, at 4:00 PM. Hawthorne has struggled to beat Glen Rock over the years, as the Bears have an 0-5 record against the Panthers in their past 5 matchups, dating all the way back to 2022.
The Bears are looking to finish the year strong, as the team should hope to improve their 3-4 record in the back end of their season. This team has the potential to end the year above .500, as Hawthorne has only hit this mark once in the past three years. This team has the ability to pick up the most amount of wins their program has had since the 2019-2020 season, in which they ended the year with an impressive record of 17-9 (including NJSIAA Tournament). Hawthorne is also looking to continue their scoring, as they have outscored their opponents 160-116 in games that they have won this year.