Williston is 2-8 against Hawthorne since January of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Williston Red Devils will welcome the Hawthorne Hornets at 7:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Williston took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. They blew past Chiefland, posting a 76-31 win. Given the Red Devils' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 71st, while the Indians are ranked 416th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/13/25 vs Chiefland | 24 |
| 01/11/25 vs The Rock National | 31 |
| 01/10/25 @ Newberry | 24 |
| 12/28/24 vs North Marion | 22 |
| 12/21/24 vs Hilliard | 30 |
De'Andre Harvey continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 10 for 16 en route to 24 points along with seven boards and seven steals. His evening made it 12 games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Xavier Kirkpatrick was another key player, going 6 of 11 on his way to 16 points.
Williston was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in February of 2024.
Meanwhile, everything went Hawthorne's way against Chiefland on Thursday as Hawthorne made off with a 55-35 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Hornets.
Hawthorne's win came from a few key players Williston will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Demetrius Brown, who went 6 for 14 en route to 18 points. Another player making a difference was Chasion Wilson, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine rebounds.
Williston's win was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 12-8. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 32.7 points. As for Hawthorne, their victory bumped their record up to 8-1.
Friday's game will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Harvey and Wilson. Harvey has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 22.8 points, 2.4 steals, and 7.3 boards on 51.2% shooting. For his part, Wilson has averaged 14.3 points, 2.3 steals, and 1.2 blocks.
Williston was able to grind out a solid win over Hawthorne in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, winning 61-49. Will Williston repeat their success, or does Hawthorne have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
