Twice as nice: Cornelius Ingram, Hawthorne girls basketball wins 1A state championship

LAKELAND − Winning a state high school championship is hard, let alone winning one in two different sports in a 76-day span.

Fortunately for Hawthorne, it has a guy who seems to have figured it all out in Cornelius Ingram, who doubles as the Hornets' football and girls basketball coach.

On Friday night, less than 3 months after leading his football team to the program's first state championship, Ingram guided the Hawthorne girls' basketball team to the program's second Class 1A state title in four seasons with a 42-38 win over Wildwood.

The Hornets (15-5) and Wildcats (24-2) came into the night with a history.

"Last year, they beat us maybe 60-26 in the regional finals ... It was bad," Ingram said. "And it left a bad taste in our mouth."

Hawthorne seeks repeat:Girls basketball: Hawthorne upsets reigning champ Ponce De Leon to advance to 1A title game

Hornets boys win:Hawthorne beats Newberry 43-41 on CJ Ingram's two free throws with one second left

When Hawthorne and Wildwood tipped off from George Jenkins Arena at Lakeland's RP Funding Center, the Hornets were ready.

"The crazy thing is, they didn't even talk about it," Ingram said. "I could see the energy in practice. I could see the focus in practice. I knew we were ready to play. They trusted the game plan and executed tonight."

Here's how it happened.

De'Mya Adams wills it for Hawthorne

In order for the Hornets to advance to the Final Four, Hawthorne had to get past Newberry in the region final.

That proved to be no problem for Hawthorne sophomore De'Mya Adams, who dropped 41 points against Newberry − the most of her young career.

Come the state semifinal against the defending champions in Ponce De Leon on Wednesday night, the Hornets found themselves needing a spark as they trailed at halftime. Once again, it was no problem for Adams, who scored 10 of her 20 points in the third quarter to help put Hawthorne get ahead of Ponce De Leon for good.

"Having a lot of talent and ability, I don't think she knows how special she is right now," Ingram said of Adams following the win over Ponce De Leon. "She's very young, but she's able to score anywhere on the floor."

Friday night, with a state title on the line, the Hornets found themselves trailing by three points with less than four minutes to play.

"I kept stressing that we would be fine," Ingram said.

Adams' phone rang. She picked it up.

En route to making an easy layup in transition, Adams was fouled. With a clutch free throw, Adams converted the three-point play, which tied the game at 31 with 3:41 to play.

The Hornets never looked back.

Adams scored her final point of the night from the free-throw line with 1:08 to play, capping off an 18-point effort.

In the final three games of her sophomore campaign, Adams tallied 79 points, good for an average of 26.3 points per game.

Jackson sisters save the best for last

It was a bittersweet night for Hawthorne's Jaz'lyn and Jhalea Jackson as the sisters celebrated a state championship while also realizing they won't be sharing the court any longer.

Jaz'lyn, who is Hawthorne's lone senior, was a part of the Hornets' title run in 2020. And as special as winning that first championship was, it doesn't rival winning one with her sophomore sister, Jhalea.

"This is an exciting moment," said Jaz'lyn, who recorded seven points and nine rebounds. "I'm just so happy."

Though happy with the win, it didn't take Jhalea long to realize that Friday's final whistle also meant the time on the court with her sister was over.

"This is kinda hard for me because it's my last time playing with her," Jhalea said.

Fortunately for the Jackson sisters, neither of them took the moment for granted as each of them made big contributions in the win.

Jhalea posted a double-double in the win with 10 points and 17 rebounds. She also added four crucial blocks down the stretch.

"She's one of the most unique players in girls high school basketball," Ingram said of Jhalea. "For her size, she's probably one of the best passers in the entire state. As you could see, she had two or three crucial blocks. She finished under the basket, had a soft touch at the free throw line. She is special. And she's only a sophomore, so watch out."

And as talented as Jhalea is, her game got a boost Friday as Ingram showed her a screenshot of a social media post.

"That's what motivated me," Jhalea said. "It said our bigs are a nonfactor. So I showed out today."

The Hornets aren't done yet

Though Hawthorne's girls' basketball team concluded its season Friday night, the Hornets aren't quite finished.

Sitting the level above the Hornets' bench on Friday night was Hawthorne's boys' basketball team, which punched its ticket to the Final Four last week with a slim win over Newberry in the region final. Sound familiar?

Well, if history is any indication, Hawthorne's boys' basketball team could be well on its way to a championship win of its own.

When the girls' team won the Class 1A title in 2020, the boys' team did, too.

You can call it a coincidence, but don't call it luck.

"We talked about this for a long time," said Ingram, whose brother, Greg Bowie, coaches the boys' team. "We want to be one of the top schools with a great football program, girls basketball program and boys basketball program. We're coaching special kids at Hawthorne every single day. That's what it's about."

Hawthorne's boys' team (11-6) will take the floor of the RP Funding Center on March 1 when it battles Chipley (20-6) at 8 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Hawthorne girls basketball claims 1A state title with win over Wildwood