1A BOYS: Hawkins, Thunder roll into semifinals
Budweiser Hawkins was a freshman when Trinity’s boys basketball team won a Class 1A state title in 2007.
Three years later, the senior guard is doing everything in his power to lead the Thunder to another run at postseason glory.
Hawkins had 15 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday as Trinity rolled to a 60-35 win over Round Mountain in a 1A Southern League quarterfinal at Mirabelli Community Center.
“As a freshman, I was riding the bench a little bit,” Hawkins said. “This year, I’m the leader. It’s a big honor; I just want to close it out.”
Freshman forward Tyler Watts had 19 points and 11 rebounds for fourth-seeded Trinity (16-10), which will meet No. 1 Lake Mead (23-4) in a semifinal at Durango on Friday at 8 p.m. with a ticket to the state tournament on the line.
A dunk by Hawkins and three-point play by Watts highlighted a 17-3 second-quarter run the Thunder used to build a 29-11 lead.
Trinity closed the third quarter on a 15-0 run. The Thunder held the fifth-seeded Knights (7-16) to 2-for-11 shooting in the period, and went to the fourth up 50-20.
“We’ve been trying to work on finishing ball clubs we play against,” Trinity coach David Ross said. “Our goal was to make sure we kept our intensity up and force them to turn the ball over, which we did.”
Avery Harden added 10 points for the Thunder, who lost twice to Lake Mead during the regular season by a combined 50 points.
“It feels good to go out and execute what we did in practice and get a big win, but we’ve got to work harder on Friday,” Hawkins said.
Will Sweeney led Round Mountain with 16 points.
Beatty 54, Henderson International 26 — At Beatty, Ramiro Hernandez poured in 17 points, and the second-seeded Hornets (24-5) outscored seventh-seeded Henderson International 41-17 in the final three quarters to roll into the semifinals.
Anthony Turner added 14 points for Beatty, which will meet third-seeded Pahranagat Valley (18-10) in a semifinal Friday at 4:40 p.m. at Durango.
Chris Laliberte led the Wolverines (9-17) with 10 points.
