Hilliard waited decades for another shot at a basketball state championship.
The opportunity came on Friday night.
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The championship, however, did not.
The Red Flashes came up short in their quest for a state championship, falling to Hawthorne 42-38 in the Class 1A final on Friday night at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. The Red Flashes were scoreless in the final 88 seconds of the game and watched as Hawthorne iced things at the foul line.
It marked the sixth time that Hilliard has finished as state runner-up. The Red Flashes’ lone state title came in 1963.
Jacob Crews knocked down consecutive free throws to tie things at 38-all with 1 minute, 28 seconds left to go but the Red Flashes couldn’t close things out. Hilliard went 0 for 3 from the field and was whistled for a technical foul in the final 88 seconds. Hawthorne went 4 for 5 from the free throw line in that span and shut the door on Hilliard’s best season in 57 years.
The Red Flashes didn’t play particularly well on offense, going just 12 for 42 from the field and 1 of 7 from the 3-point arc. Shemar Melton, who finished with 12 points and has been a strong No. 2 player behind Crews, fouled out midway through the final quarter.
Crews, a UNF signee, finished with 13 points.
Hilliard’s finish stung, but the Red Flashes made a significant turnaround. Crews, who played as an eighth grader, was on a team that season that finished 3-20.