Shy Hawkins' 26 points lifts Floyd girls to overtime win

Shy Hawkins knew exactly what to do. She dribbled down the court, stopped at the three-point line, and swish. After trailing the entire first half, her three-pointer gave Floyd their first lead of the game late in the third quarter. Not satisfied with being up by just one point, she took her chance at another three-pointer. Swish.

“I was thinking, things aren’t hitting, I gotta do something,” said the senior shooting guard. “Shooters gotta keep shooting, so that’s exactly what I did.”

Floyd defeated Whitman, 66-53, in overtime on Wednesday night on the road and Hawkins finished with 26 points and 15 rebounds.

“Big-time players make big-time plays,” coach Rich Sinclair said. “And Shy’s a big-time player. She puts the work in, so she deserves to take those shots.”

It was a slow start for Floyd, they trailed 11-8 after the first quarter and Iris Hoffman hit three three-pointers in the second quarter to bring Whitman up 27-19 at the half.

“They had it going in the first half,” senior guard Kayla Gilmore said. “We came together at half and said that losing this game was not an option.”

Floyd went on to score 19 points in the third quarter, six of those coming from senior Kayden Meyer, and eight from Hawkins. Floyd secured a lead going into the fourth quarter 38-36.

“I felt like I was rushing my shot in the first half,” Meyer said. “When I realized I was being left open a lot, I tried to stay relaxed, and that’s when they started hitting.”

Sinclair calls Meyer their “X-factor.” “She does so much to get us these wins, things you won’t see in the stat book. She’s so important to our team, she’s one of our captains for a reason.”

Meyer added four points in the fourth quarter and Hawkins had six, but shots by Whitman’s Kathleen O’Mara and Jazmynn Julien kept it a back-and-forth game. When regulation time expired, they were tied at 51.

“Defense wins games,” Gilmore said. “We knew we were going to do whatever it takes to win, and we needed to step up our defense.”

Floyd kept Whitman (14-3) to just one basket in overtime. Gilmore went 5 of 6 at the free throw line, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds, and Floyd took the win with a final score of 66.

They advance to an overall record of 17-1, and a Suffolk I record of 12-1.

“We’re playing for something more than just this game,” Gilmore said. “A back-to-back league championship is on the line, and we want to get to that county championship for the first time in program history.”