On Tuesday, Jan. 13 the Hawks overcame a late Trojan push in the fourth quarter to win. Terra Linda was missing their star player Evan Brewster, who was out with a broken foot. This was the first time since Jan. 2024 that Tam has won this matchup. The first five minutes were a tough back and forth battle, with a score of 6-6. Both teams were struggling to get points in the paint. The Hawks started to find its stride, as junior Henry Bennett hit a tough right shoulder bump fade, with an opportunity for a three point play. The first quarter ended with Tam up 12-11, but the Hawks left points out there, going zero for nine from the free throw line.
Four minutes into the second quarter, neither team could buy a bucket, before Bennett hit a corner three to set the pace for the rest of the half. Trojan senior Shauwn Sharpe quickly responded with two threes of his own. Terra Linda hit a three for a third consecutive possession, before Tam sophomore Felix Jacobs made a three on the other end to put the Hawks up 25-24. The Hawks then got hot, going into halftime on a 9-1 run.
Tam dominated the beginning of the second half, shooting well, and going up 38-25. Both teams started to find ways to get to the rim, exchanging scores. In the last seconds of the third quarter, junior Arman Salkhi found senior Cole Bester for an easy assist two plays in a row, going up 49-41.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Trojans mounted a comeback, closing the gap to 51-47. The Hawks couldn’t get anything to fall. Tam started turning the ball over, creating compounding problems on offense. They started to reach deeper down the bench, creating a 12-man rotation. In the final minutes of the game, Tam went up by four points, and the Trojans started to foul, trying to claw their way back. The Hawks went up 60-52, after capitalizing on their free throws, unlike in the first quarter. With less than a minute left in the game, Henry Bennett had a “night-night” three-point play to earn a Hawk win, 68-52. “They started to gain some momentum, and I realized we needed to make a push to close out the win,” Bennett said, “We forced a couple defensive stops which led to some fast break layups, which ultimately was enough to get the win.”