High school girls basketball: Zion McRae drops 31, lifts P.K. Yonge over Gainesville 74-49

The Gainesville High girls basketball team opened its 2021-22 campaign with a 66-59 win over the P.K. Yonge Blue Wave back on Nov. 9.

However, when the teams met again, this time at the Purple Palace on Thursday night, the tables were turned as P.K. Yonge avenged its loss with a 74-49 win.

Three takeaways from the cross-town showdown:

Don't let the Blue Wave's lack of experience and size fool you

Of the eight players P.K. Yonge dressed, five were underclassmen.

Not to mention, the Blue Wave were undersized when standing next to many on Gainesville's roster.

However, what that gave P.K. Yonge was an opportunity to use its speed and athleticism to its advantage.

Defensively, the Blue Wave flew around the hardwood, forcing the Hurricanes to commit costly turnovers.

"My defense tonight, they understood their assignment," said P.K. Yonge coach Willie Powers. "And they executed. And being young, that's what we gotta learn to do. We gotta learn how to execute."

When P.K. Yonge forced turnovers, it often was quick to capitalize and convert them into points.

"They know where to run and they're finally running to where they supposed to be running," Powers said of the Blue Wave's success in transition.

Ashlyn Young and Zion McRae are building an electric foundation at P.K. Yonge

P.K. Yonge's two leading scorers from Thursday night also happen to be the two youngest on the roster.

While freshman guard Zion McRae led the Blue Wave in scoring after dropping 31 points against the Hurricanes, eighth-grade guard Ashlyn Young scored 24 points.

"They're very talented," Powers said of Young and McRae.

Not only are the two young guards scoring threats in transition, but the two are also threats from beyond the arc.

McRae dropped three shots from downtown, while Young finished with a pair of made three balls.

"Be that we really don't have much size, we have to get as many shots up that we can," Powers said. "And that's all we've been working on is getting shots up and working on defense. We've gone back to the basics."

Hurricanes have the size, but they've got to figure out how to use it

Five members of Gainesville's roster eclipse 5-foot-11.

And while a big lineup like the Hurricanes' can certainly frustrate opponents, due to the athleticism of the Blue Wave and the countless turnovers on Thursday night, Gainesville coach David Gordon was forced to try to match P.K. Yonge's speed and athleticism and go with a smaller lineup.

"They're very athletic," Gordon said of the Blue Wave. "They're everywhere."

Countering the Blue Wave's scoring was Leyah Houston, who led the Hurricanes with 20 points. Fellow junior Ta'Niya Walker contributed 11 points.

Yet, it was the countless turnovers that haunted the Hurricanes.

At one point in the game, Gordon said that the Hurricanes had committed 37 turnovers.

"You can't win a game with 37 turnovers," Gordon said. "We just have to work harder and have less turnovers. If we have less turnovers, I think we'll win a lot of games."

Looking ahead

Gainesville (3-3) will return to action Tuesday night when it travels to Eastside for a 6 p.m. tipoff.

The Blue Wave (2-2) will host Ocala Forest on Monday at 6 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: P.K. Yonge Blue Wave girls basketball team beats Gainesville High Hurricanes, 74-49