First Coast HS- A tie ball game at halftime switched into the home team’s favor late in the second half, has First Coast built a slight lead over Raines. But Viking’s center Teyana Carswell began to assert herself down low making crucial shots to erase a six point deficit. Finally, with Raines leading 59-57, junior guard Stephanie Thorton made the play of the game when she stole the ball from First Coast guard Moriah Steele, and raced down court for the final bucket of the game. Raines would defeat First Coast 61-57 to advance to the Gatewway conference championship to face Sandalwood, Saturday at Sandalwood 7:30pm.
For Coach Julius Paden, it was a victory he knew his team was capable of achieving. “I had to talk to the team and let them know they were not playing up to their potential, and we started to see them play better towards the end”. Paden dialed up a full court press which forced First Coast into costly turnovers late in the fourth period. Ahliah Brown came into the game and gave the Lady Vikings valuable minutes, hitting crucial shots and free throws. It was points Raines desperately needed to stave off the offensive barrage of First Coast’s Moriah Steele who scored 28 points including her 1000th point as a Buc. Steele led a furious comeback to tie the game at 57 all, but Raines responded with defense to get the win. Thorton finished with 4 steals on the night, and Carswell led Raines with 15 points. The Lady Vikings will now set their sights on Sandalwood who defeated them earlier this year in the Christmas tournament. Said Coach Paden after the game, “we didn’t play our best basketball during the Christmas tournament, but Sandalwood is a very good team, so we will have to play better on Saturday to win”.
