{"id":40974,"date":"2019-03-03T01:33:13","date_gmt":"2019-03-03T06:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/?p=40974"},"modified":"2019-03-03T11:41:53","modified_gmt":"2019-03-03T16:41:53","slug":"paxon-returns-to-final-4-after-54-year-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/?p=40974","title":{"rendered":"Paxon Returns to Final 4 After 54 Year Absence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson was our president, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was marching in Selma, and one of the greatest musicals of all time, (Sound of Music) had just come out in theaters. Well 1965 was also the last time that the Paxon High School boys basketball team made the Final Four. In 65&#8242; they were able to compete in the state championship and that year they won it all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Paxon High School warming up for tonight&#39;s Regional Finals <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuvalSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DuvalSports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonSASEagles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonSASEagles<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonBasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonBasketball<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Rhsathletics1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Rhsathletics1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RickardsHS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RickardsHS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NgYxrZsgQX\">pic.twitter.com\/NgYxrZsgQX<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tashyra Feazell (@tfeazell1421) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tfeazell1421\/status\/1101628870061682690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 1, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Coach Toby Frazier, the head coach of his alma mater Paxon, has spoken openly about how it&#8217;s felt to come back \u201chome\u201d and accomplish something with his guys that he wasn\u2019t able to do himself as an athlete. Coach Frazier and the young Paxon squad was able to climb one more obstacle on their way to the top, knocking off Tallahassee Rickards to punch a ticket to Lakeland as one of the Final Four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Rickards High School warming up for the Regional Finals <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuvalSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DuvalSports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonSASEagles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonSASEagles<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonBasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonBasketball<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Rhsathletics1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Rhsathletics1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RickardsHS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RickardsHS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CJ8fJcsgJW\">pic.twitter.com\/CJ8fJcsgJW<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tashyra Feazell (@tfeazell1421) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tfeazell1421\/status\/1101628502766481408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 1, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Regional Championship was on the line at Paxon\u2019s gymnasium, the lights were bright and both teams seemed to have panicked a little under the pressure. The first minute and a half went by and the game was scoreless, Paxon was the first to hit and then both teams went into a bit of a lull going back and forth. The quarter ended in almost a dead heat with Paxon only being up by two to start the second quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Big time 3 pointer by Maurice Willie Jr. Paxon up 10-7 with 1 minute remaining <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuvalSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DuvalSports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonSASEagles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonSASEagles<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonBasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonBasketball<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Rhsathletics1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Rhsathletics1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RickardsHS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RickardsHS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cgmkWCfQBk\">pic.twitter.com\/cgmkWCfQBk<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tashyra Feazell (@tfeazell1421) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tfeazell1421\/status\/1101636097568882688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 2, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Tallahassee Rickards has always been heralded ad a basketball powerhouse, especially in the last couple of years under Coach Bryant, winning 2 state championships. Coach Bryant and his coaching staff\u2019s basketball acumen was put to the test in the first quarter, and they came out with a new strategy and an old \u201ctrick\u201d defense to limit star Isaiah Adams touches on the ball. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Highlights from Paxon\u2019s Regional win vs. Rickards! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uiKoujTSmx\">pic.twitter.com\/uiKoujTSmx<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Paxon Basketball (@PaxonBasketball) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonBasketball\/status\/1101879962922037250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 2, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Their strategy was to box in the middle to stop the Eagles from driving. What the Raiders didn\u2019t expect was for the other players to start hitting from the outside like junior guard Maurice Willie Jr., who netted 9 points off of three 3-pointers in the quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Interview with Paxon High School sophomore point guard Quinton Jackson about tonight&#39;s victory over Rickards <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuvalSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DuvalSports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonSASEagles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonSASEagles<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonBasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonBasketball<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1zbECbKgjR\">pic.twitter.com\/1zbECbKgjR<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tashyra Feazell (@tfeazell1421) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tfeazell1421\/status\/1101659334075973637?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 2, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rickards sophomore small forward Roddrick Henry pounded the glass and had a big quarter for the Raiders. The Eagles were able to hold off the Raider run late in the quarter with a momentum swinging throw down by Adams to end the half and put the Eagles up by 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Halftime Score <br>Paxon &#8211; 36<br>Rickards &#8211; 25<br>Isaiah Adamds leading all scorers with 14, monster dunk to end the quarter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuvalSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DuvalSports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonSASEagles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonSASEagles<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonBasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonBasketball<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Rhsathletics1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Rhsathletics1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RickardsHS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RickardsHS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MbnMz9AhxO\">pic.twitter.com\/MbnMz9AhxO<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tashyra Feazell (@tfeazell1421) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tfeazell1421\/status\/1101640263582257153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 2, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rickards came out of the locker room knowing they only had 16 minutes to change the outcome of this game. As they were warming up before the start of the second half, you could see the determination on their faces to make a comeback, they even stayed on the court until the buzzer sounded and didn\u2019t leave on a missed shot. This showed as they received the ball to start the half and came out firing on all cylinders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Rickards with a comeback in sight, 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter down 36-45 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuvalSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DuvalSports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonSASEagles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonSASEagles<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonBasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonBasketball<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Rhsathletics1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Rhsathletics1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RickardsHS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RickardsHS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FFIkyBcSdk\">pic.twitter.com\/FFIkyBcSdk<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tashyra Feazell (@tfeazell1421) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tfeazell1421\/status\/1101644965199990784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 2, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Netting back to back shots, hustling for loose balls and playing stir-crazy defense, Rickards had Paxon almost on their heels. This forced Paxon to call a quick timeout to regroup as Rickards went on a 6 to 3 run and put them within 8 points of Paxon. After the timeout, the Eagles went on their run with Adams knocking down two 3 pointers and the Eagles went back up by 9 as the quarter ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">End of the 3rd quarter <br>Paxon &#8211; 51<br>Rickards &#8211; 42<br>Michael Carswell comes up big with 2 clutch buckets<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuvalSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DuvalSports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonSASEagles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonSASEagles<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonBasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonBasketball<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Rhsathletics1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Rhsathletics1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RickardsHS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RickardsHS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LBthaOgUB8\">pic.twitter.com\/LBthaOgUB8<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tashyra Feazell (@tfeazell1421) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tfeazell1421\/status\/1101646597535006720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 2, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Paxon\u2019s game plan for the final 8 minutes of the game was to slow the ball down and control the clock. Rickards took their defense up to the next level and the young guards  weren\u2019t able to handle it. Rickards went to a full court man to man and trapped the young guards on the sidelines which caused for Paxon to burn two timeouts within minutes of each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fduvalsports%2Fvideos%2F393415967887531%2F&#038;show_text=0&#038;width=267\" width=\"267\" height=\"476\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" allowFullScreen=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>Paxon held the lead at 6 with two minutes left on the clock, but turnovers and explosive drives to the basket by Rickard&#8217;s Malik Darisaw put them right back in the game. Paxon was able to get the ball in the hands of Adams as the clock ticked away and he was able to knock down a couple free throws that sealed the deal for the Eagles. Rickards had one last chance to tie the game up but passes got away from them and the buzzer sounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Golden Eagles are Lakeland bound with a 62-59 win over Rickards. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuvalSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DuvalSports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonSASEagles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonSASEagles<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaxonBasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PaxonBasketball<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ciDqctqojw\">pic.twitter.com\/ciDqctqojw<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tashyra Feazell (@tfeazell1421) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tfeazell1421\/status\/1101655690131714048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 2, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Paxon will go on to play Lakewood High School, out of St. Petersburg, on Wednesday the 6<sup>th<\/sup> at 6pm. Lakewood is a two-time state champion with their last title being in 2008. Fun fact for the Eagles, the last time Paxon won the state championship in 1965, they beat Hillsborough High School out of the Tampa Bay area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Top Scorers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paxon:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Isiah Adams 23pts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michael Carswell 14pts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rickards:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rodderick Henry 18pts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sammy Carter 10pts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson was our president, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was marching in Selma, and one of the greatest musicals of all time, (Sound of Music) had just come out in theaters. Well 1965 was also the last time that the Paxon High School boys basketball team made the Final Four. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":636,"featured_media":40975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[112],"tags":[128,130,423,303],"class_list":["post-40974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-high-school-basketball","tag-high-school-basketball-2","tag-paxon","tag-rickards","tag-top-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/20190301_202935-e1551592550541.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/636"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duvalsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}