PAXON – Day two of the Gateway Conference Boys Basketball Tournament saw two different outcomes at Paxon and Englewood. Things went according to plan at Englewood as No. 2 Raines and No. 3 Englewood both advanced to the semifinals with wins over arch-rival No. 7 Ribault 50-48 and No. 6 Fletcher 72-67 respectively. However things didn’t go as planned at Paxon as both top seeds First Coast and Paxon were upset.
No. 5 Jackson 46, No. 4 Paxon 36
In the nightcap, one expected another thrilling game with the 4/5 matchup on display between Andrew Jackson and host Paxon.
Both teams spent a good part of the first quarter trying to get a feel for either team and figure out what was working and what wasn’t.
Prior to the game Paxon coach Toby Frazier said his team was very young with a lot underclassmen and only two juniors and one senior on the roster.
Paxon (12-7) started four underclassmen in sophomore Isaiah Adams, sophomore Michael Caswell, freshman Jakobe Williams, sophomore Derrick Johnson along with the lone senior Doug Williams.
Jackson countered with a much taller and experienced lineup junior Joshua Knox, senior Mike Decembre, junior Randolph Myers, freshman Teran Haygood and sophomore Logan West.
The back and forth game early on was anybody’s game early on as both teams lead until Jackson (11-7) pulled away thanks to the play of West and turned up suffocating defense.
No. 8 Atlantic Coast 74, No. 1 First Coast 59
The opening game of the quarterfinals at Paxon featured a Battle of the Coast they would say, as Atlantic Coast and First Coast met with the right to advance to the semifinals.
First Coast established the early lead thanks to hot shooting and a suffocating defense as the Bucs led by as many 12 for most of the first half looking like they were going to possibly run away with this one. Jalen Shuman and Naseem Khaalid, an FSU commit, led the Bucs in scoring early on with 7 and 6 points respectively in the first half as the Bucs led 18-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Atlantic Coast wouldn’t go away though as in the second quarter and at the half the Stingrays looked like a different teams out there on the court after making several halftime adjustments.
One of those adjustments was getting the ball in the post to 6-7 junior power forward Diego Johnson as Johnson became unstoppable in the post allowing the Stingrays to slowly get back in the game.
Down 9, a 23-2 run to start the second quarter shockingly gave the Stingrays a 32-20 lead at the half. Johnson wasn’t alone though as teammates sophomore point guard Isaiah Green, Malik Amin, senior Gavin Remsen and Glenn Chandler also played vital roles in the come from behind win.
The win was a huge win for Atlantic Coast coach Micah Ross and his young program while a devastating loss for First Coast coach Latroy Strong.
Atlantic Coast (11-9) moves on the semifinals and will play No. 5 Jackson (11-7) tonight at Raines.
Gateway Conference Semi-Finals
Tonight at Raines
No. 8 Atlantic Coast vs No. 5 Jackson, 5:30 p.m.
No. 3 Englewood vs No. 2 Raines, 7 p..m.
