Jacksonville Fl-Twenty-nine percent from the free throw line is usually not something to celebrate, but those misses will not define the legacy of Teyana Carswell Rather it was only one free throw she made that will. With 0.9 seconds remaining on the clock, Carswell knocked down the most important shot in her Raines career, to cement the victory for Raines over Florida High School 56 to 55 and send them to the state Final 4.
Nerves got the best of both teams in the opening minutes as neither team could find the bottom of the net. Raines (29-4) came in as district champions a supremely confident after their defeat of Bolles last week. FSU (20-9) were playing their best basketball as no team had challenged them on the court throughout the playoffs or the ladder part of the regular season. The nerves eventually subsided and the young Seminoles squad were able to strike first.
Led by two exceptional freshmen Tonie Morgan and Jordan Rosier. Both ended the night in double figures scoring 21 and 16 respectively as the Lady Seminoles were able to score the basketball and apply pressure on the Lady Vikings, disrupting their offensive tempo while causing sloppy guard play and turnovers. The Lady Seminoles were able to capitalize off these mistakes and go up by ten to end the first quarter 21-11.
The second quarter didn’t look any better for the Lady Vikings scoring wise, but they kept pushing through by gritting it out with the Lady Seminoles. The lead escalated to as large as 14 points during this quarter and it seemed as though all the air had been let out of the Lady Vikings balloon when Morgan hit a Steph Curry like three pointer to put the Lady Seminoles up by 12 to end the half.
Florida State switched up their defensive scheme to start the new half, going to a zone. Raines took advantage of this and started driving to the basket to open up the outside. Raines would finally warm up and knock down some tough outside shots. The Lady Seminoles started to cool off on their outside shooting which allowed for the Lady Vikings to get back into the game. A late surge by the Lady Vikings to end the quarter put them within 4 points before the start of the final quarter. It would come down to one quarter to decide who would be packing their bags for Lakeland Florida.
The bigtime comeback by the Lady Vikings energized the crowd of fans and alumni that packed the gym to see if Raines could make history by going to the Final Four for the first time in school history. Two quick scores by the Lady Vikings tied up the game, and after a nice drive to the basket with a floater by Nyla Allen, the Lady Vikings took the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the first quarter.
Both teams traded baskets for the next six minutes of the game, until it came down to the final possession. On that play, Raines Teyana Carswell had the ball and was fouled putting her at the line. After Carswell hit one of two from the stripe the rest as they say is history…literally.
Coach Julius Paden of Raines takes a team of mostly sophomores to the FHSAA State Semifinals in just his third year at the helm. Raines guards Ahliah Brown (12 points), and Allen (13 points), put up double digits in the victory for the Lady Vikings. They along with their teammates said publicly before the season that they were going to Lakeland.
Raines will play on Wednesday March 27th, in the Class 5A Girls Basketball State Semifinals at 2pm against Oxbridge Academy out of West Palm Beach, Florida. The Thunder Wolves boast a 27-2 record on the year, with some impressive wins over top 10 opponents in the state. They are the defending 5A State champions, while making their third straight Final 4 appearance. It’s sure to be a historic contest of historic proportions, as a historic Lady Vikings team fulfills their preseason prophecy.
