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′ they were able to compete in the state championship and that year they won it all.
Coach Toby Frazier, the head coach of his alma mater Paxon, has spoken openly about how it’s felt to come back “home” and accomplish something with his guys that he wasn’t 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.
The Regional Championship was on the line at Paxon’s 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.
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’s basketball acumen was put to the test in the first quarter, and they came out with a new strategy and an old “trick” defense to limit star Isaiah Adams touches on the ball.
Their strategy was to box in the middle to stop the Eagles from driving. What the Raiders didn’t 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.
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.
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’t leave on a missed shot. This showed as they received the ball to start the half and came out firing on all cylinders.
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.
Paxon’s 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’t 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.
Paxon held the lead at 6 with two minutes left on the clock, but turnovers and explosive drives to the basket by Rickard’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.
Paxon will go on to play Lakewood High School, out of St. Petersburg, on Wednesday the 6th 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.
Top Scorers:
Paxon:
Isiah Adams 23pts
Michael Carswell 14pts
Rickards:
Rodderick Henry 18pts
Sammy Carter 10pts
