Championship Level Performance Leads to Region VIII Title for Northwest Florida

NICEVILLE, Fla. - Northwest Florida hoists the Region VIII State Championship for the first time since the 2018-19 season. The Raiders battled for all 40 minutes to secure the victory over Panhandle-foe Tallahassee 89-85. Northwest Florida secured their spot in the National Tournament and will be heading back to Hutchinson, Kansas to defend their National Championship.

Heading into the Region VIII State Tournament, Northwest Florida was slotted in as the #4 seed. The Raiders had just come off one of their best games in the regular season vs. Gulf Coast and seemed to be turning the corner at the right time. After the 11 day break, the Raiders came out firing in the quarterfinals vs. Indian River, scoring 106 points and shooting lights out from the field. In the semi-final game vs. Chipola, the Raider defense stepped up when the game got into crunch times and NWF came out victorious 61-55. Tonight's game was another battle for the Raiders as Tallahassee was up 6 with under 8 minutes remaining. The Raiders dug deep and found a way to gut out a win to send Northwest Florida back to the National Tournament for the 2nd consecutive year.

Down 3 at the 7:00 minute mark in the 2nd half, Tallahassee guard Addison Patterson was ejected after a double technical foul. Marcus Niblack proceeded to knock down 3 of 4 from the charity stripe to knot the game at 72. Tavion Banks scored the next 7 points for the Raiders, giving them a 7-point cushion and Northwest Florida never looked back, gutting out an 89-85 victory over the Eagles.

The Raider offense was a complete team effort as five players were in double figures with Chad Baker-Mazara and Kasean Pryor scoring 20 a piece, followed by Taryn Todd at 16, Tavion Banks at 14, and Marcus Niblack with 10. Chad Baker-Mazara was 4-5 from beyond the arc and Taryn Todd was 4-6. The Raiders knocked down 10 threes tonight. Marcus Niblack dished out 8 assists and was second on the team in rebounds with 6. Tavion Banks stepped up in the biggest moments with Jaylon McDaniel being forced to leave the game with a broken nose. Banks had 14 points and 7 rebounds, and went 6-7 from the free throw line. 

The Raiders are heading back to Hutchinson, where everybody predicted them to be at the start of the season. Northwest Florida was the preseason #1 team in the country and despite going through some tough times in the non-conference season, the Raiders are starting to show everybody just why they were ranked #1 in the preseason. 

Tough times don't last, tough people do… the Raiders never give up.