WINTER ALL-AREA: Paxton repeats as LCR's Girls Basketball Player of the Year

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  • Columbia point guard Na’Haviya Paxton is once again LCR’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year. (COURTESY)
    Columbia point guard Na’Haviya Paxton is once again LCR’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year. (COURTESY)
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Every time she took the court, you knew there was a shot you’d see something special.

Whether it was a triple-double, reaching 1,000 career points as a junior or dropping 45 points in the district semis to send Columbia back to the playoffs, Na’Haviya Paxton balled on the floor this season.

When it was all said and done, Paxton averaged area-bests of 24.8 points and 6.3 assists per game to go with 8.9 rebounds and 5.8 steals. The Tigers point guard ended the season with five triple-doubles, one quadruple-double and 12 double-doubles, while also finishing third in voting for the Class 6A Player of the Year.

It’s no surprise that Paxton is once again the Lake City Reporter Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Her numbers improved across the board from her sophomore season when she posted averages of 16.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.6 steals.

“I feel like last year a lot of people were still sleeping on me,” Paxton said. “I felt disrespected so I felt like this year I had something to prove. I worked hard during quarantine and my numbers improved.”

Still, she feels disrespected. Still, she has something to prove.

Paxton finished third in voting for the Class 6A Player of the Year despite having better numbers than the two players who were ahead of her. Repeat winner O’Mariah Gordon from Braden River averaged 23 points, 4.8 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as a senior, while Samara Spencer tallied 17 points and six rebounds per game to lead St. Thomas Aquinas to the 6A championship.

Gordon received 68 points in the voting and Spencer had 62. Paxton finished with 61 in a close vote after leading the Tigers to a 13-7 record.

“I had mixed emotions,” Paxton said. “I felt like I deserved Player of the Year, but it’s fine. Next year I’ll make sure to prove everybody wrong and show them who the real Player of the Year is.”

Paxton has a drive to get better that separates herself from others. She’s constantly aiming to better herself as a basketball player and it hit her this season that on most nights she was the best player on the court.

And she played like it too.

“She put out of her mind everything that would stop her from just being the best every day,” Columbia coach Anthony Perry said. “Her drive was more of a campaign to just be better for herself. It was an unbelievable year that she had.”

Paxton was so dominant this season that she reached 1,000 points a little sooner than she anticipated. That came in a 65-23 win over Countryside Christian on Jan. 21, which of course came paired with one of her triple-doubles.

But that wasn’t even the highlight of her campaign. That came with Columbia’s season on the line against Gainesville in the District 2-6A semifinals, where she scored a career-high 45 points in a 65-57 win to send her team to the playoffs for the third straight season.

Yeah, she had a double-double too.

“I went out there and surprisingly got 45 points,” Paxton said. “I didn’t know it until after the game. I just did what I had to do to get my team to the championship and we came out with a dub.”

Perry is almost at a loss for words when looking back at Paxton’s season. The Gainesville game stands out in his mind but there were so many other moments that made Paxton’s season special, even when she wasn’t scoring 30-plus points.

Of course, that wasn’t very often. She scored more than 30 six times and at least 20 points 17 times.

“I can’t believe some of the numbers, especially that Gainesville game to clinch us another spot,” Perry said. “It’s just amazing. And even when her points were low, she did other things like rebounding and assists that were still solid to help the team. I do let her know that numbers tell a story — it’s a storyline — but it’s good to see that she puts in the work in all the departments.”

Now the next step is winning a district title and making a playoff run. Columbia fell to Buchholz in the District 2-6A championship after surrendering a 10-point lead and then lost to Navarre 71-42 in the Region 1-6A quarterfinals.

The Tigers haven’t won a district title since 1999 and haven’t won a playoff game since 1992. Those are two droughts Paxton aims to end in her senior season.

“It’s eating at me a lot,” Paxton said. “This year I was expecting to win (a district title) and we didn’t, but next year it’s really go time. I only have one year left so I’ve got to take advantage of it.”

ALL-AREA TEAM

G: Na’Haviya Paxton

Columbia, junior

The LCR’s Girls Basketball Player was on triple-double watch every night she took the floor, averaging area-bests of 24.8 points and 6.3 assists per game to go with 8.9 rebounds and 5.8 steals to lead the Tigers to their third straight playoff berth. She ended up with five triple-doubles, as well as a quadruple-double, to go with 13 double-doubles on her way to finishing third in the voting for the Class 6A Player of the Year.

G: Kayla Desmartin

Branford, senior

Averaged 13.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a team-best 4.3 steals per game for the Buccaneers. She scored a season-high 23 points in a win over Hilliard.

G: Anzarria Jerkins

Columbia, junior

Averaged 13.8 points, 5.8 steals, 4.6 rebounds and two assists per night for the Tigers. She scored a season-high 27 points in a win over Suwannee.

G: Jacovya Major

Fort White, junior

Led the Indians in several stat categories, averaging 14.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.4 steals per game. She had three triple-doubles, including in a win over Union County where she had a season-high 37 points.

G: V’Kaylynn Ward

Suwannee, junior

Led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17.7 points per game and an area-best six steals per night in 12 games before an injury cut her season short. She scored a season-high 27 points against Trinity Catholic.

F: Dacaria Armstrong

Fort White, senior

Averaged 11.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.2 blocks for the Indians. She scored a season-high 21 points in a win over Newberry.

F: Montayasia Jones

Suwannee, senior

Averaged a double-double for the Bulldogs with 14.4 points and an area-best 16.5 rebounds to go with three steals and an area-best 2.6 blocks. She scored a season-high 29 points in a win over Trinity Catholic and had a whopping 33 rebounds in a win over Branford.

F: Cera McElreath

Branford, senior

Led the Buccaneers to the Region 3-1A finals averaging team highs of 18.9 points and 2.2 blocks to go 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.9 steals. She scored a season-high 32 points in a win over Fort White.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Anthony Perry, Columbia

Perry led the Tigers to their third straight playoff berth despite players coming and going in the program. Columbia started the season with nine players but were down to just six at the end, yet still made the playoffs as the District 2-6A runner-up. The Tigers lost to Navarre in the Region 1-6A quarterfinals, finishing with a 13-7 record.