The Raiders battled until the game’s final seconds, but ultimately opened their season with a 54-52 loss at the hands of a strong Newsome squad.
Plant City made their way to Lithia on Friday in hopes of claiming revenge against a Newsome squad that ended the Raiders’ district title hopes last season, ultimately falling just short in a contest that came all the way down to the game’s final possession.
Newsome raced out to a quick lead, holding a 17-8 advantage after the first quarter, but the Raiders wasted no time kicking off their comeback battle as senior guard Ray Cowen opened the second with a corner three. Newsome responded with two points at the other end and Plant City forced a turnover on the Wolves’ next possession as senior Damian Jones finished the fast break with a layup to cut the deficit to 19-13. After Newsome tacked on one with a lone free throw, Jones answered with a turnaround fade on the Raiders’ next possession to make it 20-15. Newsome continued their hot streak by converting a midrange jumper and Jones continued to lead the charge for the Raiders as he drilled a corner three for his seventh consecutive point, cutting the Wolves’ lead to 22-18.
As Plant City continued to narrow the gap, trailing 25-22, the Raiders took advantage of a turnover from Newsome by way of a spot-up three-pointer from senior Taylor Teeden that knotted the contest at 25-25. The Wolves were able to regain their lead immediately with a three-pointer of their own but another jumper from Teeden left the Raiders trailing just one as the game hit halftime at 28-27.
Newsome was able to extend their lead in the third, opening the half with a 10-4 run to give themselves some breathing room at 38-31, but the Raiders continued to show resilience and stay composed against their red-hot opponents. A Plant City layup on their next possession ended the Wolves’ run before senior forward Elijah Dawson cut the Newsome lead to just two as he finished an extremely tough bucket through a foul and hit his ensuing free throw. But every time the Raiders continued to fight back, Newsome would refuse to give in. By the end of the third, the Wolves built their lead back to 45-38.
Newsome immediately earned a trip to the line in the fourth quarter, adding one, before getting a defensive stop and hitting a three to extend their lead to 49-38. Newsome responded but Plant City once again found a way to make some crucial defensive stands as buckets from junior Malachi Morris and Jones brought the Raiders all the way back to just a two-point deficit at 51-49. With time winding down, Newsome began to run the clock down with extended possessions that forced Plant City to press with trap defenses in an attempt to force a much-needed turnover from the Wolves. As the clock ticked down, it finally appeared that the Raiders had caused the key mistake they needed, but the play was whistled for a defensive foul and in a sudden turn of events, Newsome was able to cash in on both shots at the line to lead 53-49. In response, Cowen drove the lane on the other end and kicked the ball out to a wide open Mike Bell, sinking a massive corner three to make it 53-52 with 42.2 seconds remaining. Newsome continued to wind the clock down before Plant City was eventually forced to intentionally foul and send the Wolves to the line, converting on one of two shots to hold a 54-52 lead with 16.2 seconds left. With the game hanging in the balance, Plant City was fouled as they attempted to get off a shot that would have potentially drawn the contest even, but the foul was not considered in the act of shooting and left the Raiders set to inbound the ball with 2.3 seconds left. With one final desperation chance, Bell was able to gather the inbound pass in the paint and get a shot off through a significant amount of contact from the defending Wolves, but the shot wouldn’t fall and the whistles stayed silent as Newsome was able to hold off the rallying Raiders to come away with a 54-52 victory.
The Raiders returned to action on Wednesday against Plant, notching their first win of the season with a 67-54 victory over the Panthers, and will finish the week at Bloomingdale on Friday.
