Region 8 title or bust: Raiders look to avenge loss in opening round

NICEVILLE – When Northwest Florida State head coach Steve Forbes hits the recruiting trail, he lays before the potential Raiders three expectations.

Suited for a program coming off a NJCAA Div-I national runner-up finish, it’s no surprise that two of the goals are postseason based.

The list starts with winning the Panhandle Conference, nationally regarded as the toughest NJCAA D-I league, followed by a bringing home a Region 8 title. Then, saving the best for last, competing for a national championship is the capper.

“Those are our goals,” Forbes said. “That’s the mindset we have to have.”

The Raiders accomplished the first goal with an 11-1 Panhandle mark for the second straight year en route to back-to-back conference crowns. Now it’s time to embark on the second goal, which begins with today’s 3 p.m. matchup against 16^th-ranked Palm Beach State in Marianna.

After finishing the regular season 25-2 and ranked third in the national poll and No. 1 in the FCSAA poll, starting the postseason against a squad that defeated them 68-63 earlier in the year seems like an odd assignment for the Raiders. But in a region that includes four programs ranked in the top-16, no path is easy.

“Do we have a difficult path? Yes we do,” Forbes said. … “It may be harder to win our region than the national title.”

While the Panthers, which finished second in the Southern Conference despite a dominant 29-2 regular-season mark, have success against Forbes’ club, it’s hard to pay much credence to a narrow win that came nearly three months ago on Dec. 9. In that loss, a defeat that interrupted a 10-0 start to the season for NWF State, several anomalies stood out.

For instance, the Raiders were outrebounded 58-33, shot a paltry 32 percent from the floor (their second worst of the season) and had only 12 foul shots to the Panthers’ 32.

“We’re a much different team than we were back then,” Forbes said. “We were still trying to figure out who we were and what we were all about and I think we‘ve evolved a lot since that time.”

Adding weight to his words is the Raiders’ track record in their 15-1 mark since Dec. 9. For instance, only three times in the 16 games since the loss have the Raiders been outrebounded en route to their 3.2-plus rebounding margin. Also, since the loss the Raiders have yet to shoot below 38 percent and have collectively outshot opponents 440-297 at the charity stripe.

“We’ve reversed that trend, especially in the Panhandle Conference,” Forbes said of the free-throw shooting disparity against Palm Beach State. “That’s become a staple of ours, getting to the foul line more than our opponenents.”

With that said, Forbes concedes that the recent success doesn’t take away from the fact that the Panthers are still strong on the glass, like to push the pace and are a handful to keep off the foul line.

Especially important for the Raiders is containing 6-foot-9 forward and all-state sophomore Jonathon Holton and freshman point guard Carrington Ward. In the win over NWF State, Holton lit up the stat sheet with 18 points, 21 rebounds and five blocks, and Ward, who’s averaging 13.1 points per game on 52 percent shooting, added 17 points.

“He’s a very good player and he’s had a great year,” Forbes said of Holton, who’s averaging 17.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 2.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game and will extend his collegiate career to Florida International University next year. “He’s so go good that you can’t stop him, but what we can do is try to do some things to slow him down. The unique them about him, like Eglin Cook he can grab a board off the rim and bring it into transition. He can run the break and he’s not only a good scorer and rebounder but a facilitator for his teammates. We just have to keep him from getting into the open court.”

Outscoring opponents 80.4-66.6 on the year and shooting 46 percent from the floor, the Raiders have also thrived in pushing the pace.

At the forefront of the offensive success is 6-foot sophomore and Louisville signee Chris Jones, who’s averaging 22.7 points (fourth in the country), 5.2 boards and 4.2 assists and 3.3 steals per game. Alongside the two-time Panhandle Conference Player of the Year, Cook is averaging 14.8 points and six boards per game. And alongside the duo is a strong supporting cast that runs 10 to 11 deep.

“We’re deeper than last year,” Forbes said. “We have 10 or 11 guys playing as opposed to eight last year, so that depth will help us in tournament play.”

Forbes, though, could do without the layoff between regular season and tournament play – the Raiders have had 15 days off since Jan 19’s 56-55 win over Tallahassee.

“I don’t like it. I don’t care for it,” said Forbes, whose team enters today with the momentum of six consecutive wins. “Basketball is a rhythm game, a timing game and at this point of the year, we want to be playing as much as possible.”

With that said, Forbes said his players are bringing an unmatched work ethic and intensity to practice, an outlet where he said “they can’t come in here and slide.”

“I think our team has really come together. We’re having really good practices and displaying good chemistry,” he said. “They care about each other.”

If history were to repeat itself against the Panthers, the Raiders would still be a strong contender for one of NJCAA’s two at-large bids.

But Forbes has yet to even discuss that possibility with his team, which is embracing the win-or-go-home mentality.