In the quietest week of the high school sports season, Jackson still found time to cement its place atop the Northside boys basketball scene.
After making the Northwest Christmas Tournament look easy, defeating First Coast 62-23 in the semifinal and Raines 81-61 in the title game, the Tigers are roaring into 2026 with a 13-1 record and some of the best overall depth in Jacksonville.
Javion Davis picked up a double-double for Jackson with 23 points and 10 points in the final, while King Sanders added 21 points and Presbyterian signee Langston Hackworth collected 15. The Tigers haven’t lost a game in the annual four-team tournament since 2018, when First Coast took the top spot.
For the Tigers, the speedy start is paying dividends beyond the city limits. MaxPreps ranked Jackson at No. 10 in Florida, although several of the schools ahead of them, like IMG Academy, are not participants in the FHSAA postseason.
Impact Christian and Providence also rank inside the top 25, while for girls basketball, Bolles, Bishop Kenny and non-FHSAA team Potter’s House Christian all belong to the MaxPreps top 25.
Northeast Florida also has strong representation in the top 10 of the Florida High School Athletic Association rankings for boys and girls soccer, which will ultimately determine playoff seeding. Mandarin (No. 6) and Ponte Vedra (No. 7) are top-10 squads in boys soccer, while Ponte Vedra (No. 1) and Bartram Trail (No. 8) are among the leading girls soccer contenders.
Edwards, Ghioto, Wright on All-American list
One city. Three sophomore All-Americans.
The lucky city is none other than Jacksonville, after Bolles running back Xander Edwards and defensive end Asher Ghioto and Mandarin wide receiver Brysen Wright all made the Rivals sophomore All-American football list.
Edwards won the Florida rushing title with 2,629 yards as well as 44 touchdowns for the Class 2A runner-up Bulldogs, and Ghioto devastated offenses with 35 tackles for loss and 23 sacks.
Wright, a two-way ace for Mandarin, caught 46 passes for 983 yards and 10 touchdowns, recorded 63 tackles and five interceptions on defense and scored five return touchdown for the Region 1-6A runner-up Mustangs.
Swimmers splash to state awards
Swimming season ended in November, but the awards for Northeast Florida just keep on coming.
In the season’s coaching awards, Bolles’ Jake Gibbons was named coach of the year for Class 1A, with Bishop Kenny’s Laurel Valley winning coach of the year for Class 2A boys and Ponte Vedra’s Kyle Berry honored for Class 3A girls.
The statewide Mr. Swimming and Miss Swimming honors went to Sarasota’s Bogdan Zverev and Windermere’s record-smashing Rylee Erisman, while Robbie Shaffer of Tampa Jesuit and Kyle Goller of Windermere won coach of the year awards.
Clay girls on rapid rise
No list of most improved teams in Northeast Florida basketball would be complete without Clay’s girls team.
The Blue Devils jumped to 10-2 on the year after defeating Keystone Heights 38-25 on their home court in the Clay Holiday Classic. Clay had finished 4-16 in the 2024-25 season.
They’ve received a major boost with the return of senior guard Teaghan Moses from a knee injury. Moses, averaging 13.1 points per game, won Holiday Classic MVP honors with sophomore Annaliese Hovda also on the all-tournament team. Sophomore Alia Chmura is averaging nearly a double-double (9.9 points, 9.3 rebounds).
SSAA ranks grow for football
With both Episcopal and Providence moving their football seasons out of the Florida High School Athletic Association districts and into the Sunshine State Athletic Association for 2026 and 2027, it’s another indication that even some programs with relative success are open to the SSAA switch.
Both Episcopal and Providence qualified for the FHSAA playoffs in 2025, and Providence held a No. 1 seed for regionals as recently as 2024. Episcopal went 7-4 in 2025, while Providence slipped to 4-7.
The coming season will be Episcopal’s first as an independent since 2002, when the Eagles went unbeaten.
Their departures for the SSAA leave a pair of four-team districts behind. District 3-2A matches Bolles against Baldwin, Jackson and KIPP Bold City, while District 2-1A includes Impact Christian, NFEI, Trinity Christian and University Christian.
Already competing in SSAA football among locals were Bishop Snyder, Cedar Creek Christian, Christ’s Church, Duval Charter, Eagle’s View, Fernandina Beach, Harvest Community, Old Plank Christian, Paxon, St. Joseph, Stanton and West Nassau.
Around the area
Ponte Vedra’s Steele Lickliter and Storm Lickliter both committed to College of Central Florida baseball. … Mandarin pitcher Dylan Colligan committed to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College baseball. … Bradford infielder Kolee LeMire committed to Webber softball. … Former Wolfson midfielder Raphael Eccher, competing in the Jacksonville Armada youth system, committed to MIT men’s soccer. … Former Columbia guard Na’Haviya Paxton received the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball player of the week award at Albany State. … Florida cornerback Sharif Denson, formerly at Bartram Trail, is entering the transfer portal. … Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos, formerly at Ware County, announced his intention to enter the 2026 NFL Draft. … Former St. Johns Country Day defender Carson Pickett is on the move in women’s soccer, signing with the expansion Denver Summit in the National Women’s Soccer League. … FHSAA District 4-2A wrestling duals are scheduled for Jan. 3 at Winter Springs. … The SSAA announced that First Coast Christian will be moving from 8-man to 11-man football.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jackson basketball roars at Northwest Christmas Tournament
Reporting by Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
