Paxton is a basketball town through and through that has the banners to back it up.
The girls program has won an area-best five state titles – 1986 (A), 1994 (B), 1996 (A), 1997 (A), 2014 (1A) – while the boys has two from the glory days of 1957 and 1962. Baseball and softball have come on strong of late, but who are we kidding, the hardwood rules the roost.
Keeping that influence in mind, we present to you Paxton's Mount Rushmore. Think there's someone was left out? Vote below through July 22.
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Jeff Bradley
No coach in Paxton history has more wins than Bradley. Not on the hardwood. Not overall. He's gone 535-196 during his 26 years helming the boys basketball powerhouse, 269-134 during his 17 years leading the baseball juggernaut and 97-36 during his seven year as skipper for the softball program for a total of 901 wins spread across 50 collective seasons. No coach on the Emerald Coast has done more since the 1994-95 year, but its his footprint on the hardwood that's meant most.
Averaging more than 20 wins per season, Bradley retired this offseason with nine district titles (eight since 2008), four Final 4s and two state title appearances. He's preached, "God, family, school work and sports" from Day 1, and he'll continue to do that in his current role as athletic director until they'll have him.
Tom Pittman
On their own, the resumes of Tom Pittman the player and Tom Pittman the coach are worthy of a spot on this list. Put them together, and there's no doubt.
In 1962 as starting point guard, he led the Bobcats to a state title. In the 1980s he returned to build a girls basketball dynasty, grabbing the program's first state title in 1986 and later three more in 1994, 1996 and 1997. He went out a winner that final year, retiring with five state titles after the 1997 triumph.
Grant Stewart
In a school that prides itself on multi-sport talent, Stewart is the greatest Bobcat to do ever do it. His record Five Player of the Year honors reflects that.
As a sophomore, he belted a game-tying, three-run homer to lift the Bobcats to the baseball Final 4, where he struck out 11 batters behind his elite 12-6 curveball. That year the 16-year-old swept Daily News Hitter and Pitcher of the Year honors after hitting .539 and holding opposing batters to an .129 batting average. Two years later in his swan song, he went 6-0, threw a perfect game against Niceville and allowed just one run in 45 innings for a 0.16 ERA.
On the hardwood, Stewart's value was epitomized his senior year, when he led the Bobcats to their first state finals appearance since 1962. After dropping 28 points in the region semifinal against Vernon, Stewart watched as teammate Zach Varnum fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Stewart scored 13 of his team-high 21 points in the final seven minutes of a 58-55 win, and he'd go on to add 19 points in a 56-53 Final 4 win over Hamilton County. Stewart wound up averaging 15 points per game, 10 assists and five rebounds a night for the 27-4 state runner-up Bobcats, who were denied a state championship by future NBA player Trent Forrest.
Stewart concluded his senior year by winning the Daily News Male Athlete of the Year. He went on to shine at NWF State and Florida State, and nowadays he's a staple in the stands at Paxton High basketball games.
Latanya Washington
No basketball player, male or female, has enjoyed the prep success of Washington. Not just in our neck of woods, not just in the Sunshine State, but in the country.
What started with 35 points per game as a freshman turned into the all-time national scoring record, the 6-foot forward netting 4,489 points during her final four years at Paxton to surpass the previous mark of 4,385 set by Jeri Grigsby of Kentucky. If you were to include Washington's 7th- and 8th-grade years, tack on another 1,000 points. She remains the only female to score more than 1,000 points in a season in Florida, the feat coming her sophomore year as she led the Bobcats to a 55-point state title win over Fort Lauderdale Christian. Two years later, the Bobcats bested crosstown rival Laurel Hill en route to the state title, avenging a buzzer-beating 59-58 loss in the region finals the previous year to the state champion Hoboes.
The late Pat Summitt and Connecticut legend Geno Auriemma came all the way to little ol' Paxton to see her play. But ultimately Miss Florida Basketball chose Florida, where she was two-time All-SEC and averaged 15.4 ppg before declaring for the WNBA draft, where she went 18th to the Washington Mystics and spent three of her four years in the league there.
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