Survive and advance is all that matters in postseason play, no matter the sport.

That was all the Gainesville Hurricanes wanted on Wednesday afternoon in their 5A girls basketball state semifinal at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

Senior Jamison Cardwell just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds and hit two big back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter as Gainesville held off Northeast (Oakland Park) 54-52 to advance to their first state championship game appearance in program history.

The Hurricanes (17-8) will face top-seed New Smyrna Beach, who defeated No. 4 seed Clearwater, 56-47, on Wednesday, in the championship game on Friday. The time will be determined.

Senior Jayden Terry added 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals and senior Mayah Gordon chipped in 13 points and four rebounds, despite playing most of the game with foul trouble.

Gainesville came out on fire in its first appearance at the RP Funding Center. The Hurricanes were 5-for-8 from 3-point range in the opening period and took a 19-7 lead. Terry knocked down the first 3-pointer to give Gainesville the lead, and the Hurricanes never trailed after that.

Gordon and Terry both hit two shots from long distance, and Cardwell added another in the first quarter.

“Most teams worry about the depth perception (of RP Funding Center),” Terry said. “Coach Jazz (Rollins) definitely prepared us for that. We went in and practiced at different courts so we could be ready for that.”

It was more of the same in the second quarter. Another Terry trey gave Gainesville its biggest lead of the game at 33-13 with 3:14 left before half. Sophomore Catalina Giraldo Vergara hit another 3-pointer, and the Hurricanes were 7-of-10 behind the arc and led 37-22 at the half.

“We start out shooting at practice with the shooters every time,” Rollins said. “They were ready to go in the first quarter and we came out pretty strong.”

Northeast (28-3) started chipping away in the third quarter as they turned up the defense on Gainesville. Junior Jazmine Jones and sophomore Ya’niyah Young scored six points apiece and Northeast held Gainesville to only seven points in the period to cut their deficit to 44-36 heading into the final quarter.

“I just think we kind of lost our heads a little bit,” Rollins said. “We got a little bit unfocused, a little bit rattled, and we just needed to keep our focus and keep our composure.”

Northeast cut the deficit to 44-38 with the opening basket of the fourth quarter, but Cardwell knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to put Gainesville back up 12 at 50-38 with 6:24 left. GHS only scored four points the remainder of the game but had just enough for the win.

“We watched film and they (Northeast) were definitely a second-half team,” Cardwell said. “They came out prepared, but we kept our heads and got it done.”

Now on to Friday’s championship game for Gainesville.

“We want to put Gainesville on the map,” Cardwell said. “We have so many great female hoopers in the city. We want to show Gainesville is here to stay.”