Last year, the Gainesville girls basketball team was knocking on the door of an FHSAA state playoff appearance.

However, GHS lost 51-49 in overtime to Lincoln (Tallahassee) in the Class 6A-District 2 championship game and failed to make the postseason as an at-large.

“Honestly, that hurt me a lot because I hurt my finger the last play of the game and I had a layup for the last few seconds (overtime) to win the game and I missed it because I couldn’t feel my finger,” said senior guard Jayden Terry, who has signed with Louisiana Tech. “We went back and played Lincoln for the district championship again and I gave it my all. It meant everything to me because last year I felt like I gave it away.”

Terry, who scored her 1,000th point in a 67-50 win against Lincoln in the 2023 district semifinals, scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and added four assists in a 64-41 win against Lincoln in the 5A-District 2 championship game.

GHS, the No. 2 seed in 5A-Region 1, cruised by Lincoln, 66-28, in the regional quarterfinals, and then defeated No. 3 seed Beachside (St. Johns), 61-38, at home in the regional semifinals.

They made the long trip to Pensacola and knocked off top seed Booker T. Washington, 64-57, in the region final.

After a tough regular season slate, which included a 16.11 strength of schedule that was the best in the state in their classification, and three straight regional playoff wins, the Lady Hurricanes are now on the threshold of their first state championship game appearance in program history.

GHS, which dropped down to Class 5A, will play Northeast (Oakland Park) in the state semifinals at 1 p.m. on Wednesday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

The No. 3 seed Hurricanes (16-8) are certainly battle tested with victories this season against Class 7A playoff teams West Port (Ocala) and Creekside (St. Johns), plus playoff teams Eastside (4A), 3A Newberry (twice), 3A Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) and Trenton (Rural).

They’ve also played Rural state champion Wildwood twice, 3A state runner-up Bolles (Jacksonville), 4A state semifinalist Rickards (Tallahassee), and 4A regional semifinalist Ribault (Jacksonville), among others.

“The losses are a lesson,” said Gainesville coach Jazlynd Rollins, who helped lead Buchholz to the Class 7A state title as a senior in 2013. “We play that tough schedule every year so we can get better. Last year, we played a tough schedule so we can get prepared for this year. This year, we’re playing a tough schedule so we can get prepared for districts, regionals, and next year, so it’s a purpose to the plan.”

As a player, the Buchholz alum scored 646 points and topped the 38-point scoring mark twice in the regular season as a senior. She ended her high school career with 1,402 points.

Now, the former Rutgers University guard has two 1,000-point scorers of her own, including one who came over from Buchholz (Jamison Cardwell)

“Jamison has been great so far,” said Rollins, who is in her third season. “She’s made a complete turnaround with being more vocal, being a leader, and I think that’s feeding into her offensive game. She’s been supporting her teammates, and her teammates have been supporting her back, and it’s been great for her on the floor.”

Cardwell averaged 17.9 points per game as a junior for the Bobcats and made the All Area team for the third straight year, but she credits her coach for her progression as more of a leader.

“I didn’t really have the best leadership skills coming into GHS, but Coach Jazz molded me into a great leader,” Cardwell said. “She’s a great coach. She pushed me to be better on the court, but most definitely better off the court. She taught me how to be a leader. She was a great basketball player and leader herself. She taught me those skills and I’m trying to lead my team to get us to a state championship.”

Rollins said (Cardwell’s) “mindset has changed completely.”

“She had to make adjustments coming from Buchholz to over here, the coaching staff, it’s a little different, the team is a little different and because she’s making those adjustments this late in the season, it’s working out for her,” she said.

Ironically, Cardwell scored her 1,000th point last year against GHS. Now, she and Terry are on the same team.

“Jayden is one of the best teammates I’ve ever played with,” said Cardwell, who has narrowed her private list of colleges she will play for to 3-4. “She’s amazing. We play off of each other extremely well.”

With Terry (13.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg) on the floor, she doesn’t have to be the go-to scorer, which takes the pressure off of both seniors.

“She (Terry) brings energy, she brings leadership, every day she comes to practice with the same mindset,” Rollins said. “She’s always cheering on her teammates. She’s becoming a better teammate as we progress and it’s fueling her offense. She’s been passing the ball a lot more lately. She told me she wants to be a pass point guard, so it’s feeding into her game pretty well.

Something that has likely rubbed off from her backcourt mate, who has great vision and can often drop a dime without even looking.

Cardwell, who averages a team-best 16.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, scored 22 points in the region final while Terry had 18 points.

After losing in the 2012 and 2013 regional final to eventual state champion Edgewater (Orlando), the Purple Hurricanes are in the state semifinals for the first time since a 52-50 loss to Fort Pierce Central in 1987.

It’s just their second state semifinals appearance all-time.

Wednesday’s opponent, Northeast, finished with the most wins in a season in school history.

The 5A-District 14 champions also won the BCAA Big 8 Championship for the first time.

The No. 2 seed Hurricanes (28-2) are led by junior point guard Nykeria Flowers (19.3 ppg).

She has offers from Georgia Southwestern State, the University of West Alabama, Pensacola State College and Eastern Florida State College, among others.

Junior Jazmine Jones (17.3 ppg) and sophomore Ya’Niyah Young (10.9) are also averaging double figures.

Top seed New Smyrna Beach (25-5) will play No. 4 seed Clearwater (18-9) at 5 p.m. in the other state semifinal.

The winners will play for the Class 5A state title at 5 p.m. on Friday.

GHS has won seven in a row since a 54-50 loss at home to Rural state champion Wildwood on Jan. 28.

“Everybody is freaking out about the dynamic duo, and I love that (Cardwell’s) here,” said Terry, who was also an All Area selection last year. “That’s my best friend man, my road dog, so I’m going to have her back always and we’re going to turn up together and hopefully win state.”