TALLAHASSEE — On the verge of unraveling, it was a sophomore who steadied the ship for Columbia.
Trailing Lincoln by 10 midway through the fourth quarter, Zadrian Knowlton knocked down a 3-pointer to pull his team back within seven.
“I play with a lot of confidence,” Knowlton said.
He had plenty more of it in the fourth quarter.
Knowlton scored eight more points in the period— all in the final two minutes — to finish with 17 to help rally the No. 6 seed Tigers for a 66-65 win over the No. 3 seed Trojans in the Region 1-5A quarterfinals Saturday night at LHS. His second 3-pointer of the period and third of the night gave Columbia a 62-60 lead with just over a minute left, a lead it never relinquished thanks to a layup and a pair of free throws from Knowlton in the final minute.
The victory marks the Tigers’ first playoff win since 2023 and sets up a date at No. 2 seed Ponte Vedra — a 69-45 winner over No. 7 seed Mosley — in the Sweet 16 on Feb. 21.
“That was a huge turning point because it really flipped the momentum,” Knowlton said of his 3-pointer that cut the deficit to seven. “Once I hit that 3, we just all came together as a team and won the game.”
Not only was it Columbia’s first regional win in three seasons but it was also Columbia coach Steve Faulkner’s 300th win in his career, which began at Williston before he took over the Tigers in the 2014-15 season. It’s one he’ll certainly remember, a tight game where the teams were tied 31-31 at halftime and within six points of each other until the early part of the fourth quarter.
In addition to Knowlton, Columbia also got nine points apiece from guards Shaheed White and Kadrian Wilson, eight from center Mikel Morgan and seven from center Terrance Tolbert.
“It’s huge” Faulkner said of his 300th win coming in the playoffs. “I would have much rather gotten it last Thursday at home (against Leon in the district semifinals), but it’s good. All it means is that I’ve been coaching for a long dang time and I’ve had good players. That’s all it really means.”
Win number 300 for Faulkner started to look like a longshot early in the fourth quarter. After Columbia (16-11) entered the final period trailing 52-47, George Mutanga opened the quarter with a layup while getting fouled before hitting the free throw to put Lincoln (20-3) up eight.
Knowlton then threw an inbounds pass away near half court due to miscommunication with White and the ball landed right in the hands of Kyel Chambliss, who trotted to the basket for a layup to give the Trojans a 57-47 lead.
But instead of unraveling, Knowlton answered on the other end with step-back 3-pointer to inject new life into the Tigers.
“We were floundering and we needed something big to happen, and he hit a big 3,” Faulkner said. “The kid has an enormous amount of confidence. I love that about him. He made that big 3 and it maybe gave a lot of belief to not only the guys on the court but also the guys on the bench that we still have a chance.”
Landon Dougherty responded on the other end with a putback for two of his game-high 18 points for Lincoln, but Tolbert answered with his own putback on the other end to get the deficit back down to seven. That’s when Columbia’s defensive pressure turned up a notch, with Murkail Cray and White each snatching steals on consecutive possessions for back-to-back layups to quickly pull within three.
The Tigers then forced a miss on the other end and Morgan followed with a layup to cut the Trojans’ lead to 59-58. After the teams exchanged a free throw, Knowlton hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter to give Columbia a 62-60 lead.
“I’m really freaking proud of these kids,” Faulkner said. “We got down 10 and just continued to fight. They believed what I told them, that if we continue to press, they’re going to turn it over and that’s what ended up happening in that fourth quarter when we made that run. They just stayed with it man and believed. My big thing is to play with confidence, play like we know we can do this, and I felt that way in the fourth quarter, that we know that we’re good enough to move on to the next game.”
Dougherty had a chance to tie it when he was fouled on Lincoln’s ensuing possession, but he missed both foul shots. The Trojans regained possession only for Morgan to steal the ball away and feed the ball up the floor to Knowlton, but Knowlton was called for a charge while going up for a layup.
Chambliss then tried to give Lincoln the lead, but his 3-pointer was off the mark. The Trojans regained possession again, but Knowlton stole the ball away this time and laid it in on the other end to put Columbia up 64-60 with 38 seconds left.
Knowlton still wasn’t done answering the Trojans either. After Dougherty hit a jumper to pull Lincoln back within two, Knowlton made a pair of free throws to put the Tigers back up four with 20 seconds left.
The Trojans missed down the other end only for Chambliss to steal the ball away from Columbia and hit a 3 in the closing seconds. But the Tigers opted not to inbound the ball, instead allowing the final seconds to tick off the clock to kick off a well-deserved celebration.
“One thing I’m going to talk to them about is changing the dynamic,” Faulkner said. “It’s not OK just to get into the playoffs. Let’s get in and make some noise, let’s do something. We’ve now broken that chain of first round and out. Now we get a win, and we go to Ponte Vedra. I’m excited. I told them the only thing I wanted was to be practicing on Monday, and we will. We’ll be practicing on Monday.”