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State boys basketball: A tandem too tough for Jefferson to corral

 
Miami Norland’s Dewan Huell, left, denies Jefferson’s Maurice Moore. Both players led their respective teams in scoring — Huell with 23 points and Moore with 19.
Miami Norland’s Dewan Huell, left, denies Jefferson’s Maurice Moore. Both players led their respective teams in scoring — Huell with 23 points and Moore with 19.
Published Feb. 28, 2015

LAKELAND — When Jefferson began its first state semifinal game in 41 years Friday against Miami Norland, it focused on Vikings forward Dewan Huell. After all, the junior's 6-foot-10 frame made it hard for him not to be the center of attention.

But as the Dragons spent their energy trying to limit Huell's impact — he had just eight points and seven rebounds before the break — the Vikings' not-so-secret weapon was wide open to make up for his teammates' loss.

Junior guard David Jean-Baptiste hit four 3-pointers, two in a one-minute span in the second quarter, as the Class 6A game got away from the Dragons for good, and the Vikings won their fourth straight state semifinal 67-43 at the Lakeland Center.

As Norland ran away with the lead, Huell also took off. He finished with a game-high 23 points and 17 rebounds, almost as many boards as the entire Jefferson squad had (21). Jefferson coach Eric Hayes said that having experience playing against Tampa Prep's Juwan Durham, also 6 feet 10, helped prepare his team to take on Huell.

Hayes said his Dragons tried to front him and put pressure on the ball. And early, it seemed to work. Still, it was hard to take on two monsters at once.

"Maybe I could have made some changes, maybe not," Hayes said. "But I don't think he was the one who kind of hurt us the most."

That title went to Jean-Baptiste.

Jefferson took its one and only lead just seconds into the second quarter with a Taj Jenkins basket. But for the remainder of the half, Norland went on a 16-2 run — including two Jean-Baptiste 3-pointers in less than a minute — to create the kind of distance the Dragons simply couldn't overcome.

Jefferson (27-5) went into the break trailing 30-17, and in the second quarter Jenkins came out hot, scoring five quick points. Jean-Baptiste's momentum from long-range, though, carried over into the second half, and he hit two more 3s to distance the Vikings yet again.

"When he started hitting 3s, I thought to myself and the team that we have to tighten up," said senior guard Maurice Moore, who led Jefferson with 19 points. "We went out there and there was no energy and no fight. We just played lackadaisical and the lead kept getting higher and higher."

Norland (22-8), which has just one senior on its roster, will take on Gainesville as it hunts for its fourth straight state championship today. Jefferson was new to the Lakeland Center, having not appeared in a state semifinal since 1974.

His Dragons might have come in with less experience at the highest level, but Hayes, who said he's been watching state championship games in Florida since he was 3 years old, doesn't think that's what did his team in.

"Experience wise, I don't think that made the most difference," he said. "I just think we had a spell in the second quarter where we just didn't put the ball in the basket."

Friday's loss appeared especially tough for seniors Moore and Jenkins, who led the Dragons in scoring this season. The pair began playing varsity basketball as sophomores in 2011, the same year Hayes took over a struggling program that had won just 11 games in the three seasons prior to his arrival.

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But though they didn't go home with a state championship in their last games at Jefferson, Jenkins knows they're bringing back something that, in the long run, might be just as important.

"I think we showed (the underclassmen) it doesn't really matter where you come from, it doesn't really matter where you start off," Jenkins said. "It's about where you finish."

Contact Kelly Parsons at kaparsons@tampabay.com. Follow @_kellyparsons.