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Jefferson Tops Plant

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By KATHERINE SMITH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 3, 2008

TAMPA - Jefferson's girls basketball team took a big step Tuesday night toward establishing itself as the team to beat in Hillsborough County with a convincing 45-22 victory against district-rival Plant.

"It's huge," Jefferson coach Tom Mosca said. "It was another obstacle in the way to find out how good we really are. They were the top dog, so maybe that puts us in a better position."

The defending district champion Panthers couldn't keep up with the fast-paced Dragons and suffered their first loss of the season. Leading 10-8 after the first period, Jefferson went on a 12-0 run to open the second period. Junior guard Jade Givens scored six of those uncontested points to help build a 27-14 halftime lead.

The Dragons built their largest lead, 25 points, to close out the third quarter when Shayla Wilson scored six consecutive points. Jefferson scored 10 straight points in the fourth quarter to put the game away. They held Plant's leading scorer Michelle Taylor, who was averaging 15.3 points per game, to five points.

"Our confidence is up here right now," said Givens, who led Jefferson with 14 points. "We've come a long way from last year. We couldn't even come close to beating Plant last year."

Reporter Katherine Smith can be reached at (813) 259-7860.

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