Defense keys Dragons' run

At some point in the Jefferson High girls basketball team's playoff victory against Clearwater last season, Dragons coach Tom Mosca saw it.

It was something he had seen a couple of times in his 35-year tenure as a girls basketball coach. He saw it in his 1978 Robinson team that started 25-0. Two of his Brandon teams that soared to 30-0 starts had it, too.

It appeared again while his Jefferson girls were beating a Clearwater team with a rich final-four tradition.

"I saw a group of kids that, even though they were young, they stood up to Clearwater. They didn't back down," Mosca said. "As the game progressed, you could sense from them that they knew they could play with anyone at this level."

Jefferson (28-3) is playing at the ultimate level this season, advancing to today's Class 4A state semifinals for the first time in school history. They play Pensacola (25-2) at The Lakeland Center at 11:30 a.m.

Mosca has coached two other final four teams. His 1985 Eagles team put Brandon girls basketball on the map with its first national ranking. He has had three undefeated teams ranked No. 1 in the state go deep into the playoffs.

But it's this young collection of Jefferson players, each one a star, who have formed a unit that could be Mosca's best.

"It's hard to compare an era of kids from the '80's to now, 20-something years later," said Mosca, who surpassed the 600-victory mark this season. "But I would say in their own right, with this age of skill and year-round basketball, this is the best team, the best-skilled team I've coached. And I've had some great players."

He rattles off the list: Carvie Upshaw, Missy Lynn, Julie Thompson, Renee Daniels and Angie Calendar from Brandon and Harriet Brumfield, Scooby Golden and Michelle Williams from Robinson were special players during Mosca's earlier years.

The list has grown the past several years to include Laurie' Beaty, Chantrell Frazier, Jade Givens, Bene'e Glanton and Shayla Wilson, the starters from Jefferson's history-making squad.

What sets this Jefferson team apart?

"It's the defense. Our defense is fierce," Beaty said. "We go all out. We take chances other teams don't take. We just go at it hard."

That forceful defense disrupted opponents this season, holding them to an average of 32 points per game. The stinginess was even more pronounced in the postseason against teams used to putting up big numbers.

In the first round, they beat Lakewood Ranch, a team that was averaging 48 points, 64-28. Next up was a 66-46 victory against Lakewood, a team that averaged 59 points. And in the game that advanced the Dragons to the final four, they beat a Naples Barron Collier team that was averaging 58 points, 66-41.

The Dragons have a variety of scoring threats. With Givens, whom Mosca called the best point guard he has coached, distributing the ball, Beaty (15.4 ppg) and Wilson (12.3) have been the biggest benefactors.

With numbers like that, Mosca can appreciate how tough it must be for the Pensacola coach to come up with a game plan.

"If I had to sit down and had to figure out how to stop Jefferson, it would be a nightmare," Mosca said. "You want to stop Givens? You want to stop Beaty? You want to stop Wilson? Then you've got Glanton and Frazier and our bench. I'm glad I don't have to figure it out.

"This is a dream team here. It's just beyond belief."