BROOKSVILLE – As Mary Jackson and the rest of her fellow starters came off the court Tuesday night, the biggest victory in school history well in hand, the home crowd stood and cheered their performance.
For the senior point guard, it was the last moments of her final home game in a Hernando Christian Academy uniform. The Lady Lions defeated Ocala-St. John Lutheran in a Class 2A, Region I girls basketball semifinal, 43-18.
“There’s a lot of emotions going on right now,” Jackson said. “I’m excited. I’m a little bit sad that it’s my last (home) game. But overall I’m pretty happy with the season and where I’m at right now.
“At the beginning of the season I knew what I wanted. I wanted a district championship, and I knew if we worked hard we could get there and get it done. I expected this, it just feels good that it came true.”
HCA (17-4) still has at least Saturday’s regional final left to play, however that will be hosted by reigning state champion Florida A&M University Developmental Research School, located in Tallahassee. If the Lady Lions survive that next round, they would move on to the FHSAA Finals in Lakeland.
So the matchup with the Lady Saints (10-17), the fourth meeting between the two district rivals this season, proved to be the last contest of 2015-16 in the Lions’ Den.
As they did in each of the previous three meetings with St. John, the Lady Lions pulled out the victory. After a sluggish start resulting in just a 9-5 lead after one quarter, HCA gradually pulled away, going up as much as 30 late.
“You see a team four times, we knew they were going to have something new for us,” HCA head coach Mike Drummond said. “It’s hard to prepare for a team that you’ve defeated three times because what do you change? You’ve been successful, so it’s hard to change anything. But you know that you’re going to have to make some adjustments on the fly because they’re going to come up with something.
“We changed up a little bit of our press defenses and I think that helped. We got them rattled. Probably the key to the game was when Jordyn (Chaffin, the Lady Saints’ leading scorer) got in foul trouble. Then we took advantage of that, and that’s what you’ve got to do.”
Jackson keyed the team early on, knocking down three 3-pointers in the first half. She would have four in the game, finishing with 13 points, three assists and a steal.
“We had some kind of magic going on, on the floor. It’s my last home game, last time here on the court. The Lord came through for me today,” Jackson said. “Going into the game I was thinking if I could draw the defense out on me then I could work the ball inside. Because that’s where we usually get all our points is on the inside. I can shoot threes, I just usually don’t, because I’m usually the playmaker.”
Jackson has knocked down 14 shots from beyond the arc, second on the team to backcourt mate Cayla Phillips. She’s also averaging 10.2 points, 2.3 assists and 3.1 steals. Tuesday was the 80th career varsity game over the past four years for the school’s all-time leader in steals.
“What a way to go out in your last game at home,” Drummond said of Jackson. “For her to go out that way, I think that’s huge. That’s just been Mary all year long. She’s our leader, probably our most outstanding player all the way around. The girls respond to her on the floor, and she took charge of the game today.
“I remember the struggles she had as a freshman, and how she’s grown and matured into a fine player and a quality young lady. It’s going to be big shoes to fill next year.”
Also for the Lady Lions, Phillips scored 12 points and added three assists. Freshman Milly Jackson, Mary’s younger sister, pulled down 14 rebounds, while Shyann McElwain chipped in 11 boards and Lauren Zappone had 10. HCA got outrebounded 29-11 in the first half, but closed to gap to 44-41 by the end of the game.
Chaffin scored 12 to pace the Lady Saints, and also collected 14 rebounds. But it was far from enough to keep Jackson and the Lady Lions from advancing to their first-ever regional final.
“When we started this season if somebody would have said, ‘You’re going to be playing for the regional final,’ I probably would have said, ‘Well that would be a dream.’ So the dream came true tonight,” Drummond said.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had here. For all the fans to come out to support, it’s a great legacy I’m leaving here,” Mary Jackson said. “We don’t really know what to expect (Saturday). All we know is we’re going to play our hardest and have fun with it.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.