Wright Stars, Dillard Pulls Away From Largo; Panthers Win 6A Championship

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LAKELAND – To be young and talented; a powerful combination, indeed.

Led by junior Jordan Wright's 21 points and powered by a big third quarter run, Dillard defeated Largo 66-55 Saturday afternoon to win the Class 6A state championship in The Lakeland Center.

The Panthers, who defeated four-time Class 6A champion Miami Norland in the regional final en route to its title, won its 20th consecutive game and claimed their sixth boys' basketball championship Saturday.

The 6-foot-5 Wright was one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with nine boards and four steals to go along with his game-high point total. Fellow junior, 6-foot-7 Raiquan "Turk" Gray was one point shy of a double-double – totaling 10 rebounds and nine points.

After taking a 26-24 lead into the locker room at halftime, Dillard went on a 9-0 run to start the third and ended up outscoring Largo 18-5 through the first six minutes of the quarter. The Panthers (28-5) took as large as 43-30 lead in the third and Largo (23-7) never got closer than 10 points after that.

Dillard head coach Darryl Burrows said he told his team to settle down and keep attacking the basket.

"We got off to a little sluggish start again today," Burrows said. "I just told them to settle down at halftime. Largo was an extremely scrappy team that could play. But we knew that our advantage would be on the inside. I just told them to keep going at the rim, getting the ball on the inside."

Wright said it was one simple change after halftime.

"We just came out harder," Wright said. "Coach told us to pick it up and we just attacked them in the second half…wore [Largo] down."

The Panthers had a decided advantage in the height department over the Packers. In the first half, it was 6-foot-8 forward Robert Johnson and 6-foot-9 center Joniya Gadson – both juniors – that corralled rebounds on both ends of the floor.

Dillard's third quarter run was sparked by Wright, who got four points on one trip down the court. He scored and was fouled on a layup attempt, missed the free throw, but got his own rebound and scored again while being fouled. Wright missed that free throw as well, but the ball bounced out to senior Dijoun Farquharson – who knocked down a three-pointer, pushing Dillard's lead to 35-25.

Johnson and Gadson combined to scored 14 points and grab 10 rebounds. Farquharson, a senior, added five points; but it was sophomore Bryce Oliver who was the only other Panthers player to finish with double-figure points – totaling 11.

"I wasn't playing too well early on," Oliver said. "Coach sat me down and I was able to evaluate myself and watch the way the game was going and watch my teammates out there. Then when I got back out there, I got into the flow of the game and started hitting some shots."

Largo, which edged out Pensacola 56-54 in the other semifinal, had another rough shooting performance Saturday. The Packers shot just 32 percent from the field and turned the ball over 20 times Friday, then followed that up by shooting 36 percent and giving the ball away 22 times against Dillard.

The Packers, which led 16-12 at the end of the first quarter, lost a lot of its spunk when senior guard Dakari Allen fouled out of the game with 6:48 left in the fourth quarter. Allen, Largo's leading scorer on the season, did tie Zahidi Robinson for the team lead with 10 points – but they were the only Largo players with a double-figure point total.

With Saturday's win, Burrows ties Blanche Ely's Melvin Randall and Miami Norland's Lawton Williams as South Florida coaches who have won six state titles in their career.

Since taking over the program in 1994, Burrows has led Dillard to the state final four on nine occasions – winning four consecutive titles from 2000 to 2003 and another in 2008 prior to Saturday's championship. Dillard also finished as state runners-up in 1995.

However, Randall can break the three-man tie if his Ely Tigers win the Class 7A title Saturday.

Burrows said he's not big on wearing all that jewelry, though.

"A lot of people ask me why I don't wear my rings," Burrows said. "It's always good to get another one. But right now, while I still have some more to give – I'm not worried about that. When it's all said and done I'll probably put on all the rings and look back at everything."

Looking forward, Dillard is a team that is mostly comprised of juniors and sophomores. Only four seniors are on the Panthers' roster and only one plays significant minutes – reserve guard Farquharson.

Still, Burrows want to build his program the way he always has.

"Yes, the future is very bright, especially if these guys stay hungry and continue to work on their craft. But my goal is to contribute something to these young men that go beyond basketball," Burrows said. "We don't just talk about basketball; we talk about many other things besides that. We forge friendships. And these young guys will see the older guys come back and tell them a lot of the same things that we're trying to instill in the program. My goal is to give these current guys something that they'll carry on for the program."

"It's not the rings," Burrows went on. "It's coming to this tournament and being the last team on the floor in your class. That means that you were the very best in your class that year."

Box Score

Class 6A state championship: Fort Lauderdale Dillard 66, Largo 55 – DIL (28-5): Wright 21, Oliver 11, Gray 9, R. Johnson 8, Gadson 6, Farquharson 5, Garner 3, M Johnson 2, Sellars 1. LAR (23-7): Allen 10, Robinson 10, Drayton 9, Roundtree 6, Thomas 6, Deliu 5, Bellamy 4, Cooney 3, Lockett 2. Halftime: DIL 26-24. Three-pointers: Oliver, Farquharson, Thomas 2, Allen 2, Robinson. Fouled out: Allen, Gray. Technicals: Drayton. Rebounds: Gray 10. Assists: 2 tied 3. Steals: 2 tied 4. Blocks: Gray 2.