Dillard Too Physical For Deltona, Panthers Advance To 6A Final

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LAKELAND – It may not have been pretty, but it was effective.

Dillard, with its physically imposing front line, proved to be too much for Deltona as the Panthers manufactured a 56-44 victory Friday night in the Class 6A state semifinals at The Lakeland Center.

The Panthers will face Largo Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. for the 6A championship.

6-foot-6 junior Jordan Wright put together a double-double, with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, to lead Dillard. 6-foot-8 junior Raiquan "Turk" Gray also turned in a double-double of 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Where the Panthers wanted to do better was with its shooting percentage. Dillard shot 37 percent (19 of 51) from the field Friday. But, defensively the Panthers held Deltona to 32 percent and forced the Wolves into 12 turnovers.

Dillard head coach Darryl Burrows said his team's performance was not aesthetically pleasing.

"It wasn't pretty," Burrows said. "We haven't been to Lakeland in a while. But we did travel all over the country trying to gain some experience and get ready for something like this. We didn't play that well tonight, but we were able to take some things away from [Deltona] and we did enough to win this game."

"It's good to be back [in Lakeland] though. I've been here a little bit, but these kids never have…so the nerves were there for them," Burrows added.

Burrows is quite familiar with the Lakeland Center. Since taking over the program in 1994, Burrows has led Dillard to the state final four on eight occasions.

The Panthers (27-5) are chasing their sixth basketball title – winning four straight Class 6A championships from 2000 to 2003 and its latest crown came in 2008 – under Burrows. Dillard also finished as state runners-up in 1995.

It must've been nerves that made Dillard fall behind 5-1 at the start of the game and ultimately find itself look up at Deltona with an 11-8 deficit at the end of the first quarter.

Dillard quickly settled in the second quarter though – opening on an 8-0 run to take a 16-11 lead then stretching it out to 20-13 with 3:33 left before halftime. The Panthers got ahead by as much as 10 before Deltona (22-9) was able to cut the deficit to 28-21 by halftime.

Gray said he and his teammates did have some early jitters, but once they dissipated, they were fine.

"At first, there were some butterflies…a little nervousness," Gray admitted. "But we settled down and got used to the court and the arena and we started playing as a team."

"Our main thing was taking everything inside – attacking the basket and getting close shots at the rim," Gray said.

Dillard's consistent attacking; coupled with the size of Gray, Wright and 6-foot-9 junior Joyina Gadsen enabled the Panthers to get multiple looks in the paint – evident by their 17 offensive rebounds.

Defensively, Dillard put the clamps on Deltona – especially twins Blake and Evan Hinson. Evan led the Wolves with 10 points, but shot 3-for-16, and Blake finished with just nine points before fouling out of the game in the fourth quarter.

Dijoun Farquharson scored 11 points for Dillard and Bryce Oliver contributed six points and seven rebounds.

After Dillard led by seven at halftime, Deltona would only get as close as five – during the third quarter – as Dillard continued to build on its lead.

Dillard will face a Largo team that didn't play its prettiest game Friday during its semifinal either. Largo edged out Pensacola 56-54 while shooting 32 percent from the field and turning the ball over 20 times.

Burrows knows his team has to be a better version of itself Saturday, in order to win his sixth ring.

"I think the nerves will be gone," Burrows began. "Our shot selection has to be better, we have to be more careful with the basketball and we just have to play better overall. Hopefully, we'll play a better game tomorrow."

Box Score

Class 6A state semifinals: Fort Lauderdale Dillard 56, Deltona 44 – DIL (27-5): Wright 19, Gray 13, Farquharson 11, Oliver 6, Johnson 4, Gadson 2, Garner 1. DEL (22-9): E. Hinson 10, B. Hinson 9, Smith 8, Monroe 9, Lane 5, Douglas 3. Halftime: DIL 28-21. Three-pointers: Farquharson 2, Gray, E. Hinson 2, B. Hinson, Douglas. Fouled out: B. Hinson, Marquez. Technicals: None. Rebounds: Gray 12. Assists: 3 tied 3. Steals: Wright 2. Blocks: Johnson 2.