JACKSONVILLE — Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic, a senior-laden squad ranked No. 1 overall by the FHSAA in the latest boys basketball rankings, took down Jacksonville Paxon, 53-37, Friday on Day 1 of the Duel in Duval on the campus of the University of North Florida.
Six-foot-1 senior point guard Ray Davis excelled in leading the Hawks to their 18th victory in 20 games. Davis led a balanced attack with 15 points, 6-4 Joe Stubbs had 12 and both Javon Bell and Antwan Walker had 11 points.
Davis is a 1,000-point scorer for coach Mike Blicher.
“Ray Davis, unbelievable kid off the court first,” said Blicher, in his fourth year. “Three-point-five [GPA], 1220 SAT. Right now he’s got an NAIA offer and a D-1 JuCo offer from Albany Tech [in Georgia] and Aquinas College up in [Grand Rapids] Michigan. I don’t understand why D-2s aren’t all over him. He competes, he’s got athleticism, he’s got a body coming — that’s a work in progress. But you have the grades and you just have the leadership. He’s got everything I would want in a point guard.”
Bell signed with JuCo State College of Florida in Bradenton. Stubbs has a State College of Florida offer and Broward College is on him hard. Brian Elliott is a 6-5 shooter and has a ton of Division IIIs and Walker, who came from Haines City, has a JuCo offer from a school in Michigan.
Class 3A SFC’s two losses are to Winter Haven and Lakewood Ranch.
“We came up here for the competition and it’s right when we are coming off a couple losses,” Blicher said. “So it’s a good test to see what are we going to do. Are we going to pout and go through a rough stretch or are we just going to turn it around? And tonight was great effort. I don’t think it was the cleanest game for either team in terms of execution but they were competing at a high level and we did not back down.”
LEE’S DEVAUGHN SHINES WITH 24
Deandre Devaughn, a 5-8 2020 guard with Jacksonville Robert E. Lee High, canned five 3-pointers on the way to a 24-point performance in the overtime victory over Tallahassee Lincoln.
Devaughn does a lot of things well. He came into the game averaging 16.2 points, 2.5 steals and 2 assists.
“Good shooter,” Lee coach Stephen Jenkins said. “He’s definitely that piece where people can’t just stop one guy [Alex Fudge]. So, we have some real perimeter shooters.”
Asked if coaches on the next level were looking at Devaughn, Jenkins said: “Some, but not enough.”
JENKINS’ FINAL YEAR
Jacksonville Lee coach Stephen Jenkins is in his 29th year as a head coach. He told me this would be his last season.
LINCOLN’S WIGGINS IMPRESSES
Six-foot senior guard Zae Wiggins scored 18 points vs. Jacksonville Lee. Wiggins — who has grown an inch and a half this year — is still searching for that first scholarship offer.
“I’m real surprised at [the lack of attention for] Zae, because he’s the consummate point guard,” Lincoln third-year coach Matt Anderson said. “He’s a three-year starter, his sophomore season he started on a very talented team my first year there. He shot 43 percent from the 3 that year. It’s gone down a little bit since’s he gone to point because so much focus is on him and he puts in so much work. He can pass it, he can handle it, he can shoot it, he can score in between, he can go by people, he plays great defense.”
2020 Jadan Glass added 15 points and 2021 David Ganious had 14 points, including the 3-pointer that tied the game at the end of regulation.
It was just Tallahassee Lincoln’s third loss in 19 games. The other two were to Miller Grove (Ga.) by 5 and Oviedo Master’s Academy by 1. That’s three losses by a total of 12 points.
“We’re close to where we need to be but we’ve still got a lot of areas [16 turnovers today] we need to shore up and improve on I feel like,” said Anderson, who was a part of six titles at Malone High. “But I feel like we are getting there.”
PROVIDENCE PUTS IT TOGETHER
Providence rolled past Central Florida Christian. “It was one of our better games,” said coach Jim Martin. “Solid guy in the lane. Not turning it over as much.”
J. Lee Repass is a nice prospect in the paint. Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Furman, Siena and the entire A-Sun is involved with Repass.
“6-10, 250 and as you can see today has a real soft touch,” Martin said.
Providence’s two senior guards are getting D-II and D-III interest. Isaiah Green (5-8) scored 16 points Friday.
ALL THE WAY TO THE BUZZER
Impact Christian played IMG Blue right to the buzzer but missed a shot at the horn in the one-point loss.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Martin County 71, Jacksonville Atlantic Coast 42
Jacksonville Robert E. Lee 73, Tallahassee Lincoln 67 (OT)
Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic 53, Jacksonville Paxon 37
Jacksonville Providence 53, Ocoee Central Florida Christian 31
IMG Blue 53, Jacksonville Impact Christian 52
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
11: Jacksonville Bishop Snyder vs. Atlantic Coast
12:30: Jacksonville Ed White vs. Martin County
2:00: North Florida Educational vs. Tallahassee Lincoln
3:30: West Nassau vs. IMG Academy Blue
5:00: Jacksonville Paxon vs. Central Florida Christian
6:30: Impact Christian vs. Santa Fe Catholic
8:00: Jacksonville Lee vs. Daytona Beach Mainland
If you have high school or travel basketball news, you can reach Pat Lammer at PatALammer@Gmail.com
