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Keeping their promise

Time: 2011-08-01   Hits: 845   Author: admin

Sunday's was the third Nike Nationals championship berth for DFW, but the first win. The program also advanced to the final last year, as well as in 2008, then with Brittney Griner in tow. Jackson was there for the first two, but not the one he thought about, talked about and shaped for so many years. He died of a heart attack a year ago in April at age 48. The loss devastated the program -- the sport, really -- but it weighed mostly on this particular group of girls, the ones Jackson shined on, pushed endlessly and promoted shamelessly for years. They vowed to win Nike Nationals for him. And when they did, the dam broke. "He should be here," Jefferson said through a waterfall of tears. "This is all he could talk about, us winning Nike Nationals. We did it, and I wish he was here to see it."
If he had been, Jackson would have smiled at the performance of his prized protégé, Jefferson, the No. 2 prospect in the 2012 class, Connecticut commit and Nike Nationals tournament MVP, as chosen by ESPN HoopGurlz. She scored half of the points as DFW went on a deal-closing, 10-0 run late in the second half. He would have beamed with pride at the withering defensive pressure that became this team's trademark. And he would've had a pat on the back for his longtime friend, T-Jack coach Darryl Horton, who schemed up bumping Fairfax post Brionna Jones down the lane with his bigs and making her fight for every square inch of prized inside real estate. She finished with just two points.

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