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Local Sports
Jefferson Dragons Basketball Team Advances To Regionals
Lovie Smith Likes Jameis Winston
Sports
For the second straight year, Jefferson High School boys basketball coach, Eric Hayes, has taken his team to the 7A-Region 2 finals.
The Dragons defeated Mitchell, a team that hadn’t lost all season at home, 79-65 without their top forward for most of the third quarter.
The Dragons wasted no time in building a big lead as they surged ahead 18-8 after the first period. Mitchell cut the lead to two in the third, but that’s as close as they got for the remainder of the game.
The Dragons’ top scorer, Maurice Moore, energized the team in the fourth quar- ter as the senior ended the night with 24 points and 8 re- bounds.
Coach Hayes said he thought his team performed well in a hostile environment.
“We still have some things we need to work on, but all of my guys stepped up. I always teach my players to be un- selfish and we had four guys score in double figures.
“I give a lot of praise to my guys who came off the bench and really made a difference
Maurice Moore (center) prepares to make a move against two Mitchell defend- ers in his team’s victory Tuesday night.
in the game.”
Next up for the Dragons is
an undefeated Lehigh Acres team out of Ft. Myers. That game will be played at Jeffer- son this Saturday, 7 p.m.
Coach Hayes said last year, they lost in the first- round to Largo, and he was pleased his players avenged that loss before the Mitchell game.
In other hoop action in- volving Hillsborough County teams, East Bay beat Free- dom; Berkeley beat Tampa Catholic for the third straight year; Gibbs defeated Jesuit; Tampa Prep beat Seffner Christian, and St. Petersburg beat Wharton.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith said, based on what he knows at the moment, he wouldn't hesitate to select Jameis Winston with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.
Winston had a series of off-the-field issues at Florida State, but the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner wasn't charged with any crime stem- ming from that situation.
"Let's talk about the ele- phant in the room," Smith told three local reporters be- fore addressing the national media Wednesday at the NFL
LOVIE SMITH And JAMEIS WINSTON
scouting combine. "He's been accused of a crime. There's an allegation. I have faith in our court system. He went through it. He went through the school justice system, and he was cleared. He went through our court system and he was cleared, exonerated.
"I would like to think that when people go through that, that you wouldn't bring that up the rest of your life on a 21- year-old, you wouldn't bring that up. We've already done a lot of research. We're going to do a lot more research on both guys. From what I know right now, yeah, we're OK with where he is."
Smith made it clear that the Buccaneers are consider- ing Oregon's Marcus Mari- ota along with Winston. But the bulk of the questions Smith answered were about Winston.
Cowboys Leaning Toward Franchising Bryant
INDIANAPOLIS -- Dallas Cowboys executive vice pres- ident Stephen Jones said the club is leaning toward using the franchise tag on wide receiver Dez Bryant, butisnotinahurrytodoso.
The window to use the tag opened Monday, and the team must decide by March 2.
Because the NFL has not set the 2015 salary cap, the Cowboys do not know how much the tag will be or how much room they will have to spend. In all likelihood, the tag will be somewhere around
DEZ BRYANT
$13 million for wide re- ceivers.
Jones said the Cowboys have set up talks during the week with the agents for a number of their free agents- to-be, but nothing concrete has been set up with Kim Miale of Roc Nation and Tom Condon of CAA, who represent Bryant.
Larry Fitzgerald Agrees To New 2-Year Deal
Larry Fitzgerald isn't going anywhere.
The Cardinals star wide re- ceiver agreed to "essentially" a two-year contract Wednesday to stay with the only team he's played for.
Cardinals general manager Steve Keim announced the deal Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine in Indi- anapolis, saying "we're fin- ished."
Keim did not disclose fi- nancial details. Fitzgerald will receive $22 million in
LARRY FITZGERALD
guaranteed money over the course of the new contract.
Fitzgerald was due to earn $16.25 million with a $23.6 million cap hit in 2015, mak- ing his contract one of the Car- dinals' top offseason priorities.
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