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Brandon returns the favor

TAMPA -- Class 4A, District 9 is a free-for-all.

One week Brandon is beating Plant, then Plant is beating Jefferson, then Jefferson is beating Brandon, then ...

The latest installment was Wednesday night, as visiting Brandon, just a few days after losing to Jefferson, came back to beat the Dragons 63-54.

The victory leaves Brandon with one district loss, tying the Eagles with Plant's lone district setback.

"It was a huge victory," Brandon coach Mark Hermann said, "because the team with the No. 1 seed in our district has a huge advantage in the district tournament."

Indeed, the No. 1 seed will get a first-round bye, while the No. 2 and 3 seeds are expected to meet in a district semifinal.

Which would be a shame considering how strong these teams are: Plant (16-3) is ranked No. 5 in the state, Jefferson (15-4) is No. 6 and Brandon (17-3) is No. 9.

Wednesday, the battle lived up to the hype.

Between Jefferson's Terance Kinsey throwing down dunks and Kevin Vinson slicing through defenders and slipping in layups, Brandon was countering with dunks by freshman Zaronn Cann and drives by Taylor Gangis and J.J. Turner.

The score, meantime, stayed close throughout and stood tied at 49 with about 4 minutes remaining.

"And then our guys really stepped it up," Hermann said. "I can't say enough about Zaronn Cann. He may be a freshman, but tonight he played like a senior."

Cann, who finished with a game-high 20 points, sparked the Eagles' final charge with a baseline drive and dunk, followed a few seconds later with a delicate pull-up jumper near the foul line.

"I knew when I came into this game that we had a good chance to win," said Cann, who sat out the last Jefferson-Brandon contest while serving a two-game suspension for getting two technicals in a previous game. "I really wanted to come in here and show what I could do."

It could have easily been closer but Jefferson's shots just couldn't find the bottom of the net down the stretch.

"I thought we were getting good looks, but they didn't go in," Jefferson coach Doug Greseth said. "Brandon just hit some big shots when they needed them, and we didn't."

Jefferson's final regular-season game against one of its district's top three will be Jan. 26 against visiting Plant. Brandon and Plant will meet one more time in a regular-season district contest Wednesday at Plant.

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