Ribault HS- In the last five years, no middle school boys basketball coach in Duval County has been more consistant than Head Coach Antwan Lewey of Springfield Middle. After two visits to the championship game, Lewey would lead Springfield (then Kirby Smith) to it’s first County Championship in 2019. He followed that with a back-to-back championship in 2020. Now in 2023, Coach Lewey and the Comets would make it 3 chips in 5 years after defeating Kernan for the Duval County Middle School Championship.
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Said Lewey after the game “we had one goal all year and that was to win the championship; we put all the personal goals to the side and came together as a team to win a championship”. It wasn’t easy against Kernan as the Ospreys led by Coach Corey Jackson started out hot. Logan Wilkinson would score the first points of the game on a layup. Wilkinson would get offensive rebounds, and convert them into seconds chance points, pacing the Ospreys throughout the game.
Kernan also got a big effort from play-maker Markel Holmes, who disrupted Springfield on defense and scored seemingly at will on offense. Holmes drove to the basket for points, or drew attention from Springfield ddefenders, resulting in offensive rebounds and put-backs by Kernan.
However, Springfield was just to aggressive on defense causing steals, blocking shots, and creating turnovers all night. Brandon McCoy was relentless for the Comets, driving to the basket for buckets, and muscling up put-backs for points. McCoy led all scorers with 8 points in the first half. His play would earn him the Most Valuable Player of the game.
If there was an X-factor for the game, that player would be Keon Jackson. Jackson scored 7-points in the first half, knocking down a big three-pointer to give his team a lead. Jackson also found himself scoring on fast breaks, running the court and finishing strong at the rim. McCoy, Jackson, Cutter, and Asberry put the clamps on Kernan in the second half by forcing the ball out of the hands of Holmes which proved to be the difference.
