By Alan Goldenbach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 5, 2006
One word. That's all it takes to turn 6-foot-9 Tayvon Jackson from a confident honor roll student into an insecure mess.
Soft.
It was a label that dogged the Lackey center last season as a junior despite the Chargers' winning 16 games with Jackson in the middle.
"A lot of people said I was timid, and that bothered me a lot," said Jackson, who averaged only eight points per game last season. "I said I wasn't going to get pushed around anymore."
So Jackson pushed back and has made perhaps the most startling improvement among any player in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference over last season. After a summer of top-tier AAU competition and the confidence gained from signing a Division I scholarship to Mount St. Mary's, Jackson is exuding the dominance first-year coach Tony Mast hoped for. Jackson is averaging 15 points, 12.4 rebounds and 7.8 blocks as Lackey started 4-1 heading into last night's game against Northern.
"Before the season," Mast said, "I told him, 'You're going to be dominant. You have no reason not to.' "
Following a career-high 25 points (to go with 14 rebounds and 7 blocks) against Patuxent on Dec. 13, Jackson faced three straight Prince George's County opponents -- Surrattsville, Gwynn Park and Oxon Hill. Not only did he average 14.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 10 blocks in those games, but Jackson twice posted triple-doubles -- against Surrattsville and Oxon Hill.
Jackson said he had never had a double-double before this season.
"I felt like I improved a whole lot since last year," said Jackson, who bulked up to about 200 pounds and added a nice hook shot to his offensive game. "I got a lot stronger. They can't push me off the blocks anymore."
Jackson has traded his awkward and tentative displays for a more aggressive and commanding approach that befits the SMAC's tallest player. Mast said Jackson is not afraid to lower his shoulder into a defender or drive hard to the basket for a dunk.
That might be the biggest difference from last season. Jackson said his only dunks came in transition. Given his size, Jackson knew he could dunk off half-court moves. Yet he said he was "worried about the contact."
"You could tell things changed, because now he's got confidence," Mast said. "Now he's dunking in half-court sets. He now knows he can dunk it on people and take it to them with force. The biggest difference is his intensity. He's not afraid of anybody."
The surprises aren't limited to Lackey's opponents. While Mount St. Mary's was at a tournament in Puerto Rico last month, Mountaineers Coach Milan Brown called Mast to check up on his future player. Lackey had just defeated Bladensburg, and Jackson had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 12 blocks.
Brown's reaction? "He was even shocked when he heard that," Mast said.
Leonardtown Guard Dazzles
There are plenty of surprised looks, too, at Leonardtown games, thanks to senior guard Jackie Pixley. As the lone returning player with substantial experience, Pixley is getting plenty of opportunities to score.
The 5-foot-9 Pixley started the season with a career-high 22 points in a 49-46 victory over Patuxent, bettering his previous best of 15. On Dec. 22, he scored 23 against St. Mary's Ryken, and he is averaging 16 points through six games, heading into last night's game against Westlake. He averaged fewer than seven per game last season.
"Jackie is surprising people," said Leonardtown Coach Jake Heibel, who is in his first year with the program. "He's mixing it up more than anything. He's hard-nosed, but the kid can jump through the roof."
Pixley can shoot from the outside -- as evidenced by his five three-pointers in a 50-43 loss to Chopticon on Dec. 30 -- but he is unafraid to drive the lane. Eleven of his 23 points against Ryken came at the free-throw line.
But Heibel knows this can't last long. Pixley has scored 96 points through six games, and the rest of the Raiders have managed 157.
"Teams are going to start keying on him," Heibel said, "and that's why we need some help."
Broomfield Stacks Up
Laura Broomfield seems to be doing the impossible -- living up to the enormous hype that followed the sophomore forward when she moved from Georgia to St. Mary's Ryken last summer.
Broomfield, one of the most heavily recruited players in the class of 2008, has averaged 23 points per game as she has led the Knights to a 6-1 start, doubling the team's victory total from last season.
Maryland Coach Brenda Frese and Duke's Gail Goestenkors have come to the Leonardtown school to watch Broomfield, and coaches from Texas and Indiana plan to come soon, said Ryken Coach Tara Pappas.
"She can do it all, and she's young, so she'll get better," said Pappas, a former Great Mills assistant, who took over the program in October. "And the amazing thing is, I don't see her bragging at all. She doesn't like the limelight. She's not like, 'Ooh, guess who's there to see me?' "
That's because all the people in the gym can't take their eyes off Broomfield, including Patuxent Coach Sonja Carroll. When the Panthers faced Broomfield and the Knights on Dec. 22, Ryken held a 26-25 lead going into the fourth quarter. Broomfield scored 13 of her game-high 28 points in the fourth as the Knights rolled to a 51-38 victory.
"She has a nice and soft shot," Carroll said. "She's a good athlete. She definitely makes the players around her better."
That might be Broomfield's most impressive accomplishment. Pappas said it was easy for her players, early on, to watch their new teammate in amazement. But, gradually, the Knights are trying to play up to Broomfield's level, rather than ride her coattails.
In a 55-42 victory over Lackey in the championship game of the Huntingtown Holiday Tournament, Broomfield wasn't even the Knights' leading scorer. Her 13 points were trumped by sophomore Megan Matheny's season-high 19.
"We're in a really tough predicament," Pappas said. "She's only a sophomore, but we're all looking to her as our go-to player. But the girls are looking up to her and saying, 'I want to be able to get up to her level.' "
Robinson on the Rise
Carroll doesn't need to do much to motivate Patuxent junior center Chrissy Robinson. Robinson gets that from her family.
Robinson's older sister, Amanda, was the All-Extra player of the year in 2003-04 and is starting at forward for the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Not surprisingly, Chrissy Robinson is starting to pick up some of her older sister's strengths.
"She's running the floor better, catching the ball and seeing the floor better," Carroll said. "She's understanding how to use her size and body."
Chrissy Robinson scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Panthers to a 53-45 victory over High Point last week in the championship game of the DuVal Christmas Classic. It was her first career 20-point game. The previous day, she scored 16 in a 42-33 victory over the host team.
Chrissy Robinson will probably develop a little differently from her older sister. She is stronger, with a greater affinity for the low post than her sister, who has excellent footwork and developed a strong mid-range jump shot.
Calvert Player Dismissed
The boys' team at Calvert suffered a blow when junior center Mike Pernell was dismissed from the team Dec. 28 for disciplinary reasons.
The 6-4 Pernell, who averaged 14.8 points per game, second on the team to Eric Young's 21.6, was Calvert's lone player taller than 6-1 among its top eight scorers.
"We're going to have to make [his 14.8 points] up somewhere," said Cavaliers Coach Rick Lagana. "If everyone pitches in a little bit, we can overcome that."
After winning its first four games, Calvert has lost three straight, including both games at the Winters Mill Holiday Tournament -- 61-58 to Century and 69-44 to Atholton on the day Pernell was dismissed.
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