Bucks fall in regional semifinals

Posted on 17 March 2016 by LeslieM

sports031716By Gary Curreri

Although it wasn’t the storybook ending Deerfield Beach High School girls basketball coach Portia Williams had hoped for, it was a step in the right direction.

Host Boca Raton (26-7) jumped out to an early 13-2 lead and cruised to a 71-47 win over Deerfield Beach (25-7) at home in a Class 8A regional final game. The Bobcats went on to fall to Vero Beach, 77-68, in overtime in the state championship contest.

The Bucks got an unexpected boost from 5 ft., 5 in. freshman guard DenAsia Mitchell, who averaged 10.4 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 4 steals a game. Mitchell believed she had an opportunity to have a featured role this season after finishing up her middle school career at Carver Middle School in Delray Beach.

It was a good season and it was good for my first full year,” Mitchell said. “It is a lot of pressure because I was a freshman and a co-captain. It is a big learning curve for me if I want to get better and go to college.”

Deerfield Beach coach Portia Williams was pleased with her team’s effort this season.

This was a group of young energetic girls that were trying to gel day by day,” said Williams, who was in her 15th season as a coach. “They worked hard and I just had to try and keep them focused. It is a talented group of girls.

As a 9th grader and seeing a point guard with (Mitchell’s) skill set and knowing the game like her, I just haven’t seen that in a long time,” Williams added, “I was surprised. We told them all season to stay focused and take it game by game. We just have to continue to work on little fundamental things with them.”

Wilburn hired by Tigers

Blanche Ely has hired Carl Wilburn as its new football coach succeeding Nakia Jenkins, who resigned in January after two years with the program.

Wilburn, 51, who has coached 27 years in Broward County, has been a head coach at Northeast and Coconut Creek, in addition to serving as a defensive assistant at Miramar, Dillard and Blanche Ely.

Wilburn takes over a Tigers’ program that finished 2-9 under Jenkins and fell in the Class 7A regional quarterfinals. Blanche Ely has reached the postseason 16 of the last 18 seasons, highlighted by a Class 5A state championship in 2002.

There’s a lot of pride in that community,” Wilburn said. “I think that was the biggest thing to draw me. We have to work harder than anyone else.”

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