His 22 points, however, were not enough to overcome a tall, physical Jacksonville Jackson team, which advanced to next week’s state tournament in Lakeland with a 69-47 win in the Class 3A Region 1 final.
Jackson started to pull away in the third quarter, leading by 21 points, when Bennett, a junior guard, decided to take over. Out of a Trinity Prep timeout, he scored eight straight points and looked to have finally found his rhythm as Trinity Prep pulled within 39-26.
But Bennett couldn’t get many good looks at the basket the rest of the way, and Jackson (19-6) continuously tried to get a hand in his face on defense.