Jackson’s career-best powers Forest Park past T.C. Williams

By Dave Utnik

Published: December 2, 2008

After she’d scored more points than ever before in a high school basketball game to lead the Forest Park Bruins to a 55-47 victory over T.C. Williams Tuesday night, Bruins point guard Danni Jackson greeted one of her best friends with a smile and a warm embrace.
Parade and McDonald’s All-American Tierra Ruffin-Pratt returned the hug — and congratulated Jackson on her career-high 33 point performance.
“I told her before the game that I wasn’t going to score just seven points,” Jackson said.
On any other night of the year, Jackson and Ruffin-Pratt might exchange text messages or cell phone calls. Just a few months ago, they were teammates on one of the best AAU teams in the country.
But, on Tuesday, they were rivals.
And Jackson was determined to make amends for a 14-point loss in Alexandria last December. So she kept shooting — even after misfiring on her first six field goal attempts — until the Bruins were assured of a victory.
“We knew we were going to have to fight. I didn’t think I’d be that off in the first quarter. We just played hard and came back,” Jackson said. “She knew it was going to be business. There’s no friendships on the court. Off the court we’re great friends and we keep in touch all the time.”
The next time they chat, Jackson and Ruffin-Pratt will probably still be talking about Tuesday’s match-up between two of the state’s premier guards.
Pratt, who is headed to North Carolina, had 17 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Titans, while Jackson hit four 3-pointers and combined for six steals and four assists.
Playing without senior center Briana Scott, who is still recovering from an injury suffered in Forest Park’s season-opening victory at Battlefield, the Bruins scored only two first-quarter points and fell behind 11-4 before Jackson brought them back.
She hit a baseline jumper with 2:56 remaining in the second quarter to give Forest Park its first lead and the Bruins eventually built a 13-point lead.
Tichina Mitchell had 10 points and nine rebounds, Shayla Drakeford provided her usual exceptional defense and Gerda Gatling came through with seven points, eight rebounds and four steals for the Bruins while limiting Ruffin-Pratt to four first-half points.
“It really tested us with Briana being out,” Jackson said. “It was a good lesson. Hopefully, there won’t be any more lessons.”