Wave’s Scott does his work from the outside

Petersburg senior Drejon Scott Drejon Scott doesn't wear a badge or read you your rights, but the Petersburg High School guard keeps people honest, nonetheless.

With his faraway marksmanship, Scott makes it dicey for defenses to drape a collapsing blanket on the Crimson Wave's bouncy skyline of 6-9 Cadarian Raines and 6-6 Chris Evans.

Having navigated Petersburg (27-0) into tomorrow's Central Region semifinals at VCU's Siegel Center, Scott can blow up a zone defense.

Against Prince George, he set a school mark of 10 3-pointers, including 6 of 7 before intermission.

Overall, the 5-9 senior all-Central District dynamo has made 47 percent of his treys en route to 14.4 point per game norm.

"Basically, I'm the outside threat," he said. "By making teams respect the perimeter, it opens it up for the bigs inside."

Petersburg prefers Scott with the ball in late-game situations. On a squad known for jittery foul shooting, he's a calming influence (77 percent).

"Drejon is one of the best guards in the region," Petersburg coach William Lawson III said. In heaping praise on his third-year starter, Lawson starts off with "Dre's shooting accuracy."

Then, he adds "quickness, athleticism, ballhandling and defense."

Nearing 1,000 career points, Scott has drawn Division I attention from New Jersey Tech, Hartford, Winston-Salem and VMI.

Former Blue Devil: Scott played for Hopewell as a freshman before moving to Petersburg to live with his grandmother, Avonne Scott, who now has custody.

"It was a family decision," said father Luther, who has helped coach the Petersburg JV team and also the Petersburg Elite travel team. "Drejon is the man of the house at his grandmother's. He takes care of everything for her."

Music man: Off the court, Scott has produced several CDs with other students, including former Wave standout Ibn Rassoull.

"It's just for fun, but we have sold a lot of them in the school," said Scott, who describes his group's style as "a little of everything - R&B, old school, rap and a bit of pop."

Remembering "Tassels:" A star on Petersburg's 1973 and '74 state title teams was Stanley Taylor, known as "Tassels" for his dancing shoe attachments. His quickness and outside shot helped relieve some of the pressure off Moses Malone. It's much the same role Scott handles now.

"I got to meet him," Scott said of Taylor. "He talked to whole team. Then he talked to me for a while after, giving me some words of encouragement."

Scott insists the Wave is chasing the same grand prize. "Our goal since the first day of practice, at 5:45 a.m., was the state championship," he said.