Coming together

After a run to the final four in the playoffs last year, Sarasota Christian School’s girls basketball team had a lot to look forward to this season.

But with an unexpected coaching vacancy just before the start of the season, the team’s future was in question.

Brett Morrow, the coach during the 2013-14 season, switched to assist the boys basketball team.
Scott Lantz, who was an assistant the previous three seasons and has a daughter, McKenzie, on the team, decided to give head coaching a shot.

“I had some concerns that on that short of notice there’d be some difficulty finding a candidate, so I threw my hat in the ring and the administration was gracious enough to offer me the position,” Lantz said.
But it wasn’t a cut-and-dry decision.

McKenzie Lantz, a junior this season and a varsity starter since seventh grade, and her father had a long discussion about what would be the best decision for them and the team going forward.

“I have five children and they’ve all been involved in athletics,” Scott Lantz said. “I’ve helped in coaching through all their careers.”

As a sophomore last season, McKenzie Lantz hit a milestone of 1,000 points in her career with Sarasota Christian. A 20 points-per-game scorer, she takes on the primary ball handler duty for the Blazers.
Sarasota Christian started this season with a 9-4 record, picking up right where it left off last season. But, the team experienced a game changer Dec. 15 against Donahue Catholic: McKenzie Lantz tore her ACL, ending her junior season.

“It was devastating,” Scott Lantz said. “That was kind of the low point of this season.

“When this happened, it was certainly a tough pill to swallow,” Scott Lantz said. “It really put a damper on things for a bit. Everyone was a bit depressed about what had happened. She’s the spark plug.”

After McKenzie Lantz’s injury, the Blazers took a bit of a tumble trying to figure out the best way to move forward.

“We lost probably four or five games in a row after (the injury),” Scott Lantz said. “What we talked about was no single girl has to pick up everything. If everyone picks up a small part, we’ll be just fine.”

Sarasota Christian has a group of five seniors this year, including Heidi Miller, a fellow 1,000-point-player, who Scott Lantz said were more than capable of bouncing back and learning how to play without McKenzie Lantz.

Right after the injury he looked to his team to help put things into perspective.

“The girls on the team, they didn’t give up, and so if they don’t give up, how can I?” Scott Lantz said.

After the losing streak, the Blazers began to figure it out; they began performing like a playoff team again. A 52-50 victory against Palmetto Jan. 22 gave the Blazers their fifth win in a row, and though the winning streak came to an end against North Port the next day, it was a building point on the season. It was a confidence builder for the Blazers right before they headed into the playoffs Tuesday night as the No. 1 seed.

“We’re playing well now,” Scott Lantz said. “I feel like we’re playing the best ball we’ve played all season since the injury.”

McKenzie Lantz has now taken more of a leadership role with the team, sitting on the bench during games and offering support in any way she can.

She said there was no way she wasn’t going to finish the season with her teammates.

“I’m really excited (to see what they do in the tournament),” McKenzie Lantz said. “In the beginning it was a transition, but Heidi (Miller) really stepped up. They all bounced right back and made the transition. I’ll be on the bench the whole time cheering them on.”

McKenzie Lantz hopes to be fully recovered by the start of her senior school year.

Scott Lantz is excited for the future — both seeing how this year’s team does in the playoffs and having the opportunity to coach his daughter during her senior year.

Given the immediacy of the opening, Scott Lantz said he’s hoping he’s in the school’s plans next year to coach the girls team.

“I’ve had fun, I’ll say that,” Scott Lantz said. “I would be excited (to come back and coach). We’ll see how it plays out.”