Time to jump on the Lakewood Ranch girls basketball bus

Last weekend was big for both the boys and girls Lakewood Ranch basketball teams. The boys defeated a scrappy Bayshore team 83-68 on Senior Night, and the girls locked down Sarasota 45-32 to take home the Class 8A District 11 title, the team’s first since 2013.

These are two of the best teams in the state in their respective leagues, and yet their games possessed two starkly different atmospheres.

The boys game on Feb. 2 was raucous. The student section was blacked out — in dress, anyway. They held signs and gigantic cutouts of the players’ heads on sticks. They stood the entire game, often jumping on the bleachers after big shots. It felt more like a collegiate atmosphere than a high school regular season game.

The “Stampede” section was empty the next night for the girls game, save for a few lone souls in the front and back rows. There was a handful of students present in the next section over, but they could only get so loud. Their “Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye” chant in the fourth quarter lasted just one refrain. There were no signs, no cutout heads, no coordinated color effort.

I was stunned at the lack of turnout for a great girls team. There were a fair amount of Sarasota parents and fans in the gym, which should have led to a sellout crowd. The school must have thought so, too: the bleachers behind the team benches were pulled out in anticipation of needing extra seating, but the only people who used them were reporters and coaches of other teams. I understand that Senior Night may have caused the boys’ crowd to be a bit bigger than normal, but a district championship game is an even bigger deal. There is no reason that place should not have been filled to the brim, especially with all the visiting Sailors fans in attendance.  

“Some games are crowded and some are not,” coach Tina Hadley said. “This one actually should have been packed. We had the band here and everything. Usually, people don't really support girls sports, and it's a shame.

“I think the more playoff games we win, the more people we'll get in the stands.”

Senior LaDazhia Williams echoed her coach’s disappointment.

“Everyone at school knows we are good, they just don’t come,” Williams said. “I don’t know why.”

Me neither, LaDazhia, if for no other reason than to see you. The 6-foot-4 star forward scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds going against the Sailors’ Madison Pack, a great player in her own right.

There are other reasons, too: Junior Kayla Bell’s 3-point shooting, the junior Fazio twins’ ability to hustle down the court and set up the offense, the driving ability of seniors Aleah Robinson and Shauntavia Green. Oh, and the fact that this team, like the boys team, has a legitimate chance to win a state championship.

That is ultra-rare in high school sports, and I do not think the community quite realizes what Lakewood Ranch has a chance to do over the next three weeks.

“Come watch a very exciting girls basketball team on its road to states,” Hadley said, a pitch that fans should take her up on.

The girls team’s next game is Thursday, Feb. 9 at home against North Port in a Class 8A Region 3 quarterfinal. It will be the program’s first regional home game in three years. With Williams, Robinson and Green graduating, it is unknown if the Mustangs will be able to reach these same heights again next season.

If you are a fan of the Mustangs, go to the game on Thursday. If you already have plans, go to the next one. Even if you have no ties to the school, these games are worth seeing and supporting. It is fun, frenetic basketball, and they offer the chance to see both a title-level team and a top-50 player in the country.

You will not find more bang for your buck anywhere else.