Mustangs' slam-dunk talent on display

I knew things were getting serious when the basketball cart was placed in the free throw lane. Someone was about to jump up and over it.

The Lakewood Ranch High boys basketball team held a dunk contest Nov. 8, serving as a tip-off, of sorts, to the season. There was also a three-point shooting contest involving both the boys and girls teams, two events for student volunteers: A hot shot contest and a half-court shot contest. Approximately 50 students showed up to watch.

The dunk contest was the main event, and as stated above, it got intense. During warm-ups, everyone was working on their aerial assaults. The Mustangs return three players from last year’s state semifinalist, so I had some work to do studying the fresh faces.

Two stood out to me immediately: No. 12, junior Joshua Young, and No. 0, junior Ryan Rogers. Young because he was able to dunk with ease, and Rogers because he was wearing glasses. (I’ve simply always liked athletes who wear glasses or goggles. I can’t explain it.)

Rogers initially stood out because of his glasses, but then stood out because he took to the skies. The kid can jump. That dunk attempt I teased up top, the one over the basketball cart? That was Rogers. We’ll get there.

Young and Rogers were just two of the actual dunk contest participants, alongside senior returnee and reigning dunk champion Jack Kelley.

I won’t go through every dunk, but some highlights: Young landed a strong, two-handed reverse slam. Kelley got an assist off the side of the backboard from senior Damien Gordon on a baseline dunk. Rogers, as it turns out, couldn’t quite land the over-the-cart dunk, but did clear the object. Kelley said he’s seen Rogers land the dunk in practice, and that he only missed because “he’s never played in front of a crowd.”

In the end, Kelley won the favor of the judges and crowd and was named back-to-back champion. There was no prize for winning. The event was about galvanizing the Lakewood Ranch students (and me, I suppose) into believing it’s going to be a special year for the Mustangs.

It worked.

After the event, Lakewood Ranch coach Jeremy Schiller said he believes this year’s team can be better than last year’s team, which got as far as it did primarily because of its toughness and effort. Those are things this team will need to develop over the course of the season.

“From a talent standpoint, this is probably the most talented team we have had,” Schiller said. “That’s out of respect for the team we had last year, not the other way around. I don’t say that lightly.”

The players aren’t as close-knit initially (how could they be?), but Schiller said the team has kept the same locker room culture as years past, and that’s something he’s thrilled to see.

That culture is exemplified by a story. Typically, after all the preseason conditioning workouts are completed, the team will arrange a game of capture the flag to build chemistry. For various reasons, including the team’s lifting schedule, Schiller was unable to organize a game this year. The three Mustangs seniors, Kelley, Gordon and Evan Spiller, took it upon themselves to organize the game. All 20 basketball players on the varsity and junior varsity teams showed up and played.

The national high school basketball scene is starting to notice the Mustangs, and that means a tougher schedule, Schiller said. Lakewood Ranch was invited to the City of Palms Classic Basketball Tournament, one of the country’s top prep tournaments: It has seen 144 McDonald’s All-American players participate, including last year’s consensus No. 1 player, Michael Porter Jr., now at the University of Missouri. The tournament starts Dec. 19, with Lakewood Ranch playing Memphis, Tenn.’s East High, coached by former NBA superstar Penny Hardaway and ranked the best team in the country by MaxPreps.

Although this was just a dunk contest, I don’t want to heap too much praise on the Mustangs, but they looked athletic and skilled.

The team’s first regular-season game is against Plant City High Dec. 2 in Lakeland, home of the state tournament's final four. If everything breaks right, the Mustangs might bookend their season in that same place.