Lakewood Ranch uses depth to topple archrival Braden River, remain unbeaten in district play

LAKEWOOD RANCH -- A couple of stats explain what the Lakewood Ranch boys basketball team is about.

The Mustangs are averaging 74 points per game and leading scorer Sam Hester is averaging 11.7 points despite playing only about 16 minutes a game.

On a lot of high school teams, that would create dissension and a lot of unhappy players. For Lakewood Ranch, it has created a band of brothers.

"We don't care who scores the most points or plays the most minutes. We just want to win and if that is the best way to do it, we are all happy with it," Hester said. "As long we we are winning, I don't really care. We are all unselfish. It keeps us fresh."

There were a lot of smiling faces to support Hester's argument after the host Mustangs defeated archrival Braden River, 74-51, Tuesday night in a Class 7A-District 11 contest.

The Mustangs (12-4, 4-0) had four players in double figures and a fifth who scored nine points. They applied constant full-court pressure by pouring in fresh body after fresh body and forcing 28 turnovers against a young Braden River team (7-7, 1-3) still trying to figure things out.

Before three minutes were gone in the game, Lakewood Ranch head coach Jeremy Schiller inserted four new players. He did the same thing to start the second half.

"We do that every game. We make that substitution and then go into our rotation," Schiller said. "We've got nine guys who should be starters and for us they get to basically play the same amount of minutes. Our kids don't care who starts. They are all about winning and when everybody gets a chance to play, it's more fun for everyone."

Right behind Hester is sophomore Damien Gilbert (11.6 ppg), followed by Brock Sisson (9.6 ppg) and Blauvelt Georges (8.9 ppg).

Hester led the scoring against Braden River with 17 points. Devin Twenty chipped in 14 points with five steals, while Gordon and Georges scored 11 each. Sisson had nine points and led the Mustangs with six steals.

A high school game is only 32 minutes, so those minutes are precious and it makes everyone a more conscious of making the most of their time.

"We know that Braden River plays very hard and we tried to use our depth," Schiller said. "This game is a little different because we know both teams are going to play a little bit better

than they normally do. We played hard, but didn't play as clean as we would've liked. Braden River can make you do that."

Lakewood Ranch pressed full-court to start the game and forced eight turnovers in the first quarter to take a 16-7 lead. Braden River turned the ball over seven more times in the second period and trailed 37-20 at halftime.

Braden River's future looks bright. The Pirates were led by freshman Jamal Owens (11 points) and sophomore Daniel Tart (10 points) with senior Tyler Dyson pulling in a team high 10 rebounds.

"We get to play them at home next. Our crowd is going to be ready to go and we just have to be ready. We have to do a better job of dealing with the pressure and I think we will next time," Braden River head coach Jason Mickan said. "They are deep. They play well together and penetrate and pitch and do a lot of things"

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Lakewood Ranch uses depth to topple archrival Braden River, remain unbeaten in district play ."