What Lakewood Ranch accomplished this season should not be diminished by loss
Sometimes you have to get there to be there.
The Winter Haven girls basketball team was playing in its sixth Final Four in the last seven years. It has been to 14 final fours and won its third state title with its 44-28 victory against Lakewood Ranch in the 7A final Saturday.
The Blue Devils played loose and aggressively as if it was just another day at the playground. They were there in mind, body and spirit.
Lakewood Ranch was
making its maiden voyage to the final four.
They were there physically, but perhaps distracted by the magnitude of the event.
The Mustangs looked a little tight, particularly at the free throw line where they were 6 for 18.
Some of the players admitted they may have been a little overwhelmed, which is to be understood. They had never gotten to that big stage before.
"You could tell we weren't really on our A game," senior guard Kailyn Scully said. "Part of it was playing in the state final. It makes you nervous. But we should've executed better. We succumbed to the pressure tonight."
The magnitude of what the Lakewood Ranch girls basketball program accomplished this season cannot be overstated.
Five years ago, girls basketball was just a thing to do in the winter months at Lakewood Ranch for female athletes not playing soccer.
Outside of Southeast and to a lesser extent Bradenton Christian and Palmetto, basketball in Manatee County was not something the top female athletes aspired to do.
But Tina Hadley saw something no else apparently could envision.
She believed there were female athletes destined for Lakewood Ranch High who could be successful if they just had someone to show them the way.
Hadley became that vehicle and the rest is history.
Now Lakewood Ranch is the fourth girls basketball program from Manatee County to reach the title game. Hadley made it clear this is not a one-year thing.
Kristen Fulmer, the program's career scoring and rebounding leader, graduated the year before Hadley took over the program nine years ago.
"Girls basketball was more of a thing that people came out and did for fun. There were very few of us who took it seriously," Fulmer said. "There is a basketball culture now. It's a good place to be and good place to play."
You can bet the next time Lakewood Ranch makes it to the state title game the girls will be totally focused and not sidetracked by all the hoopla. They will be fully there.
Everything is there to make another deep run, and it's not just the presence of star LaDazhia Williams. The last two junior varsity teams for the Lakewood Ranch girls have not lost a game.
But what the Lakewood Ranch girls basketball program did and almost did this season should be put in perspective.
Since the state girls basketball tournament started in 1976, only three schools from Manatee County have won a state title. Southeast did it four times, Palmetto once and Bradenton Christian once.
"This is not a one-year thing. They have some gifted athletes there and really smart kids," Fulmer said. "Tina doesn't like to lose and the way she has built her program she just doesn't look at her older kids. Her younger kids work just as hard."
Alan Dell, Herald sports columnist/writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports
This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 11:46 PM with the headline "What Lakewood Ranch accomplished this season should not be diminished by loss ."