Lakewood Ranch defends district title with rout of Palmetto

It was about winning another district championship, not defending its hardware from a season ago, for the Lakewood Ranch boys basketball team.

No matter how things were viewed, the Mustangs continued their domination of district foes and claimed a second consecutive Class 8A-District 11 title on Friday night with a 79-55 victory over Palmetto. Backcourt mates Damien Gordon and Sam Hester led the way for Lakewood Ranch — which had all 11 players that touched the floor score at least two points — with 21 and 19 points, respectively.

“These guys are a great group of resilient guys,” Lakewood Ranch head coach Jeremy Schiller said. “They were just ready to play and they really wanted to win a district title. We never once talked about defending (their 2016 district championship). We talked about going after it and we do all this stuff one game at a time. We took care of Wednesday and Venice was really tough. I thought Palmetto battled, but when it was time to make plays in the second half we had guys go do that.”

Hester, a senior who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career in late December, scored 12 points in the third quarter as the Mustangs (24-2) stretched their 11-point halftime edge to 18 at 58-40 after 24 minutes of play. Gordon, a 6-foot-1 junior, matched Hester by knocking down a game-high three 3-pointers and scored seven points each in the first and fourth quarters.

Gordon was also credited with a team-best 10 rebounds and three steals. Hester contributed five rebounds, four rebounds and four assists for Lakewood Ranch, which has won 14 straight.

Palmetto was led by its frontcourt of junior Germaine Graham and Dequan Kirce. The pair combined for 34 points, with Graham scoring a team-high 18 points, while junior guard Kenny Brown scored six of his nine points in the final quarter.

Both teams will play on Thursday in the Class 8A-Region 3 quarterfinals. Lakewood Ranch will host District 12 runner-up Naples Gulf Coast and Palmetto (13-8) will visit District 12 champion North Port on Thursday.

“We look forward to the opportunity to play another game,” said Tigers head coach Reggie Bellamy, who has three seniors, including Kirce, on his roster.

“Where (the Mustangs) are is where we’ve been. It’s our cycle and we’re down. Three years ago, we were there (as district champions). It’s going to take some time to build these guys up. I’m very proud of our guys for the things they’ve endured. (Lakewood Ranch) is a very good team and we wish them the very best of luck.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 11:11 PM with the headline "Lakewood Ranch defends district title with rout of Palmetto."