Commentary | Southeast's Harder, Fort Lauderdale Dillard's Pinder meet in 5A state semifinal
John Harder and Marcia Pinder won't be sharing just the basketball court when they face each other Friday night in the Class 5A girls state basketball tournament semifinal.
Both will bring a lot of impressive history to The Lakeland Center.
In his 31st year at Southeast, Harder is the second-winningest girls basketball coach in state history.
Pinder has been running the Dillard program for 37 years and is the only girls basketball coach in the state to amass 800 victories.
Jim Haley, the statistician for the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches (FABC), said this is the first time two basketball coaches ranked first and second in career victories are meeting in the state final four.
"I am honored and humbled, but the girls made this possible," said Harder, still trying to comprehend the Cinderella ride on which his girls have taken him.
Pinder is 882-187 with eight state titles and 11 final fours, according to the FABC. Harder is 744-199 with three state titles and five final four appearances.
Harder began this season ranked fourth among Florida girls basketball coaches behind his former nemesis, Al Austin from Jacksonville Ribault, and Ronnie and Janis Bond, who coached together at Pensacola Washington.
They are retired. Austin won 721 games in 26 years and eight state titles, but perhaps his most impressive stat is that he only lost 60 games. The Bonds won 726 games.
Harder and Austin fought some epic battles but none bigger than a regular season game in 2004.
Southeast broke Ribault's 120-game win streak against Florida schools that year in a game Harder often calls his program's greatest victory.
Ribault was nationally ranked -- first in some polls -- and traveled first class. If you didn't meet Austin's demands on lodging and food, you weren't going to get them and it almost caused the game to be canceled until last-minute arrangements were made.
Harder is looking for the tape of that game. It would be a good one to show on the bus ride to Lakeland.
Dillard won four straight state titles from 2010-2014. One of its top players transferred, and the Panthers lost in last year's region final. That girl has returned along with Jacaira Allen, a 5-foot-10 junior who transferred from rival Coconut Creek and is considered the favorite to win the Class 5A Player of The Year Award.
In last Saturday's trip to Fort Myers Cypress Lake for the region final, Harder showed the movie "Hoosiers" on the bus.
This game deserves a home-grown miracle story. Ribault beat Southeast in the '03 state final, and the Noles were primed for an upset in a game virtually nobody expected them to win.
With Dillard ranked eighth nationally by USA Today and a prohibitive favorite, Harder would like to show the tape of that 2004 victory when his Lady Seminoles shocked the prep basketball world in a game that made national headlines.
"We are not going to Lakeland to lose," he says.
These Noles are so young they probably don't know what they are up against or more than likely don't care. Nobody outside of Bradenton expects them to win, so there is no pressure.
"I told the girls they are going up against the best and that it offers an opportunity to show what you've got. College coaches will be watching," Harder said. "To be considered the best, you have to beat the best."
Alan Dell, Herald sports writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports.
This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Commentary | Southeast's Harder, Fort Lauderdale Dillard's Pinder meet in 5A state semifinal."