Lakewood Ranch earns shot at state championship

The Lakewood Ranch girls basketball team will close out the postseason the same way it did the regular season — against Winter Haven. 

 The two teams meet today (Saturday, Feb. 20) in the Class 7A state championship game at the Lakeland Center.

Lakewood Ranch and Winter Haven meet at 4 p.m. The Mustangs advanced to the their first state championship game after knocking off Niceville 47-29 in the first of two state semifinals Feb. 19. Winter Haven followed with a 66-53 victory over South Broward. 

It’s been nearly a month since Lakewood Ranch and Winter Haven closed out the regular season in an overtime thriller that saw the Blue Devils walk off with a 49-48 victory. 

Lakewood Ranch got off to a slow start in the first meeting between the two teams, trailing 18-4 with three minutes to play in the first quarter. The Mustangs eventually got into rhythm and turned what looked to be a long afternoon into a battle.

In the game against Winter Haven, junior LaDazhia Williams led all scorers with 21 points. The Mustangs forward also hauled in nine rebounds. Senior guard Elise Spiller added 18 points. Lakewood Ranch was without senior Kyra Klarkowski, who was injured and didn't dress for the game. Klarkowski is back and could be the difference in today's game after hauling in a team-high 14 rebounds to go along with nine points. 

“We’ve just got to go out and look at this as a normal game,” coach Tina Hadley said. “We’ll have fun and let the chips fall where they may. At this point, you’ve got the top two teams in the state, and we’re going to be fighting it out. Just don’t give up.”