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Gainesville EHS girls basketball team off to its best start in recent memory

cleveland tinker, gainesville sun
·4 min read

The late Dante Anderson would have been proud of the way the Eastside High School girls’ basketball team debuted in an invitational tournament held in his honor at his alma mater.

The Lady Rams used a swarming defense, smooth ball movement on offense and played with a lot of energy in a 48-26 win over Bridge to Independence Private School of Orlando on Saturday in the first game of the 2024 Dante Anderson Memorial Invitational at Eastside.

Off to its best start in recent memory with a record of 11-3 after the win on Saturday, the Lady Rams are 4-0 in District 5-4A in the first year of the Lonna Turner era as coach of the team. They finished the season last year 7-14.

The Lady Rams will play again at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against district foe North Marion at Eastside.

“I like our chemistry and the way we play as a team,” said Turner, who played four years of varsity at Eastside before graduating in 2011, and then playing at Santa Fe College before going on to play at and graduate from Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia.

The Lady Rams jumped out to an early 8-0 lead over BTI by using a suffocating defense that led to several turnovers by BTI. BTI then went on an 8-4 run to end the first quarter trailing the Lady Rams 12-8. BTI then did their best to keep the game close by scoring the first three points of the second quarter, and went into halftime trailing the Lady Rams 19-16.

The Lady Rams dominated the second half, giving up only two points in the third quarter to BTI. Freshman Jasmine Manning was named MVP of the game. She led the Lady Rams’ balanced scoring attack with eight points and in rebounds.

Though Turner is in her first year at the helm of the Lady Rams’ program, she coached six of her current 13 players last year as coach of the Lincoln Middle School Lady Terriers’ basketball team that lost to Kanapaha Middle School by one point in overtime in the Alachua County Middle School girls basketball championship game last year.

She said the leaders of the team are seniors Aniya West, Precious Marshall, Jada Neal and Trinity Cooper.

“All of them lead by example and provide great leadership,” Turner said.

Dante Anderson: A gift, lost but not forgotten

The invitational held in honor of Anderson, who was 16 when he died in a car crash on May 19, 2007, on SW 13th St., in Gainesville, will expand next year to include a full day of girls basketball games the Friday before the boys play on Saturday, said Robert Sumpter, director of FloridaProspects.com, which has been organizing the invitational since 2008, except for a brief hiatus during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anderson was the state's consensus No. 1 boys’ basketball prospect in the class of 2008. He led the Rams to its only state championship in basketball when he was named MVP of the 2006 Class 5A state basketball championship tournament in Lakeland. He was being recruited by Florida State University, Georgia Tech University, University of Miami, University of Missouri, University of Florida and many others.

The boys’ games at this year's invitational included Santa Fe vs. BTI, Scholars Prep vs. Hawthorne, The Rock vs. Lake Highland Prep, Buchholz vs. Leesburg and Eastside vs. Jacksonville Raines.

The Eastside High School girls basketball team, off to its best start in recent memory, is photoed after winning their bracket in the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational in December. (Credit: Special to The Sun)
The Eastside High School girls basketball team, off to its best start in recent memory, is photoed after winning their bracket in the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational in December. (Credit: Special to The Sun)

Keeping Anderson’s legacy alive through the invitational is important, said Pop Williams, the longtime Eastside basketball coach who coached Anderson.

The late Dante Anderson is shown going to the hoop during his playing days at Eastside High School. He is the namesake of the annual Dante Anderson Memorial Invitational organized by FloridaProspects.com and held at Eastside High School. This year's invitational was held Saturday. (Credit: Gainesville Sun file photo by Alexander Cohn.)
The late Dante Anderson is shown going to the hoop during his playing days at Eastside High School. He is the namesake of the annual Dante Anderson Memorial Invitational organized by FloridaProspects.com and held at Eastside High School. This year's invitational was held Saturday. (Credit: Gainesville Sun file photo by Alexander Cohn.)

“I’m glad that he (Sumpter of FloridaProspects.com) continues to organize it because Dante meant a lot to him and me, and this is great for the community to keep Dante’s legacy alive" Williams said. "He always invites local teams, and this is just a great thing.”

As Eastside players sat in the locker room after losing to Jacksonville Raines in the final game of the day Saturday, Williams said former Eastside players came in and “chewed the guys out” because they don’t know what Anderson’s legacy means to Eastside basketball.

“These players were babies when Dante died so they don’t know about him and what he means to this program, and the older guys just wanted to make sure they know why this tournament is held every year,” Williams said. “I’ll see how they respond when we practice next.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Dante Anderson Memorial Invitational held Saturday at EHS in Gainesville