From muscle car to sports car: Mainland girls basketball starts state title defense

DAYTONA BEACH — Don’t get Brandon Stewart wrong.

“We are extremely grateful for last year,” Mainland’s girls basketball coach said. “We’re happy about it. We’re still excited.”

But his Buccaneers don’t talk about it.

Other students, teachers and visitors mention the 5A state championship win — the first in program history —  to them in the cafeteria and the hallways during the school day. But inside their own locker room, nope, not a peep.

There’s a reason for that.

“If we do have a chance to put ourselves in position and be in the championship again, we’re going to have to win it a different way,” Stewart said. “It’s not a bad thing. But we’re just going to have to win it a different way because our team this year, different dynamics.”

More shooting, more finesse.

“More skill,” Stewart said.

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Part of that stems from junior Olivia Olson, a transfer from Spruce Creek. Olson led the Hawks, who advanced to a 7A regional final, with 15.4 points and 2.6 steals per game last year.

She joins seniors Anovia Sheals and Tia Dobson in Mainland’s Big Three, filling the spot vacated by graduated guard Jordan Boddie. Boddie averaged 11.5 points per game. Sheals put up a team-high 19.7 and claimed the Volusia-Flagler-St. Johns Girls Basketball Player of the Year award. Dobson contributed 10.2 points per contest.

“I would say it’s definitely something different than anywhere else I’ve been,” Olson said. “The environment, my teammates — they mean everything to me. They made it so special for me this year, and I’m so excited to be a part of this … It just felt like home the first workout I had here.”

The other part comes from the development of the Bucs’ young talent from last season.

Junior starter Jade Parks is back. Another junior, Samantha Lecas, serves alongside Dobson as a team captain. Mainland relied on Lecas for crucial support throughout its title run. She put up 6.2 points per game and provided a 3-point shooting threat.

Sophomore Ronneisha Thomas, junior Shilah-Rayn Lord and senior Cadence Haley also played important minutes in the postseason and will be counted on to step into bigger roles.

“They’re all tremendously better, and I’m excited about that,” Stewart said.

Sheals, Dobson and Olson will drive the car, though, to use Stewart’s favorite metaphor.

Last season, the Bucs were a muscle car, he said. This winter, they’re a sports car.

“It's different just because of a new team,” Sheals said. “We have to start over again and get the chemistry the we had last year.”

They’ll have to navigate a tough schedule that kicks off Tuesday against Ponte Vedra and includes 7A state champion Dr. Phillips, runner-up Winter Haven and semifinalist Colonial, 6A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas and 4A runner-up Bishop Kenny.

Throw in IMG Academy, Montverde Academy and a few others. Mainland will be tested, but that’s intentional.

“We have to take it step by step,” Parks said.

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To prepare, its offseason featured a heavy load of conditioning. Stewart emphasizes full-court drills at practice. How’s a Corvette supposed to speed if it runs out of gas?

“Since I got here (five years ago), I’ve been building this same type of culture,” Stewart said. “God-willing, we won a state championship doing it. Now, it makes the culture even more prestigious. They know it works. ‘Let me shut up and listen to what he’s saying because it works.’

“It’s been a consistent build of bricks. We just want to continue to build it.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: High school basketball: Mainland Bucs enter state title defense season