Rebuilding Lake Wales takes step forward with upset win over Lake Region in 5A-7 basketball
LAKELAND — This has been a building season for the Lake Wales boys basketball program under first-year head coach Junior Geidi. It took until Christmas, he said, for the players to be on the same page as him and understand what he expects of them.
While the Highlanders still have a ways to go to consistently be playing the style that he expects, they took another step in that direction on Tuesday.
Lake Wales, seeded No. 7, trailed by as many as nine points in the third quarter but rallied in the fourth quarter. Gabriel LeGrand’s putback at the buzzer lifted the Highlanders to a 54-52 upset victory over No. 2-seed Lake Region in the first round of the Class 5A, District 7 tournament.
Despite the loss, Lake Region still could make the playoffs if it hangs on to the No. 8 spot in the region. Lake Wales is No. 20 and will have to win two more games and capture the district title. The Highlanders will play in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Lake Wales is just 10-16 after the win, but Geidi has seen his team develop.
“I'm an intense coach," he said. “I expect a lot. I coach hard, but I also got to understand that they're young, that I'm dealing with some sophomores, some freshmen. I'm dealing with some juniors. I only got four seniors, so I know it's going to take some time. But they're slowly coming.”
Geidi admitted that when high-scoring Sevastian Rosado opted to go to Frostproof for his senior year, Lake Wales took a short-term hit. However, it could pay dividends in the long term as young players that Geidi will build around going forward had to take on bigger roles.
“I'm in the right place at the right time,” he said. “I'm at the right place at the right time. I got a core, I don't have an old team. I got a little bit of young, a little bit of young, a little bit of old, a little bit of really, really young.”
LeGrand is one of the sophomores that will be a key player going forward. Also a football standout, he led Lake Wales with five points in the fourth quarter and finished with 10. Other important underclassmen include Cedarius Christian, who had seven points, and Samurai Wilson.
Seniors Jeremy Willingham and Devin Ossinac led with Lake Wales with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Geidi said the players listen but there’s still a lot for them to learn.
“They still just got to understand situations,” he said. “They got to just continue to want to be coached. If they put themselves in a position to continue to want to be coached, they'll be fine. As you can see late in the game, we were able to execute because they were allowing themselves to be coached.”
3A-7: Frostproof season ends in loss to Seffner Christian
Sevastien Posada scored 35 points, and Turral Berry added 21 points, but it wasn’t enough as Seffner Christian defeated Frostproof, 74-71. Seffner Christian next will play at Santa Fe Catholic, a 78-20 winner over Four Corners.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Wales boys basketball pulls district upset over Lake Region
