Lake View basketball teams ready for region play
Lake View – Slow starts to a boys basketball season at Lake View High is nothing unusual. Due to the success of the school’s football program, the boys basketball season gets a late start.
Many members of the basketball team also play football so coach Jeffrey Ceasar shows a lot of patience in early December as his players find their basketball legs. Ceasar himself is an assistant football coach.
“We normally get off to a little slow start, and that’s okay really,” Ceasar said. “We need December to get them in basketball mode so that we’re playing our best when it comes time for region games. Christmas break will be good for us so we can practice and start developing the chemistry.”
The Wild Gators opened the 2023-24 season with one win in their first five games. Ceasar sees potential in this year’s team.
“I believe we can compete for the region title,” the coach said. “We have some work to do but we feel like we have the pieces. We’re just working on the rotations and getting everyone on the same page.”
Lake View won the region championship last year, its first under Ceasar as head coach. The program also has a couple of runner-up finishes.
Several players are working in the backcourt rotation early on, led by senior Jayden Ford. Ford, a full-time starter last season, is leading the team in scoring overall. Senior DJ Hardee, senior Camden Umphries, senior Ahmarion Nichols, and junior Jonathan Carter also work as guards.
Manning most of the early time in the post are three juniors – Daniel Ray, Caleb Roundtree and Timothy Waters.
Also competing for playing time are seniors Tamir Bellmon, Jamarion Jones and Ja-Quentin Johnson; and juniors Brayden Borders, Connor Abraham, Ja’Mire Barden, Tyrell Foxworth and Jonathan Carter.
Ceasar has been getting a look at freshmen Cameron Wheeler and Terrence Alford early on but expects those two players to move down to junior varsity to get more playing time and development.
The key to Lake View’s success, according to Ceasar, is defense. The Wild Gators look to pressure the opposition into turnovers, which leads to lay-up opportunities on the offensive end.
“We use our defense to score in transition. That has to be a strength for us to have a chance,” the coach said. “We want to play fast but, at the same time, play under control and play smart. We want to run but if we can’t. we have to be able to execute the offense in the halfcourt.”
Lake View girls ready to contend for state title again
Lake View – The girls basketball program at Lake View High has been a state title contender for the past several seasons. Lake View is routinely ranked among the top five teams in Class A.
Despite some losses in key personnel, Lake View is again considered one of the top teams in Class A. Coach Larry Inman feels this year’s team has as much potential as any of his most recent teams but there is work to be done.
“We are still working on putting it all together but we have some good pieces to the puzzle,” Inman said. “We have some youth but with no jayvee program we usually have some young players with us. We are working hard to teach the young girls what we do while also getting the older players working together. But we will play them all. We believe you get better by playing.
“We are working hard and they are improving. We just working to get more consistent production and we have a few stepping into new roles for us this year.”
Inman looks for team leadership from two veteran senior performers. Both Gwendasia Page, a forward, and point guard Jaleya Ford have been with Inman on the varsity since they were seventh-graders. Both players already have scored more than 1,000 career points and Page is closing in on 1,000 career rebounds.
“We know what we’re going to get from those two,” Inman said. “Both have been great players for us and we expect big things from them in their senior year.”
Junior Takyia Waters returns with solid experience as a forward, and junior Alexis Blackmon is learning to play the forward position this season.
Freshman Zy’kira Waters is working as a two guard. She played considerable minutes as an eighth-grader. Seventh-grader Sophia Rogers also has seen solid minutes in the early season.
Other seventh-graders on the roster include Delilah Jones, Aaliyah Hardy, Ky’Asia McDonald, along with eighth-graders Ny’Kya Jones, Aura Green, and LaShanna Jordan.
Seniors Eva Newell and Emma King, freshmen Sydney McAllister and Adrionna Jacobs, sophomore Shayla Johnson and junior Kayleigh Bugarin round out the roster.
“My wish is that we could have a jayvee team but no other schools in our region have teams that we can play,” Inman said.
Every team in Class A continues to chase three-time defending state champion Military Magnet. Lake View has been eliminated by the Eagles in each of the last three seasons. Inman expects to have to go through the champion once again.
“We have high expectations this year, just like every year we want to have a chance to win a state title,” Inman said. “The potential is there to make a run if we can keep improving. We’re in good shape but we have to get better every day. We need every player to contribute and play as a team.”
Lake View has opened the season by winning their first six games, including a win over AAAA West Florence.
“We’ve been inconsistent some but we’ve been able to win. I tell these girls every day we have to bring our best every game. We can’t turn it on and off when we want to. We have turn it on every game and keep it on. Correct our mistakes and continue to move forward.”
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