High school basketball: Outnumbered Leesburg races past Lake Minneola
MINNEOLA — The odds seemed stacked against the Leesburg High School boys basketball team heading into Tuesday’s game against Lake Minneola.
For starters, the Yellow Jackets dressed only eight players, with three of those sitting out the first half for disciplinary reasons, and then two of the five available for the first half ran into serious foul trouble.
No problem.
Leesburg got 19 points apiece from Kanye Gaines and Andre Carter Jr., and 18 from Camerin James in just 21 minutes for an 85-73 win at the Hawks Nest. With the victory, the Yellow Jackets improved to 12-5 on the season, while Lake Minneola fell to 12-6.
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“These guys are such a resilient group,” Leesburg coach Sean Campbell said. “We’re prepared for the inconsistency; after all, we’ve been like that the entire year. At the end, we had mostly ninth and 10th graders on the floor, but they really stepped up and found a win against a really good team.”
Campbell did not say why three players were disciplined, only that they were forced to sit out the first half. While that put the Yellow Jackets in a hole against a deeper and athletic opponent, he did not waver. Not even after Gaines picked up his fourth foul and James was tagged with his fourth in the second quarter.
“We had some stuff we had to take care of and we did that in the first half,” said Campbell. “I was hoping just to weather the storm in the first half. My message to Kanye and Camerin was to stay aggressive, even with the fouls, but be smarter with how they played.
"Both did exactly what we asked; after he picked up his fourth foul, Kanye played two-and-a-half quarters without picking up his fifth and Camerin played nearly a full quarter after picking up his fourth."
The game was a back-and-forth affair for much of the first half, with five ties and 15 lead changes in that span. Leesburg’s largest lead in the first half was six points and Lake Minneola led by a point on multiple occasions.
Considering they were outmanned in terms of available players, the Yellow Jackets kept with its up-tempo approach on the offensive end. Defensively, Leesburg relied on its customary baseline-to-baseline pressure and took a 40-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“We have to play fast,” said Campbell. “We tried to slow things down in a game earlier this year against (Spring Hill) Springstead (a 51-47 loss) and turned the ball over too much. Our guys just don’t handle a slower pace on offense very well.”
Despite his early foul trouble, Gaines helped get the Yellow Jackets jump off to a fast start with 10 first-quarter points and Carter provided the firepower in the second quarter with 13 points, including four 3-pointers.
With a bench at their disposal In the second half, the Yellow Jackets got going early and powered their way to a 17-point advantage. James, with nine points in the quarter, did much of the damage. However, he fouled out with 3 minutes, 25 seconds left in the third quarter with Leesburg holding a 58-43 lead.
From there, Jermarien Williams buoyed Leesburg with nine points in the quarter while the Yellow Jackets adjusted to the loss of their top scorer.
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But, Lake Minneola wasn't going quietly. The Hawks made multiple runs at Leesburg in the final eight minutes, cutting the lead to eight (79-71) with 58 seconds to play following a five-point flurry by Dylan Diaz — a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws.
However, a quick lay-up on the other end by Charles Hill pushed the lead back to double digits. Hill, the only senior on the floor for Leesburg for much of the fourth quarter, scored all of his seven points in the decisive period.
Leesburg players stepped up
Campbell noted how his younger players raised their game and took advantage of the opportunity for extra playing time. One was freshman point guard Evan James, younger brother of Camerin, the 2021 Daily Commercial All-Area Player of the Year.
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“I was really proud of Evan and how he came through for us,” said Campbell. “He did a really good job of taking care of the ball, especially when they put pressure on him.”
In addition to his work bringing the ball up the floor, Evan James finished with seven points.
Four Yellow Jackets scored in double figures — Carter, Gaines, Camerin James and Williams, who had 12 points. Clifton Johnson added three.
For Lake Minneola, Xavier Gordon-Somers led the way with 22 points, followed by Ryan Peterson with 15, including three 3-pointers.
Next up for Lake Minneola is a rematch with Wildwood at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Hawks Nest. Lake Minneola blasted the Wildcats 67-40 on Nov. 30 in The Woodshed.
Leesburg will host Belleview at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Hive before heading to Eustis for the road half of its annual home-and-home rivalry at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Panther Den. The Yellow Jackets beat Eustis 60-36 on Dec. 14 at Leesburg.
“I’m so ecstatic with the way everyone played,” said Campbell, who has led the Yellow Jackets three Final Four appearances in his nine seasons as coach, including back-to-back state titles in 2017 and 2018. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us and a long way to go before we can even think about playing in Lakeland in March.
“But, if we can get there, this will be one of those building-block wins that got us there.”
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Leesburg high boys basketball beats odds against Lake Minneola
