Pasco: For Land O'Lakes, the pressure's off and the fun's on

For Land O'Lakes, the pressure's off and the fun's on

After the Gators knocked off Leesburg last week, they are underdogs again vs. Eastside.

By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer

LAND O'LAKES -- Coach Greg Robinson said he was surprised by Land O'Lakes' stunning 57-49 region quarterfinal playoff win at Leesburg Thursday.

But then, on second thought, he wasn't so surprised.

From everything he heard about the Yellow Jackets entering the game, from every scouting report he chased down by phone, he feared his team might be in for more than it could handle.

But after watching his Gators (19-8) play 32 flawless minutes to advance to tonight's region semifinals for the first time since 1998, he said in hindsight he really shouldn't have been fearful.

"My girls played so good that it wasn't a surprise," he said. "They made those girls look bad. I expected a butt-kicking, (but not theirs), and my girls just don't quit."

Land O'Lakes' reward: a trip to Gainesville Eastside (24-3) tonight to face the No. 5-ranked team in Class 4A.

"We're looking forward to it," Robinson said. "The girls are all pumped. I'm stoked. I feel completely different in the playoffs than I did during the regular season. We had the pressure of winning the game and all that, and now it's all fun. They're playing to have fun now.

"They're going someplace nobody ever thought we would be, and it's fun. The pressure's off."

One of the keys to that big win over Leesburg, the coach said, was Roshaunda Washington. The 5-foot-6 junior shooting guard has been Land O'Lakes' leading scorer throughout the season, but finally had the kind of game Robinson has been waiting for all season: 24 points and a host of big shots.

"Roshaunda finally stepped up big-time for me," he said. "That was the most she's had all season. She was in a zone where everything was dropping for her. We've been waiting all year for that from her, and she save it until it counted.

"The team also played really good, and played some really good defense. Everybody really stepped up."

That's why the Gators' 2-3 zone defense worked far better on the Yellow Jackets than Leesburg's press did against Land O'Lakes.

"They didn't move it down the court very well (against us)," he said. "I heard about their man-to-man full court press, but we were able to get through it just fine."

Credit nemesis Ridgewood; the District 8 champion's press so vexed Land O'Lakes in a three-game sweep this season that the Gators had to spend extra time preparing for it.

"We've been practicing that because of the Ridgewood situation," Robinson said. "They just practiced, practiced, practiced it, and they moved the ball very well after that."