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Losing not in Lecanto's vocabulary

By KELLIE DIXON
Published February 22, 2007

LECANTO -Losing simply is unacceptable to Lecanto.

That's why the Panthers have come up big in the closing minutes of their past three postseason games. Lecanto sealed wins in the Class 4A, District 6 tournament, region quarterfinals and region semifinals by hitting shots at the foul line. The Panthers 25-3 won the three games by a combined five points.

"We might be a lot of things," Lecanto coach Chris Nichols said. "We might be overhyped or overrated - that's what we've heard. But we sure aren't uninteresting."

It's hard to be boring when the team finds ways to win in the final minutes. The Panthers' defense will make a stop. Then a player - often Victor Cortes or his brother Nick - will drive the lane and pick up three points the hard way or just get to the foul line.

The Panthers' resolve is rooted in the fact the players are close friends. Their competitive natures come standard, even in off-the-court pranks and weekend video game tournaments of NCAA football or FIFA Soccer.

"We get into verbal arguments, screaming at each other to the point where we're leaving rooms," forward Gregory Simerly said. "We're so competitive we can't stand losing. It doesn't matter what it is. Thumb wars; paper, rock, scissors. We're always arguing about winning. We can't lose."

There's even an unspoken pressure among the Panthers to attend Monday and Friday morning pick-up games. It's not mandatory, but senior Bryan Hamer said the players don't want to let each other down.

"We want to get better," Hamer said. "We knew what we could do this year."

What the Panthers have done is win a school-record 25 games. They have advanced to the region finals, farther than any Lecanto boys basketball team.

What's more, the seniors have recorded an 84-13 record during their four-year junior varsity and varsity careers. The seniors aren't used to losing, and they have made that clear to the underclassmen, even if the message was sent in a teasing, big brother kind of way.

"We're like a family," Simerly said. "Families fight. Families come back together. We joke around and we really enjoy playing together. We don't want this to end."

Kellie Dixon can be reached at kdixon@sptimes.com or (352) 544-9480.

[Last modified February 21, 2007, 20:09:52]