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Mekhi Perry

Senior guards leave a lasting impression

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The 2019-2020 season for the Land O’ Lakes High School varsity basketball program is sure to be remembered for some time.

Not only was it the final of 31 seasons for longtime head coach Dave Puhalski, but it also marked the senior campaigns of Mekhi Perry and Chase Farmer — two of the most decorated players in Land O’ Lakes and Pasco County history.

Perry exits as the Gators all-time leading scorer, with 1,616 career points.

Second on the list? Farmer, who finished his Gators career with 1,403 points.

Land O’ Lakes senior guard Mekhi Perry exits as the school’s all-time leading scorer. He’s signed with Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. (Courtesy of James Trapani)

Those figures surpassed former Land O’ Lakes star Jeff Baisley’s 1,394 career points — a record held strong since 2005.

The dynamic guard duo and team captains sparkle school record books in many other categories, too.

Perry, a four-year starter, exits as the program’s all-time leader in games played (101), made 3 pointers (178), second in assists (394) and 10th in rebounds (440), steals (138) and blocks (59).

Meantime, Farmer is the school’s all-time leader in dunks (90), seventh in assists (191) and 10th in blocks (72). He compiled those stats in just three seasons, transferring in from Leto High School following his freshman campaign.

Also, both players have been named Sunshine Athletic Conference Eastside Player of the Year during their career — Farmer his junior year; Perry as a sophomore and senior.

The combo, naturally, won their share of games when on the court side-by-side for three years — going a combined 63-17 and twice reaching the Class 7A regional semifinals.

Their skillsets played off each other well and kept opposing teams off balance.

Land O’ Lakes senior guard Chase Farmer is the school’s all-time dunks leader and second leading scorer. He’s signed with Cape Fear Community College, in Wilmington, North Carolina.

At point guard, the 6-foot-1 Perry played the role of ball handler and outside shooter.

Farmer, at 6-foot-3, offered more as a slasher and rim finisher from the off-guard spot.

Those complementing styles formed “a match made in heaven on the court,” Puhalski said.

“It was tough for teams to match up with us,” he said, “just because if you isolated on one, the other would kill ya.”

Of the hundreds of players coached at Land O’ Lakes, Puhalski considers Perry and Farmer “together, the best one-two guard combination that we’ve had.”

“We’ve had some really good point guards, good two-guards, but these two were the best together at each position,” said Puhalski, who won 479 career games at Land O’ Lakes.

“They were probably two of the better basketball players in Land O’ Lakes, maybe Pasco County. They’re really special kids.”

Their talents shine
While the two generally had separate friend and peer groups at school, Puhalski noted “once they hit the court they were on the same page.”

The pair was a coach’s and teacher’s dream off the hardwood.

“They were just really two good kids,” Puhalski said. “They were never in trouble. They never had a minute of problems at school, never were suspended, never been to ISS (in-school suspension), never any problems off the court, either. Just great kids. I never had any problems with either one of them.”

Puhalski knew he had something special when he first saw Farmer join offseason team workouts and practices in spring 2017. The Land O’ Lakes coach had only heard of the Leto transfer’s talent secondhand from his AAU coach, Mario Lovett.

Puhalski recalled, “You could tell he was already head and shoulders above the kids, him and Mekhi.”

Land O’ Lakes reached the Class 7A regional semifinals the past two seasons, winning more than 20 games in each.

Perry also salivated about the team’s possibilities in initial workouts with Farmer. “As soon as I saw him play and I saw his athletic ability,” Perry said, “I automatically thought we could be a good duo if we both kept developing.”

That, they did.

The pair made it a point to add strength in the weight room “and that just elevated their game,” Puhalski said.

Farmer went from benching 145 pounds as a sophomore to 260 by his senior year. Perry added some size on his own throughout high school, with the help of his father, a bodybuilding enthusiast.

“They had the skillset, and all they needed was some strength,” Puhalski said. “I think that was the key for these guys, to have that next level body when the college coaches came in and looked at them and said, ‘Well, geez, these guys have a next level body already on them, they’re not that skinny high school kid.’”

Both strived to make each other better every day, too.

“We always wanted to push each other, and wanted to push everybody,” Farmer said. “We knew that me and him could get to a different level, so we just wanted to make sure we helped each other every day in practice.”

The accomplished seniors soon will be going their separate ways — embarking on what they hope are illustrious college careers.

Perry is headed to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. Farmer is off to Cape Fear Community College, in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Both look back fondly on their prep careers and made memories at Land O’ Lakes.

Farmer said he’ll mostly miss the school’s gameday atmosphere, road trips and being coached by Puhalski. (Land O’ Lakes fans will certainly miss his signature breakaway windmill dunks.)

“It’s a really good community. I like the people,” Farmer said. “Coach P just led me in with open arms; we just went on from there.”

Perry, too, appreciates what was a positive basketball experience overall.

“The different teams I got to mesh with, hanging out with all those guys, it was just fun,” Perry said. “Every year we got closer and closer, but the freshman year varsity team (in 2016-2017) being around all those seniors, that kind of like exposed me to what Land O’ Lakes was about and that was probably one of my favorite years.”

Now retired from coaching, Puhalski will make it a point to catch as many of the duo’s college games as possible. He’s already planning dates to St. Petersburg and North Carolina, as well as a tournament in Orlando that’ll feature Farmer’s new team.

Said Puhalski, “It’s really gratifying that these last few years, with these two guys on the team and the success they had, and we had, just makes me feel real good. Now, I can watch these guys play at the next level, and that’s really the best feeling right there.”

The coach added: “I don’t know how well they’ll be at the next level, but they’ll be great citizens, and that’s the important part.”

Published May 06, 2020

Land O’ Lakes hoops coach retires after 31 years

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Land O’ Lakes High School varsity boys basketball coach Dave Puhalski is ready for a timeout.

After 31 years roaming the Gators sidelines, barking orders, drawing up plays, and molding boys into young men, the longtime coach announced his retirement following the 2019-2020 season.

Puhalski’s swan song was a memorable one — sending off eight seniors to the tune of a 21-6 record, a 5A-7 district title and an appearance in the 5A regional semifinals.

Dozens of members of the Land O’ Lakes High School community celebrate Dave Puhalski’s retirement as head coach of the Gators varsity boys basketball team. (Courtesy of Land O’ Lakes High Athletics)

Puhalski, 57, exits as one of the longest-tenured and among the most-decorated coaches in Pasco County sports history. He compiled a 479-349 career mark since taking over the Gators program in 1988.

In total, he spent more than 35 years coaching hoops.

Before taking over at Land O’ Lakes, Puhalski was an assistant at state champion Ocala Vanguard for three seasons and an assistant at University of Tampa for a year.

Any basketball coach knows what all that entails: Countless hours tied up into practices and games. Long nights busing around the state. Sitting on steel bleachers for junior varsity games. Too many family gatherings and vacations missed.

He said the timing’s right to take a break from the hardwood.

He put it like this: “After 35 years, I’ve never had a Christmas vacation, (or) a Thanksgiving vacation; the month of June is all summer league, kids playing, so really, it’s just time.”

‘All about the kids’
So, what made all of these years coaching worth it?

“The kids,” Puhalski said without hesitation.

“They’re the ones that keep me young and keep me in the game for so long. You know, every year you almost get a different set. You get to see kids grow and develop,” he said.

Having an understanding wife, too, helped him to stay in the game for the better part of three decades.

“You’ve gotta have a coach’s wife, and that’s what I have,” Puhalski said of longtime wife Erika. “So, I give her a lot of credit, because she did a lot of the raising of the kids.”

Puhalski’s longevity allowed him to coach “kids of kids” and attend many a former players’ weddings. Seeing Gators hoops alums grow up, start families and lead successful lives is “one of my favorite things,” he said.

The care for hundreds of teenage hoopers has been seen firsthand by Land O’ Lakes boys basketball assistant/booster club president Steve Thomopalos.

His son, Justin, was coached by Puhalski from 2008 to 2012, and the coach helped the player develop into a two-time team MVP.

Thomopalos observed: “If a kid needs a pat on the back, he’ll give it, but also if he needs to be disciplined, he’ll give that, too.”

The assistant added the head coach’s go-to expression goes like this: “All about the kids.”

Puhalski’s tough love is something Gators players grew to revere and appreciate.

“You can tell he cares,” senior guard and team captain Mekhi Perry said. “Getting yelled at is frustrating — but him doing that, you know his heart’s in the right place.”

The 2019-2020 Gators went 21-6 and won a 5A-7 district championship in Puhalski’s final season as head coach. (File)

Senior guard and fellow captain Chase Farmer added Puhalski “was like a father figure to me.”

“As a player, he was there for me,” said Farmer, the school’s all-time dunks leader. “He did a lot of things that some coaches don’t do. He gave me a shoulder to lean on, I could cry in his arms — anything I needed, he was there.”

Revered for defense, old-school nature
Of course, Puhalski knows a thing or two about hoops.

The coach frequently emphasized “rebounding the ball, taking care of the ball and defending the ball.”

He’s particularly regarded for his defense-first mentality — a philosophy that centered heavily on the man-to-man variety, with little regard for zone defenses.

“We play man to man,” Puhalski said pointedly. “In 31 years, we’ve probably played a minute worth of zone.”

And, if players weren’t giving at least equal effort defensively as on offense, Puhalski wasn’t afraid to make an example. “You know, we’ve had really good players that have been pulled at night because they never play defense,” Puhalski said bluntly.

Farmer amicably described Puhalski’s coaching style as “old school, but sometimes he might flare it up.”

Farmer added: “He loves defense, (but) he loves steals, highlights and dunks, all that.”

Perry, the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,616 points, added Puhalski “made a huge impact” on the more nuanced aspects of his game.

“I already came into school like knowing what I was doing, but just the tidbits and details expanded my game even more, and every year I learned more,” the Gators standout said.

It wasn’t just players who’ve learned from Puhalski.

Assistant coaches, too, picked up what it takes to run a quality, winning program.

“Everybody learns from coach,” Thomopalos said. “I’ve never seen, up close and personal, a game managed better…especially at the end, when it’s coming down to the wire and it’s close.”

The assistant added: “He is a real basketball man, through and through.”

Fellow assistant Connor Jordan has worked with Puhalski around a dozen seasons.

From Puhalski, Jordan learned Xs and Os are just a small part of leading a successful high school program.

“It’s really about discipline and making sure everything’s organized, expectations and keeping kids held accountable and things like that,” Jordan said. “All that stuff that coaches talk about, (Puhalski) actually follows through on.”

Whoever takes over the Gators program indeed has a tall task in replacing Puhalski.

That very well could be Jordan, who many in the program — including Puhalski —  hope lands the head post. “Gigantic shoes to fill,” Jordan of the possibility.

Meantime, Puhalski is considering teaching physical education for another year at Land O’ Lakes. He also said he wants to continue helping with the program and acclimate whoever next becomes head coach.

“I want to try to keep this going at the level we have it at now,” Puhalski said. “I’m not going to have a whole hand in it, but I’ll be there in whatever (the new coach) needs me to do.”

Published April 1, 2020