By Jeff Odom
Laker/Lutz News Correspondent
As Steinbrenner boys basketball coach Steve Williams follows his team onto the Warriors’ home court for pregame warm-ups, a blank basketball banner hanging along the gym rafters catches his eye.
What’s missing is a year marking a district championship season.
For two seasons, the Warriors found themselves at the basement of their district with only seven total wins. They sat quietly behind county powerhouses Jesuit and Robinson.
But now, everything has changed.
Steinbrenner (8-6) has made big improvements and has clinched the No. 3 seed in Class 7A-District 9 tournament, which is at Chamberlain Feb. 7-10.
Williams credits the players’ individual efforts on and off the court to their success.
“The guys have really committed to developing the basketball program,” Williams said. He then added, “We’ve tried to convince them that if they become better individual players during the offseason, and if they commit to becoming a team during the season, the outcome of a lot of the ballgames will be more positive.”
There were a lot of question marks coming into this season as the Warriors moved up in classification and lost a host of graduates. That left Williams, a member of the University of Florida men’s basketball team from 1970-74, and assistant coach Rob Wagner with a roster filled with holes. But they knew with the returning players in leadership roles, a transition would be easier.
“I thought last year that Tobi Antigha and David Chiles provided senior leadership and got us on track,” Williams said. “And this season, (Joey Maloney and Isaiah Goncalves) have taken charge and they’ve done a good job not only leading on the basketball court, but off the court as well. They’re leading by example and actually putting forth the effort in practice and it’s carrying over to the game as well.”
Steinbrenner has already nabbed victories over district foes Gaither, Freedom and Wiregrass Ranch to begin their ascent to the top of the district early on.
Williams says those big wins and the ability to deal with the pressure situations helped his young squad know it can compete on the same level as top area schools, which could be a boost headed into the district tournament.
“We believe that it’s going to be a wide open tournament,” Williams said. “I think that all of the teams are very competitive and it’s going to make for a very interesting tournament. … Anyone can win that tournament.”
The Warriors have found themselves in a rough stretch lately, with five losses in six games. But Williams says the team has what it takes to break out of the slump with talent across the board, including 6-foot-5 freshman Jack Frank, who is averaging 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds.
“I think that Jack has the potential to be an outstanding basketball player,” Williams said. “I can see a big time talent in him. He’s working hard, and I believe he’ll be very recruitable when it comes to his junior season. … He’s an excellent student, he’s a smart young man and very tough.”
For the seniors, the success the team has reached this year is three years in the making. Maloney, who has a team-high 14.6 points per game this year, has used the first two losing seasons as motivation for more success during his senior season.
“I think after we won our first couple of games, it made everyone want to compete more,” Maloney said. “We’ve always been the underdog since we opened, so we’re used to that, but this is such an even district and we’re happy with that. We just want to swoop in for the win and shock everyone.”
For Williams, seeing the team winning its first district championship and putting up its first banner would be special, but he’s building for something much greater down the road.
“It would mean a lot to me, but more so to this basketball program especially these graduating seniors,” Williams said. “We took those guys as sophomores and we’ve been very patient with them and we’ve put a lot of pressure on them. We’ve told them from day one, every time we lace up our sneakers we’re preparing to win a state championship, and that’s my goal by the end of the fourth year.”
Maloney added, it’s been difficult losing throughout his high school career, but he hopes to go out a winner in his final season.
“Since freshman year (at Gaither), I’ve wanted to be a winner,” Maloney said. “I haven’t been able to do that and I want to leave here on a good note.”
The Warriors host Wharton on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 8 p.m.
