6A State Final: Stranahan captures its first state title ever

<p>LAKELAND - History was made on Thursday night as Stranahan pulled off the 63-54 victory over Lakewood in the Class 6A State Final. This marks the very first state title in school history.</p> <p>The Mighty Dragons (28-3) matched up rather evenly with Lakewood (26-7) as both teams boasted an endless amount of athletes who can fly down the floor.</p> <p>Stranahan completed the job in its very first state final appearance ever behind a solid five players, 2019 guard Brian Dugazon (14 points), 2020 guard David Herard (13 points), 2020 forward Inady Legiste (12 points), 2020 guard Chayse Culpepper (10 points) and 2020 guard Daquion Vickers (nine points, 11 rebounds).</p> <p>Vickers had a vicious one-handed slam to put the game on ice with under one minute left and Stranahan's celebration ensued. </p> <p>After losing to last year's state champion Leesburg in the regional final 77-43 a season ago, Stranahan certainly was prepared for this moment.</p> <p>"Every day from Day 1. From the time we lost to Leesburg, team camps, preseason, always traveling," coach Terrance Williams said. "When we lost to Leesburg, we went right in preparation mode for this year."</p> <p>Dugazon paced the floor with his blazing speed and he was ecstatic after the game as the senior leader. The scene was filled with players on the ground in tears and astonishment including 2019 guard Jordan Greene.</p> <p>"It means a lot because we came from nothing to something," Dugazon said.</p> <p>As for the evenness in the opening half, Stranahan clung onto a 31-27 advantage as both teams shot 35 percent and 36 percent respectively.</p> <p>"It feels good. We said to ourselves 'we got it.' Everyone has a first half, we got two more quarters to go," Dugazon said.</p> <p>Dating back to June, you could simply see it with this Stranahan squad. They regularly don the 'Stranahan vs. Everbody' shirts prior to games and that motto was instilled in their mindsets all season long.</p> <p>"One of the off-season programs was swimming and the guys just bought in from the beginning," Williams said. "They believed in themselves. During the season, they kept hearing you guys can do it. We had a pretty tough schedule that got us ready for it."</p> <p>Williams is a former alumni and a coach that has preached true values to his squad.</p> <p>"It is fun being an alumni and knowing the history of the program," he said. "Seeing where we were and seeing where we can go and things we need to implement."</p> <p>For Lakewood, 2019 guard Jalen White took control of the tempo in the second half to end with 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists in his last high school game. 2019 guard Jermaine Phillips had 10 points while 2020 forward Jamille Reynolds added eight points and 2021 guard Oteman Delancey had eight points.</p> <p>The Spartans have nothing to be upset about. They played the entire season without a home gym (under construction), playing home games between Eckerd College, a local Middle School and St. Petersburg High. Lakewood always has athletes and has a good core in place that should be able to make noise out of the St. Pete/Tampa area again next season.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Final Score (6A State Final):<br /> <br /> Stranahan 63<br /> Lakewood 54<br /> <br /> The Mighty Dragons win their first ever state title. <br /> <br /> ????leaders <a href="https://twitter.com/StranahanBasket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StranahanBasket</a> <br /> Brian Dugazon 14<br /> Dave Herard 13<br /> Inady Legiste 12<br /> Chayse Culpepper 10<a href="https://twitter.com/LakewoodBoys?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LakewoodBoys</a> <br /> Jalen White 16<br /> Jamille Reynolds 10 <a href="https://t.co/LWvrsZoGU6">pic.twitter.com/LWvrsZoGU6</a></p> — ᴊᴀᴋᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴘᴇʀ (@JakePerper) <a href="https://twitter.com/JakePerper/status/1103831168976343040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2019</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>