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Wildcats Have Eye On Postseason

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By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 12, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - Down the road from the Land O' Lakes Recreation Center, the temporary home of the Academy at the Lakes basketball team, is their partially built future home, a brand new gymnasium.

If the Wildcats can finish with the No. 1 seed in the district, they might be able to play in their new home this season and for the girls team, that is becoming a smaller and smaller if.

"I look at it like I'm new, they're new, the gym is new, everything is new," Coach Gary Tait said. "It's like starting from scratch."
Academy at the Lakes feels like it is starting a brand new program because this is the first season the Wildcats are in a district and eligible for the postseason and also because under Tait, the team has thrived.

"We definitely have better coaching this year," said senior guard Ashley Sooklal, the team's only senior and leading scorer. "He really knows what he's doing. So a lot of it has to do with him. I think we lost by so little because we wanted it a lot more and this year."

The Wildcats are 6-2 with one district loss to Lakeside Christian, and even that loss was somewhat of a victory for them.

Last season, Academy lost to Lakeside by 30 points but this season only lost by seven with two of its best players injured, another sign that the program is in a turnaround.

"Everyone just has more confidence," junior point guard Tiffany Hunnell said. "Last year no one really cared and this year we have something to look forward to. Last year no one thought we could win anything."

This season the Wildcats' starting five includes one senior, Sooklal, and two freshmen. There are 12 players on the roster but they are expecting three more eighth-graders once middle school season is over.

Guard Ashley Fryar, the team's best all-around player, has missed a couple of games recently with a sprained ankle, but expects to be back soon.

"I think it's more team-oriented," Tait said. "We're trying to see what each child brings. We're trying to find the strength in everybody and putting those five people on the court as a unit that gives the girls a shot, even the freshmen. We're trying to find something where everyone can have a role."

The girls also appreciate Tait's dedication to academics. Sooklal said Tait kept a packet of all the assignments the girls had missed in their classes and made them all complete them.

Being able to play for the district title has certainly been an incentive for the girls on the court, but knowing they have a legitimate shot at it has been a welcomed bonus.

"When Coach said that we're going to win districts this year I was like 'You're crazy,'" Sooklal said. "We're a small school and I didn't think we had a chance but after our first and second games it's come to reality that we can definitely win it."

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