After winning the state championship game last year, the Williston High Red Devils basketball team wants to reclaim their throne as the best team in their classification, maybe even in Florida.
The Red Devils will return with a lot of firepower from last year’s squad, and this year’s team has the potential to be better than the year before, said Head Coach Jim Ervin, 54, of Modoc, Indiana.
Ervin enters his fourth year as Williston’s coach, and he is more determined to succeed after tasting a championship. He said this summer he saw his team take a leap, and that they are ready to make a push for the championship again in March.
“I think we’ve already recovered,” Ervin said while talking about his team's effort and productive offseason. “I think we’re a better team right now than we were when we finished the season last year.”
Ervin reasons that his players have matured and that they are composed of upperclassmen with multiple talented underclassmen.
The Red Devils have only two players on their team who are not juniors or seniors, and with that experience and chemistry, it could put them a couple of steps ahead of the competition.
“I think it took us so long last year to become a family,” Ervin said. “I think we solved that early in the summer and I think that’s gonna be an area where we want to come out stronger this year as one instead of individuals.”
Kyler Lamb, 17, a senior forward from Williston, is one of the returning players from the Red Devils’ championship run last season. Lamb, who is one of the key team players, said he is eager to get back on the hardwood court.
“I’m very excited,” Lamb said while icing his knees after drills at a recent practice. “Coming off of a state season last year, we look better than we did last year, in my opinion, so it’ll be a fun season.”
Lamb said it was awesome to see the team get better during the off-season and buy into going back-to-back. He also said that a big reason why they play so well on the court is the relationship they all have off the court.
“This year, we do more stuff outside of basketball than on the basketball court,” he said. “We go hang out outside the court, and I think that really helps with our chemistry on the court.”
Lamb said the ticket to going back to back is not relying on last year’s success and to stay dedicated throughout the season. Lamb said he wants to have a good start to the season and would love to make some big plays in their first matchup.
Reggie White, 17, a senior from Gainesville, was also a part of the championship squad last year, and he said he, like his teammates, is ready to put in the work to claim another state title.
“I’m excited. The work we’ve been putting in, we look pretty good.” White said.
White said some things that stood out to him this summer were his team’s ability to pass the ball and their transitional defense.
“It’ll be easier because we’re all together and not playing ‘me ball,’” he said. “It’s way more fun because we all play together and we all share the ball.”
He reiterated what Ervin said about their team becoming a family late in the season last year, and how it took them much less time to do so this year.
White, just like Lamb, is also ready to suit up for their first match, but he said he isn’t worried about the stand-out moments. He is worried about winning and getting back to the state finals.
“We just gotta work, to be honest,” he said. “We got the team to do it.”
Erika Grantham, 50, from Gainesville, is the mother of Jaden, who is a part of the Red Devils' squad. Grantham said she travels 80 miles a day to drop her son off at Williston, but she couldn’t be happier with the team her son is on.
“Bringing my son to a practice and just watching how attentive all the coaches were,” she said. “The student-athletes are really taken care of.”
Grantham said it means a lot to her to watch her son play at a good school and the fact that he gets to pursue his passion for basketball.
“I love that the coaches put the athletes first,” she said. “I just want to be a part of this family.”
Levy County Superintendent Chris Cowart said he is eager to watch the Red Devils suit up, but even more eager to see his students carry the Levy County pride.
“As an old coach, you’re always excited when the new season rolls around,” he said. “You watch teams come together and glue themselves together.”
Cowart said the newness of the younger kids and the players who were not on varsity last year, will have a major impact on this year’s squad and he couldn’t be more excited.
Coach Ervin said his team has been ready to go ever since they won the state championship. He said they planned to take a couple of weeks off after the game, but hit it hard in the summer and refocus on the task at hand.
“I think to go back to back I think you can always look at each classification and say ‘there’s five or six teams that can win the state title,’” he said. “I think for us to get back to the state title, we have all the potential.”