LAKELAND — Lakeland head coach Henderson Taylor was unable to play in the third round last year due to a massive heart attack. On the anniversary of the tragic event, Taylor is still on his feet as he was able to lead Lakeland to a 66–53 victory over Edgewater in the Class 6A Regional Semi-Final at Lakeland High School.

A year ago, Taylor was coaching, yelling at his Dreadnoughts during a game with Kathleen on Feb. 22, before he felt a crack. He sat down on a bench, sweating profusely before being taken to the Lakeland Regional Medical Center. That same night, Taylor underwent emergency surgery for 18 hours before waking up 26 hours later unsure if his team had won or lost in the regional semi-finals.

The Dreadnoughts won in 2022, as they did on Tuesday when the No. 2 seed defeated the No. 3 seed. And for Taylor, who is now doing everything he can to manage his condition to continue training his Dreadnoughts, that means the world for the second year in a row advances to the regional finals, despite having to keep an eye on how he practices the game these days.

“I was nervous about tonight, even trying to scream – just a thought in my head. (With) the anniversary of this, I don’t want this to happen again,” Taylor said. “…(It means a lot. I’m holding back my tears now… because I know that emotions make you emotional. I’ve been thinking about this all day. I told my coaches during the game that if I’m being too noisy, please calm me down…”

Taylor is still coaching to the best of his ability, which was needed in the second half. 29-25 late in the second and knowing his starting lineup had foul problems, Taylor put his bench in early in the third quarter using his second-half adjustment strategy that worked all year.

Senior point guard Javares Burton used his energy and fought for a pair of offensive rebounds that led to a narrow lead early in the third round thanks to his free throws.

“We just went out and played as a team, played hard,” Burton said. “In the first half we had serious problems, so we just had to sit it out. And when we came in, we just played as a team.”

Assisting in third quarter scoring, junior forward Jaren Dennis used his strength and athleticism to catch the offensive rebound and score to give Lakeland a 35-27 lead early in the third.

However, Edgewater did not give up without a fight. Using a full-court trap, the Eagles forced the Dreadnoughts to lose the ball and lay down easily, taking Lakeland to 36–34 at the end of the third round.

But Lakeland held up defensively against Edgeotor, which led to senior point guard Deidren Zipperer making a good plate for senior Camaurri McKinley, who scored two of five goals in the third quarter in that sequence. He had a game-high 11 points.

Defensively, especially in the second half, Lakeland made it harder for Edgewater’s Eric Taylor, the program’s top scorer. Taylor didn’t have a basket in the fourth but had seven free throws.

In the first half, senior quarterback Derrion Lowman appeared and scored 3 to put Lakeland up 18-15 in the second quarter, helping Lakeland pass Edgewater in the first half.

Zipperer had 10 points in the game, Dennis had nine, junior shooting guard Deralya Hardy had eight, and senior guard Ralia Hardy had six.

Lakeland (24-4), the No. 5 team in class 6A, will face No. 3 (25-4) Vekiva in the regional final at 7:00 pm on Friday in Apopka.

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