TWISTS AND TURNS: Florida School for the Deaf and Blind basketball has rollercoaster season
ST. AUGUSTINE — At the start of the basketball season, Florida School for the Deaf and Blind coach Dakota Kalis decided it was time to try a different approach.
His plan: Cede control of the team to the players, make them hold each other accountable and force them to build trust in one another. Of course, he’d still be there as the team’s anchor.
The Dragons are 5-11 thus far and the experiment has seen mixed results.
“It’s more of a rollercoaster,” Kalis said of the strategy. “We’re growing. We’re getting there.”
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Florida School for the Deaf and Blind has experience but also a lot of young players. The risk with allowing player control is sometimes they think of themselves and not the team, he said.
Enter Will Devis and Sincere Vazquez, two senior leaders. They're the accountability police responsible for guiding the team,.
Florida School for the Deaf and Blind recently buried Taylor for the second time this season in a 60-41 win. Devis and Vazquez were in attack mode, netting big shot after big shot and locking down on defense. Their contagious energy spread to teammates, who began attacking the basket and pestering the Wildcats.
Taylor often couldn’t get the ball past half court without Florida School for the Deaf and Blind stealing it. Even when it did reach half court, the handsy Dragons crowded dribbling lanes, double-teamed the Wildcats and attacked weaker dribblers. Taylor could barely get into sets.
“Defense is key, Devis said.“ Offense can be OK but if we strengthen our defense, we’ll win games.”
Before the game, the Dragons had struggled to win consistently. They’ve had, at most, a two-game winning streak — which began after their first matchup against Taylor. They hung 67 points on First Baptist Christian Academy to notch their second straight win at the time.
Another win over Taylor could kick start another streak. A run before districts wouldn’t hurt, especially if the Dragons can overcome communication breakdowns, impatience and improve transition offense and passing.
Florida School for the Deaf and Blind is improving. It's back on the lift hill of its rollercoaster ride. It's had some twists and turns and drops along the way but are still climbing – waiting for the moment to play fluid, trustworthy basketball and win games consistently.
It’s a long way up that hill. But they’ve come a long way.
“We were a little uneasy,” Vazquez said of their first game. “We knew we had to grow. We knew we had to take what Coach Dakota tells us. Now, we feel more confident. We’ve improved. We’re getting better and better.”
This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: High school basketball: Florida School for the Deaf defeats Taylor
