C
hampionships aside, few things in high school sports are cooler than getting to play games in the big dogs’ yards.
Sure, you’re probably not going to get the same kind of rocking home atmosphere as you would at, say, Plant City or Durant during a Redman Cup game, but, speaking of the Raiders, I know the boys basketball team is totally stoked for its Dec. 2 game at the home of the Lakeland Magic.
Plant City is going to the RP Funding Center, which will always be the Lakeland Center to me, that afternoon to play 8A-District 11 powerhouse Lakewood Ranch in a “Court of Dreams” game. The Mustangs, who made the state’s 8A Final Four last season, should present a tough test for a Raiders team that’s improved every year under head coach Billy Teeden’s watch.
Win or lose, the experience of playing in a professional team’s arena should be one the Raiders will enjoy.
For some players with dreams of making it to the NBA or other professional leagues, it might be foreshadowing. Maybe, in a few years, we’ll see some Plant City natives make the cut for the Lakeland Magic roster as they begin their journeys as pro athletes. I’m sure they’d appreciate having the same people coming to watch them that Saturday also make the quick trek over to Lakeland to watch them ball in the G-League, should they end up playing in it.
And for us fans (and reporters), seeing something so unique always makes a game more fun. I’ve been to plenty of college football bowl games at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, but my favorite experience there was in 2015 when I was in the neighborhood and decided to catch the 4A state championship football game between Booker T. Washington and Raines. Though the stadium wasn’t nearly as full as it was for a Florida State-Notre Dame Champs Sports Bowl, the people who made the trip totally bought into the hype and made the atmosphere electric. It helped that the game, a 43-23 Booker T. win, was way better than a 20-point margin of victory suggests. The crowd reaction when the cameras found Mark Richt, then recently hired to head up the Miami Hurricanes, might have been the loudest pop I’ve ever heard while attending a high school game. It just had everything you could want from a sporting event and I know those kids are going to enjoy those memories for a long time.
If you’re a Raider fan and have some free time that afternoon, I think you should go to the game. It’s going to be a special moment for everyone involved and Plant City is going to need your support against maybe its toughest regular-season opponent.