Lance Erving was a role player last year for Leesburg High School.
“Last year I wasn’t getting in the game at all and I just knew that it was going to be my time eventually so I kept working at my game –kept trying to get better,” Erving explained.
Now a 10th grader Erving has become the key to the team’s success with his coming out party during the district tournament.
“He’s probably the most talented kid on our team in terms of his ability to score the ball,” Leesburg Head Coach Sean Campbell said.
And the 6’0 swingman re-iterated the point—scoring 22-points in back to back district contests—leading Leesburg to the 6A-13 District Title.
“It was fun, loud and I just like to play in that environment and it kept me going,” Erving said of the game atmosphere. “I started feeling like nobody can check me, nobody could guard me and I just started dialing up and kept going. It motivates me to keep going, once I hit shots it’s like I hit more and more.”
After graduating seven off the Yellow Jackets squad that reached the state region semifinals –Lance Erving knew he could become the team’s consistent scorer and it didn’t matter that he was only just a sophomore.
“I got pulled to the side a couple of times –where they [coaches] were telling me that I could be one of those guys –and I didn’t believe it at first but once I started seeing I could score whenever I wanted to that’s when I started believing I can do this,” Erving said.
The team hitting its stride here in the post season.
“Everything is finally just gelling and clicking for him as well as our team. Offensively we are going to go how Lance goes so it’s amazing now at this stretch of the game that he’s starting to shine,” Campbell added.
Leesburg hosts Rockledge in the 6A Region Quarterfinal Thursday night.