By Kyle Coppola
South Lake High Boys Basketball Win Big Over Wildwood 60-33
CLERMONT, Fla. — After enduring a challenging four-game losing streak, the South Lake High School boys basketball team got back on track in resounding fashion Tuesday night, securing a commanding 60-33 victory over Wildwood Middle High School.
South Lake, now 10-7, came into the matchup determined to turn the tide, delivering a high-energy performance on both ends of the court. Junior standout Isaiah Pina led the way, continuing his remarkable season with another impressive outing. Pina, who is averaging 24 points and 10 rebounds per game, recently achieved a major milestone, joining the 1,000-point club. With one more season to play, he is on pace to potentially surpass 2,000 career points.
Pina’s contributions go far beyond his statistics. Head coach Stephen McLeod praised the junior’s selflessness and leadership, saying, “Isaiah is the consummate teammate. He doesn’t care about his stats—he just wants to win.”
(Isaiah Pina is one of the top scorers in Central Florida. He is averaging 22.7 points per game along with 10 rebounds per game. Pina is having a monster year.)
The Eagles’ defense was particularly stifling against Wildwood, setting the tone early and holding the Wildcats to just 33 points. McLeod attributed the win to the team’s renewed focus and effort in practice.
“We had a really rough week last week and went 0-3,” McLeod said. “We lost a one-point game to Eustis and played poorly in our rivalry game against Lake Minneola. But Monday night’s practice was our best of the year. I felt really good after that session, and it showed tonight. We defended at a high level and executed our game plan.”
Despite the loss, McLeod had high praise for Wildwood and its head coach. “Coach Jackson does a fantastic job with his kids at Wildwood, but I think they just ran into us at the wrong time. We were in desperation mode and had to have that win.” Wildwood moves to 13-4 on the season. It was also Wildwood’s lowest point total this season. Wildwood was ranked as the top 5 team in all of Florida Rural division and will look to get back on track against Umatilla on Thursday night before ending the week at South Sumter High in a rivalry game.
With the win, South Lake carries momentum into the home stretch of the season. They face Hope Academy and East Ridge High School later this week. Those are two games that South Lake are favored in so they could be 12-7 by the end of this week.
Pina, meanwhile, continues to draw significant attention from college programs, including Embry-Riddle, Tulane, and Mercer. While his future looks bright, Pina remains focused on the present and contending for a district championship in a few weeks time.
For South Lake, last night’s win was more than just a bounce-back—it was a statement that the Eagles are a team to look out for in the final weeks of the regular season.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
