MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week: Southeast girls basketball

Southeast (Bradenton) girls basketball coach John Harder won his 700th game in December. He's coached 30 years, won a pair of state championship and has basically done it all in Florida.

But talk to the longtime head coach about his current Seminoles and it's like he's starting all over again. He's like a kid in a candy store.

"We want to get a few more wins, but we have had a great year," he said.

What's not to like? Southeast is 24-1, ranked fifth in the state and has won 20 straight games.

For their win streak and ranking, the Seminoles are the MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.

They are led by a pair of fourth-year starters Keshawna Robinson (15.1 points per game) and DeAngela Mathis (15.0), who have each piled up amazing numbers in their career, including each reaching the 1,000-point plateau. Robinson needs just 20 rebounds to reach 1,000 in that department as well.

The most impressive number for each is that they are closing in on 100 wins for a career. Both have 94 against 16 losses.

"They are seasoned veterans," Harder said of the pair. "Both are four-year varsity starters, which is very rare. ... They have played together for a long time. Both of these girls have reached incredible milestones."

So has the team over the years. Since 2009, Southeast has gone 22-3, 28-2, 25-5, 23-6 and 22-4.

The team's only loss of the season was a turning point, a 62-50 defeat to Sarasota in November.

"In that loss to Sarasota, there was a lot of individualism," Harder said. "Within those seven days until we faced Sarasota again, they turned it around and haven't looked back. They started passing more and doing the offense how it needed to be run. We have been down at halftime in many of our games and they fight back. We have a good mix of players with four starters who are seniors. They are motivated and peaking at the right time."

One of those players is Bevin Mays who is third on the team at 11.9 points per game. She's second on the team in steals at 3.1 per game, just behind Mathis (3.2) and ahead of sophomore Breyonna Reed (3.0).

The Seminoles average a remarkable 18.2 steals per game, helping to lead to 55 points per game.

Southeast hopes to continue those trends through district play. The next portion of their season is upon them.

"We want to win the district and that has been our big focus," Harder said. "We reached our 20-win goal, we won the Thanksgiving and Christmas tournaments and our front five is looking really good. We want to get a few more wins, but we have had a great year.

"We are in the toughest district in the state, but our main goal is to win the district championship. It will be Southeast's 19th district championship if we can get that on Friday night."

MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.

Do you know a team that deserves consideration for Florida Team of the Week? Email us with your nominations at FLteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.