(La Porte County, IN) - The boys' high school basketball team from La Lumiere will be vying for the national title for the seventh consecutive year after receiving an invitation last week to compete in the Geico Nationals in Ft. Myers, Florida.

 

La Lumiere (21-4) is the No. 7 seed and opens the tournament on March 31 against No. 2 seed IMG Academy. The Lakers previously defeated the team from Bradenton, Florida, in double overtime in the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference invitational also televised by ESPN at the La Porte Civic Auditorium.

 

Head Coach Pat Holmes called the eight teams "the strongest field we've ever had in the national tournament."

 

"Everyone has a chance to win it. It's just which team is playing the best at the right time of year," Holmes said.

Holmes said he was confident of being invited again because of the strength of their schedule.

 

"We have some really good wins, and the teams that we lost to are all really good teams that also have been invited to the Geico tournament," Holmes said.

La Lumiere has also been invited to the national tournament in 10 of the last 11 seasons. The Lakers won the tournament in 2017 and were runner-up in 2019.

 

Execution, limiting turnovers, and rebounding will be among the keys to success by Holmes' team. But, Holmes does not doubt that his squad can win the event. 

 

ESPNU will televise the game at 3 p.m. CST.