Lakes poised for run at another state title

There is about a month left in the girls basketball regular season before district tournaments start, and here are some things to watch for as the season heats up:

Is Palm Beach Lakes statebound? The Rams, who won the 2015 Class 7A state title, could be in the middle of another championship run. Lakes has lost only one game this year — to a good Fort Myers team — and has already taken down some formidable opponents, like Oxbridge Academy, Wellington and West Boca Raton. It’s probably too much to ask for the Rams to go undefeated the rest of the way — they still have good teams like Fort Lauderdale-Blanche Ely, Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens on the schedule — but they should win their district and be poised for a deep playoff run.

Can small schools stay hot? Benjamin, Grandview Prep and Lake Worth Christian have been excellent. The three teams entered the week with a combined record of 27-9 (The Buccaneers were 11-2, the Defenders 8-3 and the Pride 8-4). Grandview Prep started last year slowly but ended with the Class 2A championship, and several of the key players from that team are leading the way, including sophomore Danielle Montelbano (13.2 points, six rebounds per game) and senior Alexis Romer (10.4 points, 6.5 assists per game). The Bucs have been rolling, with their only losses against Wellington and an out-of-state team. Benjamin has three players — seniors Anise Williams and Da’mya Preston and sophomore Emma Laszewski — averaging more than 10 points per game. Lake Worth Christian has beaten up on most opponents and its only losses were to Plantation-American Heritage.

Dogfight in District 9-9A: Of six teams in this district, four of them have winning records and three were in the Post’s last Top 10. Wellington has the early lead in the district with wins over Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens and Seminole Ridge. But most of those teams will have another crack at each other, meaning the seeds for next month’s district tournament are far from being decided. The Warriors have losses to both the Gators and Wolverines, but otherwise they have been particularly impressive with an 11-2 record.