FORT MYERS — Johnny Lackaff remembers having a conversation during Sarasota's first City of Palms Classic appearance in 2025. The then-junior guard reminisced about the one with his teammates during the tournament, where he hoped it would help the Sarasota basketball team become better. He wanted the City of Palms to expose the Sailors' weaknesses and help fix them quicker.
And it worked. Sarasota competed in the Class 7A championship for the first time in the FHSAA's 104-year history. The Sailors lost 53-50 to Miami Columbus, which has won five straight titles. But they got there, and they're hoping to win it all in 2027.
"I probably did not realize how much it did help in some of those games that we played," Lackaff said. "Columbus was not the
first game we saw a high-level national team. You don't have many games where you get to play them, and so we were prepared going into that game and this tournament had a big deal with that."
For the second straight year, Sarasota will compete in the City of Palms Classic at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, running from Dec. 18 to Dec. 23. The 53rd annual event is one of the most competitive high school basketball tournaments in the country.
Since 1989, the tournament has featured 231 McDonald's All-Americans and 148 NBA first-round picks. And on December 18, Sarasota will play White Plains (New York) Archbishop Stepinac at Florida SouthWestern State College.
"We're grateful being back," Lackaff said, later adding, "It's just going to help us this year and moving forward for March."
In last year's tournament, the Sailors fell to Archbishop Stepinac 89-62 after starting the season 8-0. But in some ways, the loss was more helpful than the wins. Sarasota suffered a close loss to Imhotep (Pa.) the next morning, but the team won on the last day of the tournament, defeating Garfield Heights (Ohio) 67-47.
Head coach BJ Ivey said it gave his team confidence, and the win turned into some of Lackaff, junior Greg Dauer and senior Isaiah Jenkins' favorite memories.
"After playing Stepinac, I feel like it exposed a lot of our weaknesses, which is good," Dauer said. "Going into this tournament, it made us stronger going out later in the year."
And entering the 2026-27 season, the Sailors have some hype after the 25-26 season. Ivey is 98-19 over the last four years. The program has been building, winning a district title, then making a 7A Final Four appearance, before appearing in the state championship in 2026.
Sarasota returns many key players from last year's team, namely Lackaff. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 23.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, despite missing nine games early in the season. Lackaff had 27 points, five 3-pointers, four rebounds and three steals during the championship game. In September, the senior committed to Illinois State.
The Sailors will also feature 6-foot-3 senior Isaiah Jenkins (eight points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game), Dauer (9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds per game) and 6-foot-6 sophomore Liam Lackaff (4.1 points, 2.2 rebounds per game).
But Ivey isn't focusing on the returners or the history that was made.
"Last year is over," Ivey said. "This is a new team. It's a new season. And the group has to kind of find their identity...there's no big realizations that came out of last year...if anything, I felt like last year and our experiences here last year really just reinforced that our process works."
The Sailors hope to build on that process and what the City of Palms tournament taught them. They have yet to become the team they want to be, but they're getting closer.
"After that Archbishop Stepinac game, the realization that me and the team had of playing a national team and seeing where we want to be at," Jenkins said, "I think that was a pretty good moment."
Teams in the 2026 City of Palms Classic
Classic Bracket
Bartlett (Tenn.)
Calvary Christian
Carter (Texas)
Columbus
Fleming Island
Greensboro Day (N.C.)
La Lumiere (Ind.)
Lehigh Senior
Millenium (Ariz.)
Montverde Academy
Providence School
Riviera Prep
Sarasota
St. Frances Academy (Md.)
Thomas Jefferson (N.Y.)
Signature Series
Dynamic Prep (Texas)
Prolific Prep
Southeastern Prep
SPIRE Academy (Ohio)
Sunshine Series
Boca Ciega
Coatesville (Pa.)
Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (Ga.)
Madison-Ridgeland Academy (Miss.)
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota back in City of Palms Classic, nation's top basketball tournament
