MaxPreps Basketball Tour of Champions celebrates Winter Haven High School

The 13th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard passed through Florida on Wednesday, May 9 to recognize and commemorate Winter Haven (Fla.) High School and its girls basketball team for winning a state championship and earning a high national ranking.

Having upended Nova 56-45 in the FHSAA Class 8A state championship contest, the 32-2 Blue Devils won their third straight girls state basketball title, earned the No. 27 ranking in MaxPreps National Rankings and played their way into the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Writers' Poll at No. 12!

The Blue Devils, who are 113-13 over the past four seasons, outscored their opponents 60-42 per game and held 13 opponents under 40 points. Having competed in this year's GEICO National High School basketball tournament, Winter Haven is one of only 10 girls basketball teams being honored on the Tour of Champions.

MaxPreps and the Florida Army National Guard joined forces in celebrating Winter Haven's fantastic basketball season during a pep rally at the football stadium. Once the student body had filed into the stadium, Winter Haven High School acknowledged all of its spring sports teams. Then, in dramatic fashion, the local police department escorted a Florida Army National Guard Humvee carrying the prestigious Army National Guard national ranking trophy onto the field.

MaxPreps representative Ray Dungee took the microphone and congratulated the girls on their excellent basketball season, telling the rowdy crowd that Winter Haven was ranked No. 27 out of 22,000 girls basketball teams across the country. Dungee then introduced Sergeant First Class John Latsetter of the Florida Army National Guard, who talked about the commitment to excellence the Blue Devil coaching staff has instilled in its girls basketball program.

SFC Latsetter spoke briefly about commitment, dedication, hard work and perseverance, shared character traits of a state championship basketball team and the Army National Guard before presenting the Army National Guard national ranking trophy to head coach Johnnie Lawson. As the exchange was being made, the packed stadium erupted into applause for their beloved Blue Devils.

Lawson was thrilled and humbled by the national attention and thanked both the Army National Guard and MaxPreps for recognizing his players, their school and the community. It was a great afternoon at Winter Haven High School and congratulations to the girls basketball team for winning the state championship and for being ranked in the Top 30 nationally! Click here to view the Winter Haven TOC photo gallery and for more information about the Basketball TOC, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.