What a great day to honor the outstanding accomplishments of the 2012 Edmond Santa Fe High School girl's basketball team.
On Friday morning, May 18th, the 5th Annual MaxPreps Girls' Basketball Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard landed in the Sooner State to honor the No. 32 ranked team in the country according to the MaxPreps Freeman poll. That's from a pool of 20,000 girl's teams nationwide.
The entire student body of Edmond Santa Fe High School was present for the highly anticipated "Minuteman" trophy presentation! Student excitement and energy was already in the air, since the last day of school was in just 2 days! Prior to the beginning of the program, "GO GUARD" pens were tossed into the stands and students wrestled over each other for the keepsake item. Principal Earl Kirkpatrick, well respected and liked amongst the students, helped set the tone for long anticipated trophy ceremony. Principal Kirkpatrick introduced James Larrick from MaxPreps, who then began the honors. James informed the coaching staff, players, students and faculty about the MaxPreps Freeman rankings, and then shared with them the amazing on-court accomplishments of the girl's basketball team which included beating rival Edmond Memorial 44-41 in the Oklahoma 6A state championship game to win their second-straight state title and going 28-0 for an undefeated season; a feat that has only happened 50 times in Oklahoma girls' basketball history. In two years, the Wolves are 55-1 and are currently riding a 39-game winning streak!
James was followed by Major Craig Robinson of the Oklahoma Army National Guard. Major Robinson talked to the students about how the Army National Guard was his way into college and part of the family tradition. He also told them what the Army National Guard principles stood for and compared those principles to those needed for a successful sports team; never quitting, never leaving a teammate behind, and working hard for everything - all great principles and fantastic life lessons. Major Robinson then presented the Army National Guard national ranking trophy to Head Coach Paul Bass. Coach Bass thanked the student body and expressed how honored he felt to be a part of a national recognized rankings system. He said he has received honors from all over, but never something of this caliber. Following the assembly, the team came up to embrace the well-deserved trophy. Afterwards, the girls posed for pictures with their new trophy and savored possibly the final moment of this celebratory season. Seven of the players will continue to play basketball at the collegiate level, however!
Congratulations Edmond Santa Fe, and best wishes next year!
