The 13th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard passed through Florida on Tuesday, May 8 to honor
Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) High School and its boys basketball team for winning a state championship and earning a high national ranking.
Having upended Wellington 71-60 in the
FHSAA Class 9A state championship contest, the 30-4 Pioneers claimed Oak Ridge's first boys state basketball championship, earned the No. 33 ranking in
MaxPreps' National Rankings and played their way into the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Writers' Poll at No. 13!
Photo By Precision Sports Entertainment
MaxPreps and the Florida Army National Guard joined forces in celebrating Pioneer basketball at a pep rally in Oak Ridge's gymnasium. Following an activity in which Sergeant First Class Reginald Wilson of the Florida Army National Guard interacted with the Oak Ridge student body, MaxPreps representative Ray Dungee kicked off the celebration by recapping Oak Ridge's marvelous basketball season. After telling the rowdy Pioneer crowd that Oak Ridge was one of 10 basketball programs nationally to receive a visit from the Tour of Champions, Dungee turned the program over to SFC Wilson, who informed the crowd that he was an alumnus of Oak Ridge High School and that he was proud to be honoring the Pioneers as part of the TOC.
SFC Wilson then spoke of teamwork and the pursuit of excellence, shared character traits of a state championship basketball team and the Army National Guard. The students were completely captivated as SFC Wilson presented the "Minuteman" trophy to head coach Steve Reece. The trophy, officially named the Army National Guard national ranking trophy, stands for the attributes of the Minutemen; readiness, commitment to cause, dedication and teamwork.
For Reece, being honored nationally and receiving the Army National Guard national ranking trophy is the perfect ending to a perfect season. Reece thanked MaxPreps and the Florida Army National Guard for recognizing his young men on the national stage. Congratulations Oak Ridge boys basketball team on your state championship, becoming the best team in Florida and for your national ranking. Click
here to view the Oak Ridge TOC photo gallery and for more information about the Basketball TOC, please visit the
MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.
Photo By Precision Sports Entertainment
