Blackman High celebrated a TOC honor.
Photo by Army National Guard
The eighth-annual MaxPreps Basketball Tour of Champions presented by the National Guard visited Murfreesboro, Tenn., on April 15 to recognize the state championship
Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) girls basketball team.
The Blaze sizzled to a 34-1 record, winning the first state championship in the 15-year history of the school. They had an average margin of victory this year of over 47 points per game and finished 2014 as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation out of more than 20,000 high school varsity girls basketball teams in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Poll.
The award presentation took place during a pep rally in the gymnasium for the entire student body. Staff Sergeant Tony Dooley of the Tennessee Army National Guard set up a table in the gymnasium with the Minuteman Trophy displayed in front of the Tour of Champions banner, and visited with coaches and students prior to the presentation.
All of the students and faculty filed into the auditorium, while SSG Dooley gave the members of the girls basketball team their Tour of Champions T-shirts to wear during the presentation. School Principal Gail Vick welcomed the students and shared her excitement about this special recognition and introduced MaxPreps representative Dean Craig. Craig shared the accomplishments of the team, the system MaxPreps uses to determine the team rank and the tremendous honor for Blackman to be recognized as the No. 1 team in the nation as part of MaxPreps' Xcellent 25 Rankings.
SSG Dooley then congratulated the team and reminded the audience of the team's values and how they attributed to their success and matched the values of the Army National Guard. SSG Dooley then presented the Army National Guard national ranking trophy to coach Chad Hibdon as the audience cheered with excitement. Coach Hibdon shared his appreciation for the students and faculty for their tremendous support this season and to MaxPreps and the Army National Guard for recognizing the Blaze in this wonderful way. As the crowd cheered for its team, the players and coaches posed for pictures, and the coach and players stayed afterward in the auditorium for photographs and interviews.
The Blaze were thrilled to be recognized as the No. 1 team in the nation by MaxPreps and the Army National Guard, and were grateful to be included in the Tour of Champions for their great season. It was a wonderful day for coach Hibdon and the entire Blackman community!
Congratulations Blackman girls basketball! Hope to see you next year on the Tour of Champions!
