On the 1st stop during the 5th Annual MaxPreps Girls' Basketball Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard we landed in sunny Orlando, FL to honor Dr. Phillips High School and their Lady Panthers. The Lady Panthers finish the season with an outstanding record of 29-3, a Florida Class 8A State Championship and finished ranked No. 23 nationally according to the MaxPreps Freeman ranking poll. On Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 the Lady Panthers were recognized with the prestigious "Minuteman" trophy representing their hard work, dedication n capturing their state championship and success of being one of the top ranked girl's basketball teams in the country from over 20,000 teams nationwide.
At around 10:15am the bell rang and the students started pouring out of class and into the Commons area where the trophy celebration would take place. Athletic director Russell Wambles kicked off the presentation by addressing the student body and introducing MaxPreps representative, Brian Kane. Brian spoke about the girl's amazing accomplishments on the court, how they are 1 out of only 10 schools being honored and ranked No. 23 nationally out of a pool of 20,000 girls' basketball teams. Brian then handed the microphone over to Staff Sergeant John Wilkes of the Florida Army National Guard. SSG Wilkes spoke about all the hard work and team dedication that was put in by the athletes and coaching staff to make this season such a success. SSG Wilkes then presented Coach Anthony Jones and the Lady Panthers with the coveted Army National Guard national ranking trophy and nationally ranked rafter banner. Coach Jones then took the microphone and spoke about how much this award meant not only to his team, but to the whole community. Coach Jones made it clear to his girls that he was proud of the effort put forward to make this season such a special one.
What a great celebration and honor that was well received by this team, school and community!
