Seven Florida Teams Ranked Nationally

Seven Florida Teams Ranked Nationally By Michael Wholey 12/23/20 9:00 AM EST Maxpreps is one of the countries most trusted sources of information and rankings for prep hoops. Seven of Florida’s teams are ranked nationally in the top 50. # 1 Montverde Academy (Montverde, FL) 11-0 Ranked # 23 in the pre-season polls, Montverde Academy has reeled off 11 straight victories to start the season and moved up the polls from 23rd to 15th to 12th and now sit at the top at # 1. The balanced deep has a number of offensive threats and can beat you in a number of ways. 2021 Florida State signee [player_tooltip player_id="145091" first="Mariana" last="Valenzuela"] and 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="219954" first="Fatima" last="Diakhate"] make one of the country’s top front courts while the extremely talented 2023 duo of [player_tooltip player_id="219933" first="Mjracle" last="Sheppard"] and [player_tooltip player_id="219934" first="Rusne" last="Augustinaite"] are dangerous from all spots on the court and can drop buckets in a hurry! 2021 Furman signee [player_tooltip player_id="145093" first="Niveya" last="Henley"], 2021 Maria Myklebust, and 2022 sharpshooter [player_tooltip player_id="219953" first="Fernanda" last="Ovalle"] are big, versatile players who give Head Coach Special Jennings depth and multiple scoring options. They are off till January 1 and have a big matchup against Lake Highland Prep January 6. # 4 Lake Highland Prep (Orlando, FL) 9-0 Lake Highland Prep started the season as the pre-season # 1. Since then, they have got off to a 9-0 start. With convincing wins over all of their opponents and very few games closely contested, it is a bit unclear why they have dropped from # 1 to # 4. They defeated Wekiva who is currently ranked # 35 nationally and # 6 in the state 73-55 back on November 20 giving them their lone loss of the season, then defeated six-time state champion Miami Country Day 55-33 on November 27 and followed that up defeating one of the state’s most talented rosters Palm Bay 51-37 on November 28. As with all rankings, they will sort themselves out as the season progresses. They are currently in Myrtle Beach at the United Bank Holiday Invitational and will face several top opponents, then will face Westlake (GA) with University of South Carolina signee Sania Feagin January 2, and then have big in state matchups against Montverde Academy January 6 and HB Plant January 23. The roster is loaded and headlined by Alabama signee 2021 [player_tooltip player_id="91496" first="Kayla" last="Blackshear"] and 2022 forward [player_tooltip player_id="91555" first="Nyla" last="Harris"] (who recently released her top 5 schools – North Carolina, Georgia Tech, NC State, Louisville, and Florida State) and together they make up one of the countries most talented front courts. 2022s 5’8 Guard [player_tooltip player_id="91585" first="Stefanie" last="Ingram"], 5’7 PG [player_tooltip player_id="91596" first="Sierra" last="Godbolt"], 5’9 SG Priya Gupta, 2023s 5’8 guard [player_tooltip player_id="91649" first="Eleecia" last="Carter"], 5’10 wing Pooja Gupta, and 2024s 6’0 wing Alexandra Blue and 5’7 Guard Bri Rivera make an extremely deep and versatile roster. # 7 Winter Haven (Winter Haven, FL) 5-0 The Winter Haven Lady Blue Devils stand at 5-0 and have defeated opponents by an average of 34.8 points per game. Residing in Polk County, the Lady Blue Devils will not play games between November 30 and January 8th as county rules have shut down all athletic events until 2021. The squad is deep and well balanced and are led by five Seniors who are averaging double digits. [player_tooltip player_id="145100" first="Jayla" last="Murray"], [player_tooltip player_id="91537" first="Trinity" last="Hardy"], [player_tooltip player_id="91519" first="Jasmine" last="Peaks"], [player_tooltip player_id="91533" first="Jazmine" last="Spencer"] and [player_tooltip player_id="219962" first="Shomari" last="Phillips"] are all averaging double digits accounting for 70% of their teams scoring. # 30 American Heritage (Plantation, FL) 7-1 American Heritage (Plantation) has one loss on the season at it was at the hands of # 1 Montverde Academy 59-46 on December 8. The AH squad is loaded with talent and features the 2021 6’3 Wyche twins ([player_tooltip player_id="91549" first="Taliyah" last="Wyche"] and [player_tooltip player_id="145092" first="Tatyana" last="Wyche"]) that singed with the University of Florida in the fall as well as 2021 5’8 point guard [player_tooltip player_id="146971" first="Daniella" last="Aronsky"] and a pair of transfers in the 2022 class [player_tooltip player_id="91566" first="Joey" last="Delancy"] (from Nova High School) and [player_tooltip player_id="91557" first="Sydney" last="Shaw"] (from Miami Country Day). The Patriots have won the last three State Championships in the 5A Class and are the favorites to do it again. They have solid wins over Gulf Coast out of Naples, Miami Senior HS (who was last season’s 7A State Champions) and their sister school American Heritage Delray. The inside presence of the Wyche twins combined with the perimeter threats of [player_tooltip player_id="91557" first="Sydney" last="Shaw"], [player_tooltip player_id="91566" first="Joey" last="Delancy"], and [player_tooltip player_id="146971" first="Daniella" last="Aronsky"] give the team an extremely tough starting five. The injury to 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="91565" first="Emani" last="Theodule"] hurts their depth but in high school sometimes all you need is five. They have big matchups after the new year facing Westlake and McEachern out of Georgia in the She Got Game Classic followed by big in state games against St Thomas Aquinas and Blanche Ely in mid January. # 34 HB Plant (Tampa, FL) 8-0 Plant is off to a 10-0 start and are the likely favorite to win the FHSAA 7A state championship. They have solid wins over Santa Fe Catholic, Seffner Christian, Braden River and Brooks DeBartolo but their toughest matchups will come in late January when they take on Lake Highland Prep on January 23rd at home and then go on the road to face a tough Tampa Bay Tech on January 27th. The Panthers will go as far as their Senior duo of Vanderbilt signee [player_tooltip player_id="91489" first="Kendal" last="Cheesman"] and Georgia State signee [player_tooltip player_id="145094" first="Nyla" last="Jean"] can lead them. The pair is accounting for close to 50% of the teams scoring and are both impressively shooting above 60% from the field. # 35 Wekiva (Apopka, FL) 8-1 The Wekiva Mustangs are 8-2 as 2020 comes close to an end. They have solid victories vs Lakewood, Seffner Christian, Timber Creek and Colonial by an average of 6 points, a close loss to Dr. Phillips by 3 and played Lake Highland Prep competitively losing 73-55. 2021 5’6 Guard [player_tooltip player_id="220020" first="Shadaria" last="Smith"] recently eclipsed the 1,000 mark while Freshman Phenom Jada Eads is a tough matchup for any opponent. The Mustangs are always a tough outcome playoff time and have as good of a chance as anyone to win the 6A FHSAA State Championship. January 6 and 8 matchups vs Spruce Creek and West Orange will be valid tests and then on January 14 they take on current # 1 Montverde Academy. # 39 Wildwood (Wildwood, FL) 7-0 Wildwood is the smallest school in the state’s rankings are they are in the 1A classification. 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="91645" first="Kailani" last="Lindsey"] does it all for them as she is averaging close to a double-double (12.3 PPG and 9.7 RPG). Wildwood has turned into one of the state’s most consistent teams going 155-41 since 2013-14 for a 79% winning percentage. Being a small class school, Wildwood does not have a ton of name opponents on their schedule but a December 22 matchup against defending 3A State Champions Carrollwood Day this week might be their toughest matchup of the season. The 2020-21 season is still young and there are a number of games on the schedule in the next 2-3 months that will impact these rankings but it is great to see that so many programs within Florida are considered so highly in the national rankings. You can find the full rankings by clicking the following link HERE.