Week 8 Rankings and Recap

<strong>1. Lake Highland Prep (11-0)</strong> Everyone got what they wanted - a matchup between the two best teams in the state and two of the best in the entire country. LHP displayed some impressive guard play behind [player_tooltip player_id="91585" first="Stefanie" last="Ingram"], [player_tooltip player_id="91649" first="Eleecia" last="Carter"], and [player_tooltip player_id="243883" first="Bri" last="Rivera"]. The bigs ([player_tooltip player_id="91555" first="Nyla" last="Harris"] and [player_tooltip player_id="91496" first="Kayla" last="Blackshear"]) did a good job of limiting second chances for Montverde by controlling the boards. The Highlanders only have 6 players that see the floor right now, but as long as those six stay out of foul trouble, this team is going to be really hard to beat. <em>Week 8 Results: W vs. Montverde (57-47)</em> <strong>2. Montverde (13-1)</strong> MVA suffered their first loss of the year to the best team in the state and possibly the nation. They dug too deep of a hole in the first half that even after a run or two, it was just too late to make a comeback against such a quality team. <em>Week 8 Results: L vs. Lake Highland Prep (57-47)</em> <strong>3. American Heritage (11-2)</strong> A lot of Team Knight players were on the floor in their matchup against a quality Fort Myers squad on Saturday. Two nice wins this week behind a starting five that can compete with any team in the state. <em>Week 8 Results: W vs. Cardinal Newman (68-37), W @ Fort Myers (58-48)</em> <strong>4. Blanche Ely (7-1)</strong> A win over STA always feels good. Ely is starting to catch their stride and this team has potential to be even better than last year’s. <em>Week 8 Results: W @ St. Thomas Aquinas (57-46), W vs. Dillard (66-28)</em> <strong>5. Winter Haven (5-0)</strong> WH is back in action this week! They don’t look to have a tough schedule remaining other than a tournament or two. Bishop Kenny will be their toughest test other than who they are matched up against in those tournaments. <strong>6. Palm Bay (13-1)</strong> The Pirates had five players in double figures in their win over Master’s last Wednesday. [player_tooltip player_id="91490" first="Mikyla" last="Tolivert"] led the way with 22 points and 5 assists, and she didn’t miss a two-point shot (11 for 11). [player_tooltip player_id="219923" first="Kiara" last="Williams"] had 12 points/7 rebounds, Emma Rish with 10 points/7 steals/5 assists, [player_tooltip player_id="166170" first="Alonya" last="Waldon"] added 10points/4 assists, and [player_tooltip player_id="219932" first="Jazmine" last="Major"] contributed 10 points. <em>Week 8 Results: W @ Master’s Academy (77-42)</em> <strong style="font-size: 1rem;">7. Central Pointe (16-1)</strong> CPCA has been busy to end 2020 and start 2021. They had a couple easy wins this week, and beat a quality Miami team pretty handily. [player_tooltip player_id="219993" first="Silkiari" last="Vazquez"] had a big game against Miami with 16 points and 5 assists.There really isn’t one player to hone in on this team as they have seven players who average 5.8 or more points a game with none that average above 9.1. This is the most balanced team in the entire state. <em>Week 8 Results: W vs. West Oaks (72-27), W @ Miami (50-38), W @ Lourdes Academy (59-27)</em> <strong>8. Braden River (8-2)</strong> The Pirates grabbed a nice win against Cardinal Mooney behind 31 points by [player_tooltip player_id="91479" first="O’Mariah" last="Gordon"]. [player_tooltip player_id="91507" first="Cheyenne" last="Stubbs"] kicked in 16 points in the victory. They play Central Pointe tonight which should tell us a lot about both squads. Arguably one of the deepest teams against one of the most top-heavy teams with OMG and Stubbs being the two big factors. <em>Week 8 Results: W @ Cardinal Mooney (62-57)</em> <strong>9. Plant (15-1)</strong> The Panthers snagged three painless wins this week. One small blemish on their record so far this year, and they will have some tough matchups in the coming weeks. [player_tooltip player_id="91489" first="Kendal" last="Cheesman"] averaged over 16 ppg this week, and [player_tooltip player_id="145094" first="Nyla" last="Jean"] averaged over 15 ppg this week. The most consistent guard/forward combo in the state. <em>Week 8 Results: W vs. Wharton (67-21), W vs. Sickles (70-15), W @ Strawberry Crest (63-17)</em> <strong>10. Dunbar (16-0)</strong> Dunbar jumps into our top 10 rankings with an impressive unbeaten record and the highest win total in the state. They are led by four seniors: [player_tooltip player_id="91526" first="Aaliyah" last="Williams"] (13.6ppg, 6.4 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3.1 spg), [player_tooltip player_id="244185" first="Corbria" last="Crawford"] (10.1 ppg), [player_tooltip player_id="244184" first="Dasanni" last="Williamson"] (9.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg), and [player_tooltip player_id="91518" first="Luxury" last="Vance"] (9.1 ppg). This team has a ton of chemistry with a 62-6 record over the last 3 years. They’ve added Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="91648" first="Haley" last="Lang"] to the equation too. They have some strong wins this year over Barron Collier, Gulf Coast, and Fort Myers. <em>Week 8 Results: W vs. Riverdale (93-6), W @ Lehigh (73-36)</em> &nbsp; <strong>Next Five</strong>: <em>Tampa Bay Tech (4-0), FSU High (9-2), Westminster (11-3), DME (10-3), Palm Beach Lakes (6-0)</em>