Week 7 Rankings and Recap

<strong>1. Lake Highland Prep (10-0)</strong> LHP did not play last week, but they have a huge matchup tonight to determine who is #1 and who is #2 in the state of Florida. [player_tooltip player_id="91596" first="Sierra" last="Godbolt"] tore her ACL as one of the most impactful players on this team. That will be interesting to watch tonight as the #1 team in the country has to face the unbeaten #14 team in the country (According to MaxPreps). Get your popcorn ready! <strong>2. Montverde Academy (13-0)</strong> Montverde had two of their most impressive wins of the season in their Holiday tournament last week. They beat an AZ Compass Prep team that competes and wins a lot of games on the national level after being tied 36-36 going into the final quarter. It was a wild game that had a dominant fourth quarter by MVA to secure the win. [player_tooltip player_id="219933" first="Mjracle" last="Sheppard"] (MJ) was impressive in the win with 14 points on 5 of 6 from the field, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. They had to turn around the next day and face a tough Forest Park team from Georgia. They had to battle back late in the 4th and have a buzzer beater from [player_tooltip player_id="145093" first="Niveya" last="Henley"] to bring this game to OT. They used that momentum to own the overtime period and secure a massive W. The Eagles had three players in double digits: [player_tooltip player_id="219953" first="Fernanda" last="Ovalle"] with 18, [player_tooltip player_id="145091" first="Mariana" last="Valenzuela"] with 14, and [player_tooltip player_id="219933" first="Mjracle" last="Sheppard"] with 14 to go with her 5 boards, 4 dimes, and 2 swipes. This team is more than ready to take on Lake Highland Prep. <em>Week 7 Results: W vs. AZ Compass Prep (53-44), W vs. Forest Park GA (62-53 OT)</em> <strong>3. American Heritage (Plantation) (8-2-1)</strong> AH didn’t shy away from scheduling some big opponents this year. They got a nice win over IMG thanks to a big third quarter. They went on to lose the next day to a national powerhouse out of North Carolina. [player_tooltip player_id="91557" first="Sydney" last="Shaw"] put on a show in Atlanta for this talented squad. <em>Week 7 Results: W vs. IMG Academy (54-46), L vs. Winston-Salem Christian (58-47)</em> <strong>4. Blanche Ely (5-0-1)</strong> Blanche Ely took 3 quality wins from their area last week. The first two were never really in doubt, but they did have to overcome a 2 point deficit in the 4th quarter to beat Miami Christian by 8 points. The Tigers got out to a big 25-14 lead after the first, but they struggled in the 2nd and 3rd quarters on both ends of the floor. This still feels like the beginning of the year for them, and they are doing just about exactly what you’d expect from them. <em>Week 7 Results: W vs. Somerset Academy Silver Palms (62-39), W vs. Norland (68-44), W vs. Miami Christian (63-55)</em> <strong>5. Winter Haven (5-0)</strong> WH is not set to play until later in January with Polk County sports being shut down. 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 (12-1)</strong> PB picked up 3 big wins at the Florida Prospects Christmas Tournament last week. TC proved to be an easy one, but they were challenged in the last two. [player_tooltip player_id="91638" first="Emma" last="Risch"] hit 5 threes against Timber Creek, but had one of her worst shooting performances the next game against a scrappy Colonial team. She still contributed in other ways with 9 points (7-8 from the charity stripe), 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. The Pirates had a dramatic win against Wekiva thanks to senior [player_tooltip player_id="91490" first="Mikyla" last="Tolivert"] who put up 26 points, 7 steals, 5 assists, and 4 boards. <em>Week 7 Results: W vs. Timber Creek (68-38), W vs. Colonial (58-48), W vs. Wekiva (70-66)</em> <strong>7. Central Pointe Christian Academy (12-1)</strong> Holiday Break?! What is that? Central Pointe is fresh off of a 6 game stretch over the course of 7 days. They faced some of the best teams in the state of Florida as well as 3 out-of-state teams in Atlanta. This team is so loaded, deep, fast, strong, and has some good height. They have proved themselves on a state and national stage. <em>Week 7 Results: W vs. Fort Myers (45-38), W vs. Brooks DeBartolo (49-40), W vs. Cardinal Mooney (56-20), W vs. TPLS Christian Academy VA (52-45), L vs. AZ Compass Prep (49-41), W vs. New Horizons Prep Academy GA (81-47)</em> <strong>8. Braden River (7-2)</strong> BR is happy to have [player_tooltip player_id="91479" first="O’Mariah" last="Gordon"] back in the lineup. They’re also very happy to have a second guard that score in bunches like [player_tooltip player_id="91507" first="Cheyenne" last="Stubbs"] this season. 2 of their 3 games last week were 2 point wins against two top 10-15 teams in the state. OG averaged over 23 points a game during the Christmas tournament and CS averaged over 18 points a game for a team that has one of the best dynamic duos in the state in terms of backcourt play (again). They’re starting to hit their stride and they have some very complimentary role players to fill out their starting lineup. <em>Week 7 Results: W vs. Carrollwood Day (60-58), W vs. Westminster Academy (68-53), W vs. Plant (60-58) </em> <strong>9. Plant (13-1)</strong> The Panthers had 3 very tight games at the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational. [player_tooltip player_id="91489" first="Kendal" last="Cheesman"] didn’t shoot the ball like her usual self in games 1 and 3, but she still managed to put up some points and pull down a ton of rebounds. [player_tooltip player_id="145094" first="Nyla" last="Jean"] was her usual self by putting up double digits in all 3 games. [player_tooltip player_id="166173" first="Tanner" last="Strickland"] was a big boost in two of these games by scoring in double digits which is something she doesn’t typical need to do with the aforementioned Plant duo. They did suffer their first loss to a really good team, and these games will only make them better in the long run. <em>Week 7 Results: W vs. Gulf Coast (39-37), W vs. FSU High (55-52), L vs. Braden River (60-58)</em> <strong>10. Tampa Bay Tech (4-0)</strong> TBT remains undefeated so far this year with only 4 games played so far. Hopefully we will see them tested against some tough teams in 2021. &nbsp; <strong>Next Five:</strong> <em>DME (10-2) , Dunbar (14-0), FSU High (9-2), Westminster (11-3), Palm Beach Lakes (4-0)</em>