Hitting the heights
Lake Highland wins FHSAA state title, earns GEICO Nationals invitation
LAKELAND — Lake Highland Prep girls basketball coach Al Honor carried a secret into Saturday afternoon’s state championship game at the RP Funding Center.
It was not until after the Highlanders (19-0) extended their win streak to 35 and claimed a second consecutive FHSAA title that Honor informed players of an official invitation to the prestigious GEICO Nationals tournament in April.
“It was tough to hold that one,” Honor said. “Once we actually won the game and they came in the huddle I told them, ‘You got your invite to GEICO to compete against the best,’ and we’re ready for it. I know we are.”
The invitation was contingent upon LHP finishing its schedule unbeaten, which was hardly an issue Saturday. The Highlanders were relentless during a lopsided 84-30 rout of Fort Pierce Lincoln Park (20-2) in the Class 4A final.
LHP previously won back-toback state titles under Honor’s direction in 2014 and 2015.
GIECO Nationals, which normally takes place in New York, is scheduled to be held April 1-3 in Fort Myers. Lake Highland earned an invite to the tournament last year but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That was our goal this year, to get back here and win this again and get invited to compete against some of the best in the nation,” LHP junior Stefanie Ingram said.
Ingram scored on a layup off the opening tip in the state final to jump-start a dominant 19-0 run.
LHP scored 15 points off 10 Lincoln Park turnovers in the first quarter while building a convincing 31-7 advantage after
eight minutes of play. Ayala Lizbeth ended the Greyhounds’ scoring drought by banking home a shot from the top of the key at the 2:59 mark.
Lake Highland junior Nyla Harris led all players with 21 points and added six assists while Ingram tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the win. Eleecia Carter, who drained four 3-pointers, also finished with 14 points as senior Kayla Blackshear (eight rebounds), Lexi Blue (four assists) and Bri Rivera (three 3-pointers) each added nine points.
Lake Highland, ranked No. 1 nationally by MaxPreps voters but No. 2 in the state by MaxPreps computers, played in the state final for the fourth consecutive year. The Highlanders have won 48 of 50 games since losing in the 2019 state championship game. LHP also finished state runner-up in 2018.
Blackshear was a freshman and both Carter and injured junior Sierra Godbolt were middle-schoolers when the first of four championship appearances commenced.
“I always remember that feeling we had every time that we lost. It was really upsetting,” said Carter, a sophomore. “When the new girls came in, we always had that bond, so we just built on it from there and knew we weren’t going to have that same feeling again.”
Only two seniors graduated from last year’s group that finished 29-2. Everyone else returned to a team that avenged a 56-55 loss versus Montverde Academy by winning 65-51 just 11 days later that season. The other loss came by a 46-43 score against St. Frances Academy out of Baltimore.
The Highlanders ended their 2020-21 FHSAA campaign by tallying more than 50 points in a game 17 times and holding opposing teams to less than 40 points in 13 separate outings.
“This is as good as it gets from the high school level,” Honor said. “We have kids that have sacrificed certain things, like all the big accolades and postseason awards and high-scoring games, to be here and get it done as a group and build something special.”
Honor said the team will take the week off before getting back to practices and workouts in preparation for defending its position as one of the top teams in the country.
“Before I came here, I’d never been a part of anything like this,” said Harris, who has been a vital piece to the program since moving in two years ago. “The fact that we can go on with this and show the whole world that we really are No. 1 in the country without anyone trying to knock us down [in rankings] is crazy.”