Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
3 players, 2 coaches collect top state honors
Lake Worth Christian’s Schenk, Cypress Bay’s Jones and AHD’s Codio recognized via awards
Three local girls basketball players and two coaches were named Florida Dairy Farmers Player of the Year or Coach of the Year in their respective classes on Friday.
Cypress Bay’s Sophia Jones was named Class 7A Player of the Year, American Heritage-Delray’s Jordana Codio was named Class 4A Player of the Year and Lake Worth Christian’s Jillian Schenk was named Class 2A Player of the Year.
Also, Blanche Ely’s J.R. McNabb was named Class 6A Coach of the Year and American Heritage’s Greg Farias was named Class 5A Coach of the Year.
Jones had a dominant season for the Lightning, averaging 25.3 points per game.
The senior guard is signed to play at
San Jose State. Jones was a second-team All-County selection as a junior.
Codio followed up a breakout freshman season with a stellar sophomore year, averaging 22.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.3 steals and two assists per game. The Stallions’ forward is committed to Wisconsin.
Codio was a first-team All-County pick as a freshman and a Fab Five selection
before her sophomore year.
Schenk, a senior forward, finished her final high school season with 24.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.5 steals per game.
She was a first-team All-County pick last year.
McNabb, in his first year as Blanche Ely’s head coach, led the Tigers to their first state title since 1992. Ely finished the season 28-6.
Farias led American Heritage to a 25-4 record and the Patriots’ third straight state championship. Farias is 116-29 in five years at Heritage.
By earning player and coach of the year honors, Jones, Codio and Schenk are automatically nominated for Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Basketball award, while McNabb and Farias are up for the top overall Coach of the Year award. The winners will be announced on March 27.
Additionally, Blanche Ely’s Ja’Leah Williams was third in the voting in Class 6A, Taliyah Wyche was second in Class 5A and Trinity Christian’s Mel Garbarsky was third in Class 2A.