WINTER HAVEN – For winning a third straight state championship and reaching the national tournament, it was the cherry on top for the Winter Haven girls basketball team, literally, along with sprinkles, brownies and whipped cream.
Lake Howard Heights, an assisted living home in Winter Haven, held an ice cream social Wednesday with an ice cream bar, brownies and lemonade to honor the Lady Blue Devils. Winter Haven defeated Davie Nova in the Class 8A title game March 3 for a third consecutive state crown and fifth overall, 56-45.
“Winter Haven doesn’t do enough for these kids, so I wanted to,” said Don Gnage, 92, a resident who organized the ice cream social. “That’s a great honor — three straight years. They need to be recognized.”
Gnage has lived at the facility for seven years and in Florida for 42. He said he’s tried his best over the years to bring different events and speakers to the facility, which has a capacity for 130 people in assisted and independent living.
“The girls were very excited,” Winter Haven Athletic Director Randy Pritchard said. “They’re ecstatic. I called Mr. Gnage back and I told him we would be here.”
With the title game victory earlier this month, the girls basketball team became the first program in school history to win three straight state titles, Pritchard said. They’re also the first girls basketball program from what is deemed the Bay Area to do so and the only girls basketball program in Polk County with a state title to its name.
“The support we get means a lot knowing the impact we have on the entire city with gestures like this,” said Diamond Battles, a senior guard bound for UCF. “As a senior, we know how hard we’ve all worked the last three years.”
For the Winter Haven seniors, their high school careers aren’t over just yet. They learned Tuesday that they’ll take part in the GEICO High School Basketball Nationals in New York. The Blue Devils were among four out of more than 20,000 girls basketball programs nationally chosen to make the trip.
“It wasn’t just state, but nationals was one of our goals,” said Tyia Singleton, a senior forward committed to Rutgers. “We’ve made history three times in the last year. It was just a blessing for (Lake Howard Heights) to do this for us just out of the kindness of their hearts.”
Unlike Battles and Singleton who have been a part of three state championship teams, Aliyah Woodside, a junior guard, just spent her first year with the program after coming from Gwinnett County in Georgia. Woodside said the team’s pace and work ethic were different than her school’s in Georgia, but she was happy to be headed to New York and appreciated the gesture from the assisted living facility.
“I’m looking forward to the competition,” she said. “People do a lot to support us. The little stuff like this really makes a difference.”
Mike Ferguson can be reached at Mike.Ferguson@theledger.com or 863-401-6981. Follow Mike on Twitter@ MikeWFerguson.