Windermere Prep had spent much of the year atop the Orlando Sentinel’s Super 16 and among the best teams both in Class 3A and throughout the Orlando area.
Yet they still had not reached the top of the mountain. Not until Thursday when the Lakers defeated Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy 62-58 for the Class 3A State Championship on Thursday.
Heralded junior David Nickelberry scored 15 points along with fellow junior Xion Golding. Senior Parker Davis scored a team-high 21 points including a few key 3-pointers in a tightly contested fourth quarter.
The game was played close throughout with neither team going ahead or behind by more than six points.
With the score tied at 50 in the fourth quarter, Windermere Prep began to pull away with some timely stops. The newcomers and third-ranked team in the state held on with some important stops over the second-ranked team in the state for the mild upset victory.
“It was nerve-wracking the whole time, but I knew we couldn’t let it get away,” Windermere Prep senior guard Parker Davis told Bill Kemp of the Lakeland Ledger. “We just managed to keep the game close the whole way and we just put them away at the end.”
This is a big step forward for Windermere Prep as the Lakers should be considered among the favorites to win the state title again with some talented players returning.
State championship games continue at Lakeland throughout the day Friday and Saturday.
