WADSWORTH — The season ended more than a week ago, but the honors keep coming for the Wadsworth girls basketball team.
The Division I state champion Grizzlies (28-1) were informed Tuesday they have been selected as one of 10 nationwide honorees for the MaxPreps Girls Basketball Tour of Champions, presented by the Army National Guard.
Andrew Booth
Wadsworth will be presented a National Guard National Ranking Trophy at a yet-to-be-scheduled pep rally in April or May.
“This is a fantastic honor for a group of girls who represent the same ideals as the National Guard: teamwork, hard work, loyalty and respect,” Grizzlies coach Andrew Booth said.
Wadsworth is ranked 20th nationally in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Writers’ Poll and 14th in the USA Today Super 25.
The Grizzlies cracked the MaxPreps version after upsetting then-No. 24 Mason in the state championship game and debuted at No. 20 in the USA Today rankings after beating Toledo Whitmer for the Norwalk Regional crown.
The national exposure is not unprecedented for Wadsworth, as the 1997 state championship team finished No. 5 in the USA Today poll.
The Grizzlies were fourth to begin the next season but finished unranked after losing in the state semis to No. 10 Pickerington, which also defeated Wadsworth in the 1999 state semis en route to the USA Today poll title.