New off-season training helps Hardy, Winter Haven beat Haines City in district title
WINTER HAVEN — A four-point loss in the state championship game a year ago forced sophomore guard Serenity Hardy to tap into her training that she felt she needed to improve her overall basketball game. That improvement led the Winter Haven Blue Devils girls’ basketball team to a 24th district title thanks to a 72-50 win over Haines City Friday night at Winter Haven High School.
Hardy, The Ledger’s 2023 Girls Basketball of the Year recipient, posted 25 points, five dimes and four steals, while sophomore guard Quin Sanders registered 14 points, nine steals and three rebounds and junior guard Jaeden Williams put up 10 points, six assists and six steals.
In a microcosm that embodied how Hardy’s training helped her push through one of the more pivotal moments of the district title game, Winter Haven’s freshman center Victoria Hall took the ball out, whipped the ball to Williams before zipping the ball to Sanders, who passed the ball to Hardy, who caught the ball and knocked down a 3 near the end of the first half.
Seemed like a well-executed play. But Hardy was able to maintain her focus on that 3-pointer despite being gassed, and she attributed that to the specific type of training she did during the off-season.
“We get our conditioning in practice,” Hardy said. “We condition in practice every single day, and I feel like when it comes to my personal training, of course, my dad takes major parts in that and so has coach Johnnie. But like I said nonstop, I’ll go up and down preserving my energy, knowing how to shoot the 3 when I’m heated a little bit, knowing how to still knock it down.”
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When Winter Haven fell to Dr. Phillips in the state championship game in 2024, Hardy dedicated herself to conditioning before shooting the ball off ball screens or pulling up from 3. When she experienced tiredness, she would go right to the free throw line, which helped her practice focusing when she is gassed.
Hardy remembered her training.
Still, the district championship game comprised a very competitive game in the first half, which very much needed players having stamina. It looked as if Winter Haven would blow it open early, but Haines City’s senior Arissa Jenkins and freshman point guard Mikeyla Hill kept the game close thanks to their timely baskets. Jenkins scored 18, while Hill put up 17 in the game.
With the game at 24-19 Winter Haven in the first half, a combination of the Blue Devil’s stout full-court traps forcing turnovers and sophomore guard Zebrelle Canaday fouling out after receiving a technical foul swung the momentum in favor of Winter Haven, and the Polk County powerhouse blew the Class 7A, District 9 title game open.
“(It) was a very competitive game early. We let some calls take us out of our game, and that was the difference,” Haines City head coach Marsha Paul said.
Winter Haven head coach Johnnie Lawson conveyed a level of deference about Haines City.
“Haines City is a juggernaut team. I don’t think coach Paul gets enough credit for what he does," Lawson said. "I knew it was going to be a tough game, so it was what they did to us more so than what we did to ourselves. I thought they played a heck of a game.”
Winter Haven (20-5) and Haines City (17-6) will continue their revenge tour in the state playoffs next week.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Winter Haven's Serenity Hardy utilizes training in district title
