GAINESVILLE (March 19) – Senior Destanni Henderson of Fort Myers High School has been named the 2018 Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Basketball following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school coaches and media representatives.
Henderson, a 5-8 point guard who is a 2018 McDonald’s All-American and has signed with the University of South Carolina, averaged 15.2 points, 6.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game in leading Fort Myers to its third straight Class 7A state championship.
Henderson, who was earlier named the Class 7A player-of-the-year for the second straight season, dominated the voting, receiving 14 of the 20 first-place votes and 171 points to finish ahead of Class 1A POY and West Virginia signee Kari Niblack of Wildwood (105) and Class 4A POY Koi Love of Miami Country Day (96).
Class 9A POY Fujika Nimmo of Haines City finished fourth (72), with Class 8A POY Erin Turral of Lincoln (64) in fifth place. Rounding out the voting in order were Class 3A POY Tyesha Battle of Somerset Prep (52), Class 6A POY Kaliah Henderson of Robinson (41), Class 5A POY Sydney James of Ocala Trinity Catholic (38) and Class 2A POY Debra Buggs of City of Life Christian (24).
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This is the 26th year of these unique awards as we honor the state’s top athletes and coaches in all 30 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports. The program also emphasizes to young people the importance of keeping dairy products a primary part of their diet in their overall nutrition plan.
2018 FINAL VOTING RESULTS (Area players in bold)
Player Total Points 1st-place Votes
Destanni Henderson 171 14
Kari Niblack 105 3
Koi Love 96 0
Fujika Nimmo 72 1
Erin Turral 64 1
Tyesha Battle 52 1
Kaliah Henderson 41 0
Sydney James 38 0
Debra Buggs 24 0
Past Miss Basketball Winners:
1993 – Sabrina Crump, Clearwater Countryside
1994 – Tracy Reid, Miami Central
1995 – LaTonya Washington, Paxton
1996 – LaTonya Washington, Paxton
1997 – LaToya Jordan, Pompano Beach Ely
1998 – Michelle Snow, Pensacola
1999 – Shinikki Whiting, Clearwater
2000 – Binky Martello, Jay
2001 – Natasha Morehead, Panama City Bay
2002 – Dorian Williams, Jacksonville Ribault
2003 – Erlana Larkins, The Benjamin School
2004 – Erlana Larkins, The Benjamin School
2005 – LaQwesha Gamble, Winter Haven
2006 – Steffi Sorensen, St. Johns Bartram Trail
2007 – Krystal Thomas, Orlando First Academy
2008 – Tiffany Hayes, Winter Haven
2009 – Ashley Jones, Winter Park Lake Howell
2010 – Krystal Saunders, South Broward
2011 – Danielle McCray, Trinity Christian Academy
2012 – Alexis Prince, Orlando Edgewater
2013 – Jessica Thomas, Gainesville Buchholz
2014 – Vionise Pierre-Louis, Grandview Preparatory
2015 – Beatrice Mompremier, Miami Senior
2016 – Nadia Fingall, Choctawhatchee
2017—Rennia Davis, Jacksonville Ribault
