Another honor for CTK's Charles

BY ZACHARY BRAZILLER

Thursday, July 20, 2006 3:13 PM EDT

Capping a year for the ages, Christ the King's Tina Charles was named the Gatorade High School Female Player of the Year in Los Angeles last week at a luncheon emceed by ESPN's Stuart Scott and attended by former Gatorade award winners Matt Leinart of the Arizona Cardinals and Alonzo Mourning of the Miami Heat.

As part of the recognition, Charles got to walk the ESPY red carpet and was featured as a special guest during The ESPY Awards Show, televised nationally by ESPN last Sunday night, July 16th.

“It was fun,” said Charles, who also met Dwayne Wade, Janet Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Lance Armstrong. “I had a really good time. It was a great experience.”

The 6-foot-5 University of Connecticut-bound Charles led perennial powerhouse Christ the King to its second straight undefeated season, New York State Federation Class AA championship and No. 1 national ranking by USA Today. Charles led Christ the King to victories over five nationally ranked teams this season, including two wins over intra-city rival Murry Bergtraum. Charles, a Jamaica native, averaged 26.5 points, 14.8 rebounds and 5.2 blocked shots per game in leading the Royals to a 30-0 record during the 2005-06 season.

Charles swept all the player-of-the-year awards, taking home awards from Gatorade, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, USA Today, and PARADE Magazine. She was also a McDonald's All-American, 2006 Miss Basketball New York State, and had an 82-2 record as a varsity player.

“I don't ever recall anybody taking all the awards the way Tina has,” Christ the King Coach Bob Mackey said of the player he called “a coaches dream” after she led the Royals to their second consecutive undefeated season and top ranking.

“I'm not surprised,” she said, “because all my hard work and dedication paid off.”