The Ribault Lady Trojans basketball team was victorious in the 2016 national championship, and the girls returned to Jacksonville to be greeted with open arms Saturday night.
The team dominated Riverdale (Maryland) Baptist 75-49 in the Dick's Sporting Goods high school basketball championship Saturday morning in Madison Square Garden.
"Our ladies are bringing home a national championship, making our city proud," Mayor Lenny Curry said in a tweet.
Mayor Curry also said he looks forward to welcoming, recognizing, and honoring the champs in the days ahead.
Duval Schools Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti tweeted: "Congrats Lady Trojans. You made an entire city and district proud this morning."
The team arrived at JAX late Saturday night to a crowd of supporters holding signs.
“This gives Jacksonville a look at what’s really going on the Northside and how we support our children, what our youth are doing, what our positive youth are doing because there is so much put on the negative," said Charletta Brown, a Ribault graduate. "Let’s do this, let’s push it, push it, push it, promote it because this what we are, this is what Northside is all about.”
This was the Lady Trojans' first national championship win. Riverdale was hoping to bring home its third national title with this game.
"Jean Ribault school has put Jacksonville, Florida, Duval County schools on the map," School Board member Paula Wright said. "We know our young ladies have a passion for basketball, but education is still their future. There are four members of this squad who are early college graduates. Which means when they graduate high school, they would have also graduated from FSCJ with an associates degree. We're just excited about their passion, commitment, dedication. We're just grateful."