Champion Christian women set to defend national title
Champion Christian’s women’s basketball team is set to return to the court for a new season as the Lady Tigers look to defend their NCCAA Division II National Championship title.
Champion ended last season with an 18-4 overall record and beat Arlington Baptist 87-81 in the National Championship game to end the year.
Champion head coach DeAnthony Ellison said since his team is the defending National Champion, there will be a target on the Tigers’ back. However, he added that being the defending champs will not change how his team prepares for this season.
“I think our goal is obviously to get back to the national tournament,” he said. “But before that, we’ve got to piece everything together. We have some new players coming in, so getting them to gel in and buying into what we do and obviously our returners buying into how our newcomers play. Once we’re able to juggle everything together, I think our ultimate goal is to get back to the national tournament in Joplin.”
One new player Champion added to its roster this season is senior Aaliyiah Clark. Clark actually transferred to Champion from Arlington Baptist, and Clark boasts two national player of the year titles.
Clark said the home environment and how hard the team works were two of the reasons she made the switch to Champion.
“You could tell that no matter what, they all had each other’s back,” she said. “I mean it just shows the work. It’s only a three-year program, and they came out and won. Just they’re all together as a family. I definitely see why they’re so tough. Some of the conditioning is different, and I can just see different defenses and offenses. Coach Dee is a very smart coach.”
Clark scored 448 points last season and averaged 17.23 points per game.
“Aaliyiah is obviously two-time national player of the year, so that speaks for itself,” Ellison said.
The Tigers return many key pieces from their national championship winning team, including top scorer Destiny Gonzalez. The senior from Las Vegas scored 269 points last season and was followed closely by another important returner, Sckiya Banister, who registered 268 points last year.
Gonzalez said she plans to add more rebounds to the stat sheet this season.
“I think the offense this year compared to last year is going to be a lot different,” Gonzalez said. “Obviously we have new players, so I think that’s going to be to our benefit and our defense as well.”
Gonzalez, Banister and the rest of the offense work together to spread the points around.
“I’m pretty aggressive on and off the ball,” Banister said. “We communicate a lot. Since we’re higher IQ players, we know what each other is going to do before we even do it. So it’s more like we’re just here mentally.”
If adding one of the best players in the nation and returning the team’s two top scorers wasn’t enough, the Tigers are also bringing back their assist leader. Tamaria Manning accounted for 138 assists last season and also contributed 232 points.
“We’re not a selfish team at all,” she said. “We don’t mind making the extra pass for somebody else. Like I’ve always told the team, ‘Don’t worry about yourself, think about somebody else.’ We all get the same amount of points because we all pass it to each other. There’s not one person that scores on our team. I love to pass the ball because I’d rather me pass it to somebody else and let them get a shot rather than me shoot.”
Champion fielded one of the most potent offenses in the country last year as the Tigers averaged a NCCAA Division II second-best 81 points per game last season. Only Arlington Baptist scored more per game at a 91.5 tally.
The Tigers also added even more weapons with Alyisa Pickett, Elisa Gonzalez, Jaylen Edmonson and another Arlington Baptist player in Rebecca Farmer.
“I think the offensive ability, with the weapons I just named and what we have, I think the offense is going to come,” Ellison said. “Me and my assistant coach are really harping on defense this year. We’re going to press 94 feet, make or miss. Going to do a little 2-2-1 press. Then we’re going to fall back and still have a little intensity but play a little pack line. Like I said earlier, the offense will come; we’re just harping more on defense right now.”
The team really focused on conditioning the first few days of practice, and Ellison said the biggest challenges for his team this season are players buying in and changing their roles.
“When you bring a lot of pieces in that were the main piece of the puzzle at their old school and everybody comes here, you’ve got to kind of find your role some and find where you fit in,” he said. “Because it’s not always you’ve got to make the big shot, you’ve got to do this and do that. If you can buy in defensively, you can get loose balls and play as a team. That’s probably the big hurdle we’re going to have early on.”
Champion opens its season at home when the Tigers host Bacone College Oct. 29 at 5 p.m.