South Plains Women

(Continued from page 99) at the free throw line. He snared 4.4 rebounds per game and led the team in steals at 1.2 per game.

He was a second-team junior college all-American, the WJCAC newcomer of the year and a first-team all-conference selection.

Turner is one of five of last year’s Texans who have transferred to play at Division I schools. Turner has moved to the University of San Diego.

Malik Zachery (7.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg and the team leader in assists at 5.2 per game) was an all-conference honorable mention. He’s at UTEP.

Savion Gallion (9.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg) transferred to LouisianaMonroe. Eric Coleman (6 ppg, 2.9 rpg), no relation to this year’s Christian Coleman, moved to Alabama State. Ben Bayela is at East Carolina.

Two other Texans took different routes. D.J. Avery (9.8 ppg, 6 rpg) is at Eastern Mississippi Junior College. Zion Richardson, who appeared in only one SPC game, moved to Division II Quincy University in Illinois.

Green called “greatest JC coach in history”

Green, of course, was the major departure from South Plains.

In his 22 years as the Texans’ coach, his teams reached the NJCAA national tournament 12 times and won three championships. He guided South Plains teams to 552 wins and 152 losses, a .786 winning percentage.

Green is a three-time NJCAA men’s basketball coach of the year and was inducted into the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

He coached at WJCAC schools Howard and Midland before moving to South Plains in 2000.

He posted his 700th career college coaching victory Feb. 14 when SPC whipped Clarendon 90-71 in Levelland. His 28-year career coaching mark is 706-192, a .786 winning percentage.

Sowers spent only one year on Green’s staff but says he learned a lot.

“I learned how hard it is to win and everything about running a program,” Sowers said. “He was the greatest JC coach in history. He did the job, adjusting with the team last year. He did whatever he had to do to win. Overall, what it takes to be a successful college coach.”

Now it’s Sowers’ turn.

The Texans open their season Nov. 1 at home against Victoria College. They’ll have a series of early season games in Oklahoma City and Plano. They’ll play in the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout in Mesa, Arizona, in late December. Conference play begins Jan. 9.

“We’re ready to go,” Sowers said. “Chomping at the bit.”

South Plains Women Lady Texans have staying power

By DAVE WOHLFARTH

Lady Texans Coach Ara Baten must have the magic touch. Not only has he guided his team to 20-win seasons in his first two years, he has persuaded players to stick around at South Plains College.

Players have only two years of eligibility at a junior college, and many of them play one JC year, then vault to a bigger college.

After his first year at South Plains, Baten had five players return for their sophomore seasons. After his second year at South Plains, Baten had five players return for their sophomore seasons.

“That’s not bad,” Baten said in an understatement.

“It really helps with the transition with new players,” he said. “It’s been a lot smoother.”

Baten doesn’t really take credit for all the returnees. Rather, it’s a sign of the times.

“COVID definitely impacted the returning numbers,” Baten said.

The pandemic-caused regulations enabled players to get an extra year of eligibility. Some opted to stay at the place they were.

For example, Martyna Czescik is preparing to play her third year at South Plains. And Jordan Brown, who was injured last year, had been set to play her third season at SPC after playing a couple of years at Grayson Junior College.

Czescik, a 5-11 sophomore forward from Warsaw, Poland, was a part-time starter last year. She started eight games and averaged 5 points and 4.7 rebounds in 28 game appearances.

Celia Sumbane, the Lady Texans’ top scorer at 12 ppg and

Davielis Sosa is a South Plains College 5-10 freshman forward from the Dominican Republic. (SPC Sports Information photo)

rebounder at 6.3 rpg last season, also returns. The 6-1 sophomore forward from Maputo, Mozambique, was a full-time starter last year.

Vitoria Carvalho, a 6-3 sophomore post from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, started seven games and contributed 4.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg.

Matilda Soderlund, a 5-6 sophomore guard from Stockholm, Sweden, saw considerable playing time as the first Lady Texan off the bench and finished with 4.8 ppg.

“All four of those players played a lot last year,” Baten said.

The fifth returnee — Zuzanna Pacak, a 5-9 sophomore guard

from Zgorzelec, Poland — didn’t play a lot. She saw action in only 11 games and has been slowed by a foot fracture.

Baten designated Czescik, Sumbane, Carvalho and Soderlund as probable starters this season.

The fifth spot likely will go to Daiysha Brown, a 5-9 sophomore guard from Madison, Wisconsin. Brown, no relation to Jordan Brown on last year’s roster, also transferred from Grayson College. Daiysha Brown scored 20 points in Grayson’s 78-71 loss to South Plains early last season. Jeniffer Silva, a 6-4 freshman post from Camaragibe, Brazil, figures to play a lot. So will Isabella Jaramillo, a 5-5 freshman guard from Las Coach Ara Baten Vegas, Nevada. “Three or four others are competing for time,” Baten said. “We’ll just have to wait and see. We usually play nine or 10 players.”

One of the freshman candidates is 5-6 guard Dabria Blackwell, who played on Brownfield’s 2021 Class 3A state championship team.

“She looks good,” Baten said. “She’s in competition for being in the rotation.”

Another area product, 5-11 sophomore post McKenzie Lee from Sundown, is on the roster. Lee attended South Plains last year but didn’t play. She tried out for, and made, the team last spring.

Eight freshmen are on the Lady Texans’ roster. Nine of the 15 players are from foreign countries. Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Poland have two representatives apiece.

“That’s been the direction of junior colleges these days,” Baten said. “When COVID hit, the NCAA changed some of its requirements. That created more opportunities for American players to play in those (NCAA) colleges. A lot of junior colleges began recruiting foreign players.”

Baten enjoys what those players bring to the team.

“It’s a blessing,” he said. “I like the culture they bring to the program.”

Nov. 3 Coastal Bend College Nov. 4 Connors State College Nov. 5 Dodge City Community College Nov. 7 Blinn College

6 p.m. 6 p.m. 2 p.m. 5 p.m. Nov. 11 @ Grayson College 3 p.m. Nov. 12 Trinity Valley Community College @ Denison 3 p.m. Nov. 18 Collin County Community College @ Midland 5 p.m. Nov. 19 Trinity Valley Community College @ Midland 2 p.m. Nov. 21 University of the Southwest JV @ New Mexico TBA Junior College, Hobbs, New Mexico Nov. 25 Paris Junior College @ Trinity Valley Community 12 p.m. College @ Athens Nov. 26 Panola College @ Trinity Community College @ 12 p.m. Athens Dec. 1 Lamar Community College TBA Dec. 16 Ranger College @ New Mexico Junior College, 5 p.m. Hobbs, New Mexico Dec. 17 Yavapai College @ New Mexico Junior College, 1 p.m. Hobbs, New Mexico Jan. 7 Blinn College @ Brenham 2 p.m. Jan. 12 Howard College @ Big Spring 5:45 p.m. Jan. 16 Frank Phillips College 5:45 p.m. Jan. 19 New Mexico Junior College @ Hobbs, N.M. 6:45 p.m. Jan. 23 Clarendon College 5:45 p.m. Jan. 26 Western Texas College @ Snyder 5:45 p.m. Jan. 28 Odessa College 2 p.m. Jan. 30 Midland College 5:45 p.m. Feb. 9 Howard College 5:45 p.m. Feb. 13 Frank Phillips College @ Borger 5:45 p.m. Feb. 16 New Mexico Junior College 5:45 p.m. Feb. 20 @ Clarendon College 5:45 p.m. Feb. 23 Western Texas College 5:45 p.m. Feb. 27 @ Odessa College 5:45 p.m. Mar. 2 @ Midland College 5:45 p.m.

He also pointed out that his assistant coach, Denise Rosario, is from Brazil. She helps with language problems.

“She’s amazing with recruiting,” Baten said.

Two Brazilians — the 6-4 Silva and 6-3 Carvalho — are the tallest Lady Texans. Add the 6-1 Sumbane to the front-wall mix.

“Those three kids will play a lot,” Baten said. “We’ve got some size in key positions.”

Along with having some experienced players back, Baten listed four other items as his team’s strengths — playing well defensively, taking care of the ball, rebounding and executing offensively.

The concerns are if “any of those four things won’t be what we hope them to be,” he said. “The formula is always the same. If you can do fundamentals right, you’ll have the opportunity to win a lot of games.”

He sees continued growth as a key to success.

“We’ve got to continue to grow. We have to continue to work at practice. We need to get better today and then get better tomorrow,” Baten said.

“We have a talented bunch of kids. We’ll be fine.”

The Lady Texans were fine last season, going 22-9 overall and 11-3 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.

After two losses in a row in early February, South Plains got hot. The Lady Texans won their last three conference games, then took the Region V title, beating Clarendon 64-54 in the finals.

That qualified the Lady Texans for the NJCAA national tournament, played in nearby Lubbock last spring.

“We got better as the season went along,” Baten said. “We played well in the postseason. Winning the regional, that was big, to give us the opportunity to play for the national championship.”

(Continued from previous page)

Seeded 13th, the Lady Texans whipped No. 20 North Dakota State College 65-42 in the nationals’ first round. Sumbane scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.

Next was a Sweet 16 matchup with No. 4 seeded Northwest Florida State. NWFS had eliminated the Lady Texans the previous year enroute to winning the national championship.

South Plains nipped Northwest Florida State 54-50 as Ashala Moseberry made two crucial free throws to ice the win.

At that point, the Lady Texans had won eight straight games. But they were stopped in the Elite Eight game as No. 13 Western Nebraska Community College prevailed 63-51. South Plains led most of the game before WNCC used a late 10-0 spurt to put the game away.

Last year’s South Plains team showed balanced scoring among the five starters. They were Sumbane, 12,9 ppg; Moseberry 11.1 ppg; Raija Todd, 10.6 ppg; Viktoria Ivanova, 10.2 ppg; and Czescik, 5.1 ppg.

Sumbane, Moseberry and Ivanova all were WJCAC allconference selections.

Five Lady Texans from last year’s team did move on to play for Division I teams this season: • Moseberry: University of North Carolina-Charlotte; • Ivanova: Tarleton State University; • Todd: Virginia State University; • Ewa Kieler (3.7 ppg): Western Carolina University • Jordan Brown (injured, did not play last year): Tarleton State.

Baten has posted a 42-13 overall record (.764 winning percentage) and 24-5 (.828) conference mark in his two years at South Plains.

A native of Andrews, Baten played collegiately on a junior college team, New Mexico JC, that won the 1991-92 WJCAC title. He transferred to Eastern New Mexico University, where he was a two-year starter. He played on a Greyhound squad that won the Lone Star Conference and qualified for the NCAA Division II Sweet 16.

His first coaching job was at New Mexico JC, where he mentored the Lady Thunderbirds for six years, earning WJCAC Coach of the Year honors in 2002-03.

He spent 13 seasons as the women’s coach at Odessa College and led the Lady Wranglers to 20 or more wins in 11 seasons, including four consecutive trips to the women’s national tournament.

His 2016-17 Odessa team won the WJCAC title, and he was named the conference Coach of the Year.

His overall coaching record is 423-207, a .671 winning percentage.

He has spent more than 20 years coaching WJCAC teams. So he hedged when asked what teams look tough this year.

“It’s a strong year in the league,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s a bad team in the league.”

The Lady Texans won’t begin conference play until Jan. 12. A highlight of their nonconference schedule will be home-andaway games with Blinn College of Brenham. Blinn won Region 14 last year.

South Plains Lady Texans Roster

Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown Celia Sumbane, 6-1, F, Soph., Maputo, Mozambique Dabria Blackwell, 5-6, G, Fr., Brownfield, Texas Tarellya Baber, 5-7, G, Fr., Shreveport, Louisiana Melissa Acosta, 5-8, G, Fr., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Matilda Soderlund, 5-6, G, Soph., Stockholm, Sweden Vitoria Carvalho, 6-3, P, Soph., Rio De Janerio, Brazil Martyna Czescik, 5-11, F, Soph., Warsaw, Poland Daiysha Brown, 5-9, G, Soph., Madison, Wisconsin Kimora Daly, 5-10, G, Fr., Brooklyn, New York McKenzie Lee, 5-11, P, Soph., Sundown, Texas Jeniffer Silva, 6-4, P, Fr., Camaragibe, Brazil Zuzanna Pacak, 5-9, G, Soph., Zgorzelec, Poland Isabella Jaramillo, 5-5, G, Fr., Las Vegas, Nevada Ekin Taciroglu, 5-10, F, Fr., Istanbul, Turkey Davielis Sosa, 5-10, F, Fr., Hato Mayor, Dominican Republic

Coach: Ara Baten Asst. Coaches: Kaylyn Banks, Denise Rosario 2021-2022 record: 22-9, 11-3