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The Ellender girls’ basketball team won the Class 4A State Championship this season.
And they’re likely to be even better in 2017-18 — as scary as that may be for the rest of the teams in Louisiana.
More than a week removed from the team’s championship victory, the Lady Patriots are back at work already – the early stages of an offseason that coach Kenneth Dixon said will be crucial to the team’s future.
Yes, the Lady Patriots were dominant last season — a local wrecking ball that dominanted opponents with pressure defense and tremendous depth.
But the team returns tons of key talent, as well, which has many around the state thinking that next year’s group may the best the school has had a long, long time.
Lady Patriots coach Kenneth Dixon doesn’t necessarily disagree. He just wants his team to put in the work to earn it, first.
“These kids like to put in the time,” Dixon said at the Top 28 after his team won the championship. “The least I could do it meet them in the middle and coach them to the best of their strengths and push them to be as good as they can be. We make some mistakes. We have some younger kids. But we learn from those mistakes, and I think that’s a good thing about these kids. They are willing to learn.”
The Lady Patriots have an unbelievable amount of talent coming back next year.
Ellender lost seniors Nikkia Johnson and Vashawn McKinley after their title win, but those players accounted for less than 25 percent of the Lady Patriots scoring last season.
With the departures, the Lady Patriots will return the rest of their core in the next season – players like Terris McKay, Morghan Frierson, Oreion James and Trastasia Hester.
Dixon said having those players back will allow Ellender to play the style that they are accustomed to.
The coach said the young players have something he’s not often seen – a love for playing defense.
That passion is why the team took the next step this past season after several-consecutive early-round losses in the Class 4A State Playoffs.
“A lot of times, kids don’t want to really focus on that side as much as they do on the other things on the court,” Dixon said. “Sometimes, they see that as a place to rest or relax or to not have as much energy. But these kids really accept that, and it’s a big part of our game.”
“We love to play defense,” James said. “That sets the tone for us and gets everyone going and in the groove and comfortable. We know that when we’re not making shots or we’re not playing as good as we think that we can, we can always turn back to our defense and know that good things will happen through that.”
So, now, the focus is on defending the championship.
Dixon said the Lady Patriots will schedule a tough non-district schedule again in 2017-18 — something the team did to perfection last season.
With that schedule, Ellender knows it may take some lumps early in the season, but when it’s time to play late in the year, they’ll be ready — again.
PATRIOTS SEND OFF
SENIORS; RETURN
STANDOUTS
If the ball would have bounced differently a couple times, the Ellender boys’ basketball team would have also won the Class 4A State Championship – a back and forth game that was one of the best contests in the state for the past basketball season.
But it wasn’t meant to be, and the Patriots won the runner-up trophy instead of Class 4A’s biggest prize.
But like the Lady Patriots, the Ellender boys expect that they’ll be back in the spotlight again in 2017-18.
Ellender loses several key seniors, including Washington State University football commitment Davontavean Martin. But the Patriots also return a talented core, which features guard Marquie Mosley, post Kobe Hartman and several others who played big-time minutes for the Patriots in the past season.
Coach Cornell Scott said at the Top 28 that the Patriots’ senior group will be hard to replace, but then quickly added the Patriots’ winning ways ought not to be in jeopardy.
“The group that’s leaving our program is special to us,” Scott said. “Those kids set a standard and did a lot of great things for our team. We think that the group coming in has a chance to be just as good. They have to put in the work and make everything happen – just like the last group did. We think they can.”
Mosley is one of the best players in the area.
A slashing guard, the soon-to-be Patriots senior made several clutch shots throughout the season for Ellender.
In the Class 4A State Semifinals against Westgate, Mosley struggled and didn’t get his first points until the second half.
But in the final, he was clutch, sinking countless key shots, which allowed the Patriots a shot to win at the end.
Scott said Mosley is a special player.
The guard said his mantra is simple: just keep shooting — no matter what.
“I can’t let my confidence get shaken,” Mosely said after the semifinal win. “Just have to keep attacking.”
So that’s what the Patriots will do after the tough loss – keep attacking.
Scott said the players were distraught after the loss, but the team quickly recovered and got back in good spirits.
“We expect to be back in the Top 28,” Scott said. “We want to get here again – soon.” •
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