East Central Community College’s Lady Warriors are hoping for another championship campaign and the Warriors are also preparing for success as the 2008-09 basketball season is underway.

The two teams earned sweeps over Delgado Community College in New Orleans and Holms Community College to start 2-0. ECCC will entertain rival East Mississippi tonight. Game times are 6 and 8 p.m. in the Brackeen-Wood Physical Education Building.

Lady Warrior head coach Bill Smith, whose 2007-08 squad captured the Region 23 title and finished 22-8, said he is looking forward to starting the season but knows repeating as champions will be a challenge.

“We will be the target of most everyone we play because we are the defending region champs,” said Smith, who begins his fourth season at the Lady Warrior helm. “But I hope we will not feel any added pressure in trying to defend the title. Our sophomores are really focused on a repeat.”

The top returnees are Rashima Jenkins and Mystee Dale, the only returning starters.

Jenkins, a 5-9 forward, averaged 16.5 points and 7.1 rebounds, and Dale, a 5-8 guard from Choctaw Central, had 14.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest.

Allison Phillips, a 5-8 forward from Leake Academy and Alisha McAfee, a 5-5 guard also saw a lot of playing time last year. Other sophomores are Katherine Taylor and Sha Coleman, a 5-6 guard from Newton County.

When asked what he liked best about his sophomores, Smith replied, “They have a (championship) ring!” He said the sophomores also understand “what it feels like to win a region title… and hopefully they can help the freshmen understand what it will take to repeat.”

Seven freshmen are on this year’s team, including guards Deshouri Spates, Yolanda Jones of Lake, Lanie Triplett (5-4) of Scott Central, Sierra Croft (5-4) of Newton County and Alisha Griffin (5-6) of Kemper County. The freshmen forwards are Danielle Cole (5-8) of Philadelphia and Hannah Lee (5-11) of Leake Academy.

“We will need the freshmen to really step up and help us this season,” Smith said. “But I know it will take a little time for them to get adjusted to the college level of competition.”

Smith said the freshmen and sophomores are playing well as a unit.

“They seem to get along well as a group and the team chemistry is very good,” Smith said. “We will need for that chemistry to continue all year for us to be successful.”

Smith said fans can expect to see “13 young ladies hustle and play hard every minute of every game” this season.

Serving her first year as Smith’s assistant is former Lady Warrior standout Kristin Chaney of Decatur. Chaney received All-American, All-Region 23, All-Region 23 Tournament, All-State and All-Star honors at East Central, where she helped lead the 2003-04 Lady Warriors to region and state titles and a second-place finish in the Consolation Bracket of the NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship in Salina, Kan.

She continued her success on the basketball court at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she also received numerous honors.

On the men’s side, third-year head coach Maurice Bowie expects his Warriors to improve on last year’s 11-13 record. He has good reason to be optimistic.

“It’s not often that you sign every kid you recruit, but we are truly fortunate to have done so this year,” said Bowie, a former ECCC basketball standout. “When I put the team together, I gave us depth at every position and with depth brings about competition, and that’s what makes you a great team – getting after one another in practice every day.”

Overall, Bowie said this year’s team “is a good group of kids to be around. They have really worked hard both on and off the court. We have challenged them this year to be take pride in everything they do, not just in basketball.”

Bowie said he is especially pleased with his guards and how much control they bring to the game in their role as “field generals.”

“I am really high on Rod Lofton (6-1 guard) of Forest. He takes it personal every time he’s on the court to guard the best offensive player on the other team,” Bowie said.

Bowie said Rico Jones, a 6-3 guard also from Forest, has been “Mr. Consistent” on and off the court and “is really going to help us down the road when we need that sophomore leadership to show up.”

Bowie also had praise for his top returning scorers from last year, Josh Luckett, a 6-5 guard/forward and Devarus “Scooter” Walker, a 6-1 guard from Newton County High School.

“Luckett led the guys in scoring with 13 points per game and made 59 percent of his shots,” Bowie said. “Walker was second in scoring with 12 points per game. He also shot 39 percent from the three-point line.”

Forwards James Starks (6-6) of Meridian, Joseph Thompson (6-7) and Jacob Jordan (6-6) complete the sophomore class and are also expected to make a difference this season.

Freshmen include guards Asmar Capers (6-3), Antonio Grace (5-9) of Newton, Andre Pitchford (6-2), Kenny Thomas (6-4), Steve Edwards (6-1) of Newton and Jacob Martin (6-5), and forward Chucky Curry (6-7) of Newton.

Bowie said his goals for the season “are to graduate my kids, develop young men into men, and win at least 90 percent of our games. We also want our guys to act like, practice like and play like champions.”

Cornelius Gilleylen is serving his first year as Bowie’s assistant. An Amory native, Gilleylen is a former assistant men’s basketball coach at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, where he had a stellar career. He twice received “Defensive Player of the Year” honors and was ranked 14th in the nation in steals in 2006-07.

He was also twice named “Defensive Player of the Year” at Itawamba Community College, where he played for former ECCC head coach Marty Cooper.