TYLER, Texas — TJC is no stranger to success. The junior college hoisting a resounding 66 national championships.
While we can’t begin to calculate how many nationals appearances there has been, another team is being added to the list.
Sunday, the Apache Ladies basketball team learned they had received an at large bid to compete in the program’s 15th NJCAA National Tournament.
“It's very exciting when we heard the news like, I almost threw my shoulder out of place like it was just very exciting," Tia Morgan, TJC Guard said. "And we all came back that night to the gym to work.”
Putting in the work because head coach Trenia Tillis-Hoard is no stranger to the big dance. In here 22 seasons at TJC, this is nationals trip number nine.
“We have a tough conference and our conference has prepared us for everything we could see at Nationals,” Hoard said. “It's more or less getting the players to believing in themselves again, and having confidence in themselves again, and continuing to play in spite of all the adversity we've gone through this year.”
Heading into nationals coming off of two straight losses. One being a heartbreaking one point loss to Angelina College at the Region XIV tournament.
“Well, we watched the film, and we are going in with the mindset, nothing's going to be for us, we have to be for each other,” Hoard said. “In basketball you got to be one point better than the other team. And on that night, Angelina was one point better than us.”
As the Apache ladies enter the biggest tournament of the season, they will be without a major piece to the puzzle, starting point guard Nadechka Laccen. She has to miss one more game after being ejected in their final regular season game.
“I can't have a testimony without a test,” Hoard said. “And this year has been test after test after test.”
A test the Apaches have to take as coach Hoard and Nadechka cheer the team on from the sidelines.
“They both just try to keep us mentally and physically prepared,” Morgan said. “Like she goes harder to us, like even harder in practice, just to make sure that we're ready for the competition that's to come. She's real positive about it. She keeps us going and she doesn't really try to be negative. She brings us all up.”
The team has had to deal with missing players all season long, so this is nothing new over at Wagstaff Gymnasium.
“This is playing into our regular, our norm,” Hoard said. We're consistently inconsistent. And that's just a part of March Madness. That's why it's called madness because, baby there is a lot of madness that's going to happen in March.”
The Apache ladies are looking to add some jewelry beside that one national championship from back in 2000.