Meanwhile, the TC women seek consistency after not recording more than two consecutive wins in their first 13 games this season.
For both teams, however, the games containing true importance - the ones that determine whether they reach the NJCAA Region V Tournament - begin tonight with their Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference openers against Weatherford College at Betty Jo Crumm Graber Athletic Complex.
Coach Kirby Johnson’s Leopards (15-0) battle the Coyotes (12-3) at 7:30 p.m. following the 5:30 duel between Kim Sebek’s Lady Leopards (6-7) and the Lady Coyotes (8-3). Temple’s men and Weatherford’s women are defending champions in the NTJCAC.
Temple’s teams will play their conference home openers against Hill on Saturday at TC Gym, with the women starting the doubleheader at 2 p.m.
The youthful TC men - with only three sophomores - have gotten off to a tremendous start considering that their roster doesn’t include a key contributor to last season’s 23-8 conference co-champion.
It doesn’t take Johnson long to identify the primary factor in the Leopards’ success up to this point.
“The main thing I like about our team is we have good depth,” said Johnson, in his 21st season as TC’s coach. “We have really good distribution, and that’s been our strength. We have strength in numbers.”
And the numbers support that statement.
No Leopard averages more than LaDon Huckaby’s 14.9 points per game, while every player averages at least 6.7. Although double-figure scorer Jermon Foreman has been lost to academic issues, TC has four additional players averaging more than 10 points per game: J.B. Conley (11.3), C.J. Richards (11.3), Jordan Brown (10.4) and Ervin Johnson (10.3).
Chris Ellis, DaVon Morrison, Jamar Beasley, Wes Dipprey and Thomas Anguiano average between 9.3 and 7.6 points for a squad whose scoring average is 116.4, though only five of its opponents are NJCAA Division I programs.
No Leopard has started more than eight games, but all have at least six starts.
“Other teams might be seven or eight players deep, but we’re 11 deep,” said Johnson, whose team has employed a press defense to force 34.8 turnovers per game. “We’re taking advantage of that.”
Temple begins conference against a Weatherford team that features Oklahoma State transfer Roderick Flemings (19.7 points per game) and Edvinas Ruzgas (18.5 ppg, 47 3-pointers) and has won nine straight games.
“It’s a hard place to open. They’re good and this is a huge game for them,” Johnson said. “These games get us ready for the (regional) tournament.”
On the women’s side, 10th-season coach Sebek says her Lady Leopards still are looking for consistency as they prepare to begin conference play. TC has failed to put together a string of more than two wins in a row.
“Through the course of the preseason we’ve been playing inconsistent,” Sebek said. “After Christmas it seemed like in those two games we were right there maintaining consistency. It’s a situation where we have to come together and play together 100 percent of the time for 40 minutes.”
The Lady Leopards finished second in the NTJCAC last season and recorded their first postseason victory under Sebek before losing to eventual national champion Odessa.
But they look even better this season. Last season TC had a non-conference record of 5-9 before going 14-4 to finish 19-13 overall.
While the Lady Leopards again ended non-conference with a losing record, three of the losses were against No. 16 Blinn, and Temple defeated No. 14 South Plains - the clear favorite in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.
None of that will matter when the Lady Leopards take on Weatherford.
“You can basically throw out all the preseason stats,” Sebek said. “Now it’s going to be the team that steps up and plays well will get the win.”
Weatherford won the conference last season, and despite having only three players returning the Lady Coyotes look to be in the title hunt again.
“It’s going to be a big road test for us,” Sebek said. “Weatherford is one of the teams to beat and they will test us at all positions.”
Sebek said that with Weatherford there usually are no big surprises, as Bob McKinley has been coaching the Lady Coyotes for 30 years.
“They will traditionally work a 2-2-1 press, then drop back into a zone,” Sebek said. “They usually have some big girls inside that they like to go to."
gwille@temple-telegram.com
mhood@temple-telegram.com
