News

GTCC’s Lady Titans To Play South Georgia at Wentworth

(Release 3/1/10)

JAMESTOWN - Guilford Technical Community College's Lady Titans will host South Georgia Technical College in a NCJAA District J playoff game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Rockingham Community College Gymnasium in Wentworth.

The winner will advance to the "Sweet 16" of the national tournament in Salina, Kan.

GTCC, regular season champions in Division I of Region X, is entering the playoff contest after winning its regional tournament in Fort Mill, SC, Saturday. The Lady Titans beat Clinton Junior College 75-62 in the championship game.

GTCC has a 29-2 record and South Georgia has a 26-6 mark.

GTCC's Alison Cousin of Atlanta scored 25 point in the title game and was named the
tournament's most valuable player. Titans joining Cousin on the all-tournament team were Rhonda Young and Amanda Campusano, both of Bronx, NY.

The Lady Titans, playing only their second year of basketball, continue to rack up honors:

• Bobby Allison, who is in his first year as GTCC coach, earlier was named coach of the year for Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

• Campusano was named player of the year for the region. She and teammate Young were named to the All-Region X first team.

• GTCC won the regular season championship with a 9-0 record. After winning the tournament, Allison now has a record of 244-21 as a head coach. He formerly coached at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY.

Allison formerly played for GTCC athletic director Phil Gaffney, who recruited him for the coaching job with the Lady Titans.

Campusano and Young played for Allison last season at Mohawk Valley. Campusano averaged 12.4 points per game and led the team with 65 three-pointers through the first 25 games of the season. Young averaged 10.2 points per game and led the team in free throws with 84.

Allison said, "Amanda has improved over her two seasons as much as any kid I have ever coached. Not only is she an unbelievable three-point shooter but she also is a playmaker and a lockdown defender.

"What Amanda did was take her weaknesses and really work on them over the summer. Winning player of the year isn't a testament to her season as much as it is a testament to the time and effort she put in over the summer. Winning the award is just icing on the cake."

Young has provided the spark that the Lady Titans needed throughout the season, he said.

"Rhonda is one of the greatest teammates that I have ever coached," Allison said. "She is the most supportive person, always doing whatever it takes for a teammate to succeed. Rhonda wasn't starting in the beginning of the season, and you would think it would have been a negative since she started for me last year but it wasn't at all. She gave us a spark off the bench and played so well that I had to start her.

"Her second semester has been outstanding and she truly is the heart and soul of this basketball team. I have no idea where we would be without her leadership."

Allison, who won many coaching awards at Mohawk Valley, said that he feels "blessed to have been selected Region X Coach of the Year. It isn't just one person though. It is the coachingstaff of the year to me. Sarah Gaffney and Gary Broadhurst have had as much to do with our success as anyone. They know the system as well as I do and did an outstanding job of teaching 12 first-year players how to do what we do. It also is a testament to the kind of kids we have at GTCC."

Sarah Gaffney and Broadhurst also are products of the Mohawk Valley basketball philosophy. Gaffney was an All-American playing for Allison, and Broadhurst coached there.

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